Bitmain, the largest maker of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), the machines used to mine proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies, has reportedly slashed prices on several generations of mining hardware amid sector-wide turmoil in the mining industry.
The company is offering bundles and discounts across the board, including on its S19 and S21 series machines that would have been considered “distressed sales” earlier in 2025 when Bitcoin (BTC) whose price increased, according to TheMinerMag.
Even newer flagship mining hardware, like the S21 immersion-cooled ASICs, was offered at discounts of $7 per terahash-second (TH/s), and some sets of hardware were auctioned off to mining operators who could “set their own price,” TheMinerMag said.
The discounts came in one of the worst profit margin environments for the mining industry, as the hashprice, the expected revenue per unit of computing power spent to mine a block, fell to its lowest level in several years of almost $35 per terahash/second per day (TH/s/day).
A margin of $40 per TH/s/day is considered the break-even point for miners, forcing operators to consider suspending operations until economic conditions improve.
The sales reflect the stressful economic realities of the mining industry, which is highly competitive even when market conditions are favorable, but now faces a BTC market slowdownrising energy costs, regulatory issues and supply chain risks.
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The mining industry is pushed to the breaking point
Mining companies are turn to renewable energies to reduce variable costs, following the April 2024 halving event, which reduced the block subsidy by half, to 3.125 BTC per block.
The reduction in block reward every four years is generally offset by rising BTC prices; However, 2025, expected to be a breakout year for BTC, ended in the red, with the price crashing from a high of over $126,000 in October to a low of $80,000 in November.
As of this writing, the price of Bitcoin is more than 7% lower than on the first day of 2025 and almost 20% lower than on January 20. a high of over $109,000on the day of the American presidential inauguration.
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