H.C. Wainwright & Co. has released its latest update on Bitcoin mining, showing a mixed third quarter for miners affected by broader market uncertainties and the upcoming April 2024 Bitcoin halving.

Per the analyst note shared with crypto.news, Bitcoin (BTC) prices remained volatile throughout Q3 2024, influenced by concerns about the U.S. economy, international tensions, and the upcoming presidential election. 

After dipping as low as $49,100 in August, BTC prices bounced back following the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates in September. 

This rate cut marked the first reduction in four years and sparked a rally, pushing BTC to around $63,250 by the end of the quarter.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs

A significant demand driver was U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs, which saw net inflows of $4.3 billion during Q3, up from $2.4 billion in Q2, according to the analysts.

A third of these inflows occurred in just eight days following the Fed’s rate cut. Analysts expect the upcoming election on November 5 to have a major impact on BTC prices. 

They predict a Trump victory could push BTC to new highs, while a win by Vice President Harris might lead to a short-term price correction.

Bitcoin miner operations

Public Bitcoin miners expanded operations significantly in Q3, adding 35 exahashes per second to the global network hash rate—a measure of computing power used for mining—resulting in a 4.5% increase from the previous quarter.

Despite this expansion, miners faced challenges due to the April 2024 Bitcoin halving. This event occurs every four years and cuts the reward miners receive by half, making it harder to profit from mining.

For those unfamiliar, Bitcoin halving refers to reducing the number of new Bitcoins miners earn for adding new blocks to the blockchain. This is part of Bitcoin’s design to control inflation and ensure there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoins in circulation. 

As a result, miners must become more efficient or rely on higher Bitcoin prices to remain profitable.

Despite these hurdles, miner revenues fell 29% in Q3 to $2.6 billion, with the average price miners earned per terahash dropping significantly. However, analysts see opportunities ahead. 

The combined market capitalization of public BTC miners declined by 7%, signaling a potential buying opportunity for investors, especially as the sector has already rebounded by 12% in the current quarter, per analysts. 

With earnings season for miners kicking off this week, all eyes will be on how companies perform, particularly as BTC surges over $73,000 this week.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt has reignited the Bitcoin vs Gold debate, highlighting how the flagship crypto has performed against gold. Renowned economist Peter Schiff has also fuelled this debate by arguing that gold deserves more attention than BTC.

Bitcoin Vs. Gold: How BTC Is Performing

Peter Brandt claimed in an X post that Bitcoin has made “no progress” in 42 months in its Gold pair. He remarked that the flagship crypto remains below the March 2024 high and the double highs in 2021.

Indeed, the Bitcoin price remains below its current all-time high (ATH) of $73,000, which it reached earlier this year in March. Meanwhile, gold continues to reach new highs, rising to a new ATH of $2771. BTC and gold have always been compared, as experts view both assets as a store of value.

Some experts have also argued that the flagship crypto has an edge against gold, although it is commonly called ‘digital gold.’  Peter Brandt also highlighted the significance of these assets while noting that they are in the “heavyweight division” in the battle against fiat depreciation.

Given BTC’s underperformance against gold, the latter seems to live up to the hype more as a store of value. There is also the argument that crypto’s correlation with the stock market shows that investors view it more as a risk asset than a hedge against inflation.

Peter Schiff Also Fuels The Debate

Gold proponent and renowned economist Peter Schiff has also sparked the Bitcoin vs. gold debate. Following the BTC price rally above $71,000 for the first time in four months, Schiff mentioned that gold is trading at another record high, just shy of its ATH. However, Schiff remarked that no one will notice because the flagship crypto is trading back above $71,000.

The economist believes that gold should receive more attention than it currently does, especially as it reaches new highs while BTC attempts to break its current ATH of $73,000. However, despite Schiff’s reservations, it is worth mentioning that the flagship crypto is a victim of its success.

Bitcoin hit a new ATH earlier in the year, just before the halving event in April, which was unusual considering it had never reached a new ATH until after the halving. As such, that development weighed on the flagship crypto since analysts like Rekt Capital claimed that it had to consolidate for this long so it could synchronize with past halving cycles.

For context, despite consolidating for this long, BTC is up over 62% year-to-date (YTD) while gold is up just over 33% since this year began.

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that Peter Schiff has also extended the BTC vs gold debate to their related stocks. The economist compared MicroStrategy to gold stocks. He noted that MSTR stock is worth more than the stocks of all gold mining companies except Newmont.

However, Schiff questioned MicroStrategy’s value and suggested it could suffer a price crash soon enough. MSTR is one of the best-performing assets this year, outperforming even BTC and gold.

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Boluwatife Adeyemi

Boluwatife Adeyemi is a well-experienced crypto news writer and editor who has covered topics that cut across DeFi, NFTs, smart contracts, and blockchain interoperability, among others. Boluwatife has a knack for simplifying the most technical concepts and making it easy for crypto newbies to understand. Away from writing, He is an avid basketball lover and a part-time degen.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.