Marathon Digital overcame the challenges of the halving by increasing Bitcoin production by 21% year-over-year in April.
Marathon Digital reported a significant year-over-year surge in Bitcoin production last month, shattering expectations surrounding the halving event.
Bitcoin production increases
Marathon stated in its April operations report that it produced 850 BTC, a notable 21% increase over the previous year. This rise is primarily due to a 15% increase in operational hashrate, which now stands at 21.1 exahash.
The launch of the Runes Protocol and the Bitcoin Halving event, which reduced miners’ rewards to 3.125 BTC per block, likely had a negligible impact on the data as it occurred less than a month after the event.
Nonetheless, Marathon’s improved hash rate allowed it to take inspiration from Runes Protocol and leverage increased transaction fees. Transaction fees accounted for approximately 16% of Bitcoin revenue in April.
Fred Thiel, Chairman and CEO of Marathon, said:
“In April, we achieved our highest ever operational hash rate of 25.9 exahash. Transaction fees also reached record highs around the time of the halving, which could be leveraged through slipstream services and proprietary mining pools. Just before the halving, we gained an additional 4.25 BTC from Slipstream alone, and the MARA pool performed even better, capturing one block at 10 BTC and another at 16 BTC in transaction fees.”
Meanwhile, Marathon said it sold 600 BTC in April for monthly operational support, financial management and general corporate purposes. The miner held 17,631 unlimited bitcoins as of April 30.
Kenya Government Consultant
In parallel, Kenya’s President Williams Ruto spoke at the AMCHAM summit and revealed ongoing discussions between African countries and cryptocurrency miners on cryptocurrency regulation and mining.
Ruto said:
“Marathon Digital has been invited to consult with the Kenya National Treasury on the cryptocurrency framework and discuss with the Ministry of Energy the energy needs associated with cryptocurrency mining here in Kenya.”
Even at work Confirmed The development added that the team was discussing how a digital asset data center could “catalyze energy development in the region and facilitate US-East Africa trade relations.”
