{"id":90904,"date":"2025-11-12T10:18:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T07:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=90904"},"modified":"2025-11-12T10:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T07:20:15","slug":"mara-ceo-predicts-tough-times-ahead-for-miners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/mara-ceo-predicts-tough-times-ahead-for-miners\/","title":{"rendered":"MARA CEO Predicts Tough Times Ahead for Miners"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The bitcoin mining industry is facing a challenging period due to increasing competition and declining profitability, according to MARA CEO Fred Thiel in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/markets\/2025\/11\/11\/bitcoin-miners-must-own-power-or-die-trying-before-next-halving-mara-ceo-says\">CoinDesk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He stated that mining is a zero-sum game. When new participants add capacity, it becomes harder for others.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cMargins are shrinking, and the lower profitability threshold is determined by the cost of electricity,\u201d noted Thiel.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He believes the industry is becoming \u201cmore mature and tougher.\u201d Only miners with access to cheap energy or new business models will survive.<\/p>\n<p>Many companies are moving into adjacent areas: developing artificial intelligence or creating infrastructure for high-performance computing. Others are being pushed out by players using their own setups at lower costs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cEquipment manufacturers are launching their own farms because customers are buying fewer devices. The global <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-hashrate-and-mining-difficulty-in-cryptocurrencies\"><em>hashrate<\/em><\/a><em> continues to grow, meaning the profitability of other participants is falling,\u201d added the head of MARA.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pressure on the Industry<\/h2>\n<p>Thiel warned that the situation for miners will become even more difficult after the <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-the-bitcoin-halving\">halving<\/a> in 2028, when the block reward will decrease to 1.5625 BTC. The economics of mining will become unviable for many unless transaction fees or the price of bitcoin increase.<\/p>\n<p>According to the creators&#8217; design, fees were supposed to replace block rewards over time, but this has not happened, emphasized the MARA CEO. In such conditions, small miners face significant pressure. Thiel stated that \u201cMARA&#8217;s strategy is to be in the lower quartile of production costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cIn a compressed market, 75% of competitors should shut down before us,\u201d explained Thiel.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He expects the market to self-regulate when miners reach the profitability limit. By 2028, participants will need to either generate their own energy, become part of energy companies, or partner with them.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cThe days of miners simply connected to the power grid are numbered,\u201d concluded Thiel.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In November, Riot Vice President Josh Kane <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/riot-describes-bitcoin-mining-as-a-means-to-an-end\">described<\/a> bitcoin mining as \u201cnot a goal, but a means\u201d for the company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The bitcoin mining industry is facing a challenging period due to increasing competition and declining profitability, according to MARA CEO Fred Thiel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Bitcoin mining faces challenges with rising competition and shrinking profitability, says MARA CEO.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1137,1185,1138],"class_list":["post-90904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-cryptocurrency-mining","tag-marathon-digital-holdings","tag-opinions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"196","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Bitcoin mining faces challenges with rising competition and shrinking profitability, says MARA CEO.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90904"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90906,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90904\/revisions\/90906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}