Bitcoin mining stocks add $11B in January as profitability improves

U.S.-listed bitcoin mining companies added about $11 billion in market value in January, significantly outperforming both bitcoin and the broader equity market, according to JPMorgan.

The bank said the 14 miners and data center operators it tracks ended the month with a combined market capitalization of $60 billion, up 23% month over month, compared with just a 1% gain in the S&P 500. Investor optimism was also supported by miners’ growing push into high-performance computing (HPC) and AI-related data center services as they diversify beyond bitcoin mining.

Operational conditions improved during the month. Winter storms in the U.S. forced power curtailments that reduced network competition, pushing the average bitcoin network hashrate down 6% from December levels. Mining difficulty also declined, helping offset weaker bitcoin prices.

As a result, miner economics strengthened modestly. JPMorgan estimated that daily block reward revenue rose to around $42,350 per exahash per second (EH/s), while gross profit climbed 24% month over month to roughly $21,200 per EH/s as network efficiency improved. Even so, profitability remains well below pre-halving levels.

Despite the rally, JPMorgan warned that valuations look stretched. Mining stocks are trading at roughly three times the post-2022 average multiple tied to block reward opportunity, signaling a growing disconnect between company valuations and bitcoin’s price performance.