Is Bitcoin Mining Becoming an Energy and Infrastructure Business?

Bitcoin miners are having one of the most challenging cycles in crypto history due to lower block subsidies, thinner margins, and volatile hashprice. Recent BeInCrypto analysis showed Bitcoin’s ‘Electrical Cost’ floor sits near $48,694, while the realized price is around $54,000.  

So, the profit margin is shrinking fast, while competition is intense across the board. Adding to this stress is the next Bitcoin halving cycle, less than 2 years away. 

The 2024 halving reduced the Bitcoin block subsidy to 3.125 BTC, while the next halving is expected to cut it to 1.5625 BTC around 2028. For miners, this means every watt, chip, cooling decision, and hour of uptime now feeds into profitability.

BeInCrypto spoke with Michael Jerlis, CEO and Founder of EMCD; Bradley Peak, Global Head of Sales at VNISH; and Fernando Lillo Aranda, CMO of Zoomex, about how mining strategy is changing as the business becomes more dependent on energy economics and operational control.

From Raw Hashrate to Profitable Hashrate

For years, mining strategy was relatively simple: deploy more machines, secure cheap electricity, and wait for Bitcoin’s price cycle to lift margins. According to Peak, this model is under pressure as rewards decline and transaction fees remain too small to carry miner revenue on their own.

“The biggest change is that miners are becoming much more disciplined operators,” Peak said. “In 2026, we are seeing miners move from ‘maximum hashrate’ to ‘maximum profitable hashrate.’”

He pointed to firmware tuning, fleet segmentation, underclocking during weak hashprice periods, selective overclocking, flexible power contracts, and stronger treasury discipline as part of this new operating model.

Michael Jerlis spoke about the same trend.

“Buy-mine-sell is mostly dead,” Jerlis said. “With hashprice near $29 per PH/s per day and fees around 1% on most days, the reward alone doesn’t cover the bill. Miners stopped chasing raw hashrate and now squeeze margin per kilowatt-hour.”

In this environment, rejected shares, pool fees, chip performance, voltage settings, and downtime become financial variables. Jerlis described the modern mining business as one where “the money lives in the details now.”

Peak added that miners are also exploring new revenue streams, including demand response, grid services, and AI or high-performance computing where the site design allows it.

“Mining is increasingly an energy and infrastructure business with Bitcoin as one revenue line,” he said.

Firmware, Curtailment, and Load Control Decide Margins

As profitability tightens, software-level optimization is becoming one of the fastest ways to improve mining economics. Peak said firmware is powerful because it acts directly at the ASIC level, allowing operators to tune voltage, frequency, thermal behavior, fan curves, and operating profiles according to real site conditions.

“At VNISH, our focus is giving miners control over voltage, frequency, thermal behavior, fan curves, autotuning, and operating profiles,” Peak said. “The goal is to help each ASIC run according to real site conditions instead of using one generic factory setting for every machine.”

Jerlis said firmware optimization, curtailment, heat reuse, and dynamic load management have moved from optional improvements to basic survival tools.

“Factory firmware can leave up to 25% of a chip unused while still burning watts you pay for,” Jerlis said. “Tuning, curtailment, and heat reuse don’t sound exciting, but at $29 hashprice they’re often the difference between a site that earns and one that quietly bleeds.”

Curtailment has become especially valuable in power markets where large flexible consumers can earn revenue or reduce costs by lowering demand during grid stress. Mining fleets are well suited for this because they can reduce load quickly without disrupting a traditional production line.

Heat reuse is developing more slowly, but both the economic and reputational case is growing. Mining sites able to redirect waste heat into greenhouses, district heating, drying systems, industrial processes, or buildings can reduce net energy costs and create a second layer of value from the same electricity input.

“In 2026, profitability comes from stacking several small advantages together,” Peak said.

Energy-Backed Mining Sites Look Best Positioned

The experts broadly agreed that the strongest mining models are those built around power access rather than machine ownership alone.

Peak ranked energy-backed mining sites first because they control the most important input: electricity. Sites with low-cost or stranded energy, flexible load rights, strong cooling, and the ability to change operating modes have the strongest base for the next cycle.

“Bitcoin mining margins are increasingly won before the ASIC is even plugged in,” Peak said.

Low-cost private operators also remain competitive, especially when they run lean operations and avoid the pressure public companies face from quarterly reporting and capital markets.

Jerlis said the best-positioned miners are those with cheap power and the ability to redeploy hardware quickly.

“Lean private operators with all-in costs near $50,000 to $64,000 per coin, along with energy-backed sites, look best,” he said. “Public miners are becoming AI data centers that mine on the side. The pure buy-mine-sell crowd struggles most. It’s about staying flexible, not being the biggest.”

Public mining companies are splitting into different categories. Some are evolving into data center businesses through AI and high-performance computing contracts, while others remain highly exposed to Bitcoin mining economics. Peak said the second model becomes harder without exceptional power costs and modern fleets.

Hosting providers can still succeed, but only when they offer strong power quality, uptime, pricing transparency, and site-level energy strategy. Pool-integrated firms may capture more of the value chain, but integration alone cannot overcome expensive electricity or poor hardware efficiency.

Mining Will Stay Energy-Intensive, but the Business Model Will Change

Looking ahead 10 years, the experts expect Bitcoin mining to remain profitable for strong operators, while becoming less forgiving for inefficient fleets.

Peak said mining will likely remain energy-intensive in absolute terms because proof-of-work depends on global competition for block rewards. However, the way miners consume energy should become more flexible and economically integrated with power markets.

“More mining will be tied to flexible load programs, stranded energy, renewable curtailment, behind-the-meter generation, heat reuse, and grid services,” Peak said.

Fernando Lillo Aranda, CMO of Zoomex, expects mining to become more industrialized and less speculative over the next decade. He said miners will compete on access to stranded, renewable, curtailed, or flexible power, while also adopting more hedging, treasury management, and hybrid revenue strategies.

“Energy becomes a strategy, not just a cost,” Aranda said. “Miners increasingly compete on access to stranded, renewable, curtailed, or flexible power rather than simply buying electricity.”

He also expects mining to become more closely connected with grid operations, with some operators earning value by balancing demand, absorbing excess generation, and participating in energy markets.

Jerlis sees a similar future, where mining becomes one workload inside a larger power and compute business.

“In ten years the rigs will share buildings with AI and HPC, and the real asset will be the power and the site, not the machine,” he said. “Mining turns into one workload among several. The garage era is over, and honestly, that’s healthy.”

The next decade of Bitcoin mining will likely reward operators with energy expertise, software control, flexible sites, and diversified revenue. Hashrate will still count, but profitability will depend on how intelligently miners convert electricity into revenue across changing market conditions.