Bitcoin miners posted their strongest monthly revenue in four months during May, generating $1.086 billion, according to data from Newhedge. The figure, surpassed only by January's total, came despite the reduced 3.125 BTC block rewards introduced by the 2024 halving. Nearly all of that income – roughly $1.079 billion – originated from the network’s block subsidy, while transaction fees remained a marginal contributor, accounting for only a small fraction of earnings.
However, the robust May performance has quickly been overshadowed by deteriorating conditions at the start of June. On June 3, Bitcoin (BTC) fell as much as 4.5%, touching an intraday low near $65,700 amid a broader risk-off move triggered by Iran’s retaliatory strikes against U.S. targets. Analysts at Citigroup pointed to sustained spot Bitcoin ETF outflows – totaling nearly $4 billion – as a more significant driver of weakness than any single event. The bank described ETF flows as one of the strongest indicators of demand for the asset.
Falling prices are directly squeezing miner profitability. Data from Hashrate Index shows the daily value generated per petahash per second (hashprice) has slipped to approximately $30.77, representing an 18% decline from $37.44 a month ago. This has pushed hashprice back to levels last seen in early April. In response, network hashrate has retreated from around 1,000 EH/s to below 975 EH/s as operators with higher costs or less efficient hardware reduce activity.
Slower block production has also become evident. Blocks are now being produced every 10 minutes and 59 seconds on average, well above Bitcoin’s 10‑minute target. If these conditions persist until the next difficulty adjustment around June 13, estimates suggest mining difficulty could decline by roughly 9%. A lower difficulty would ease competition, allowing remaining miners to earn slightly more BTC for the same computing power.
Technical indicators add to the cautious outlook. Bitcoin is approaching completion of a rounding top formation on the daily chart, a pattern typically considered bearish. A decisive break below $65,000 could expose the next major demand zone near $60,000. Conversely, a recovery above $68,700 could weaken the bearish setup and open the path back toward $72,000.
Transaction fees, although still modest, have shown a minor uptick – accounting for 1.16% of total block rewards over the past 24 hours. For now, miners balance the prospect of a near‑term difficulty cut against persistent headwinds from ETF outflows, geopolitical uncertainty, and technical pressure on BTC’s price. Whether May’s billion‑dollar revenue can be repeated in June hinges largely on Bitcoin’s ability to defend key support levels.
