Bitcoin mining revenue has risen by 50% this month via mining rewards and transaction fees.

At the end of last month, on 28 December, Bitcoin mining revenue fell to $13.6 million for the first time since October 2020. Along with geopolitical tensions and mounting energy prices, this led to immense financial pressure on businesses running mining operations and forced some to close.

As the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation remained well-placed for a steady recovery, the mining industry reported a 50% growth in revenue in USD terms. Indeed, revenue rose from $15.3 million at the beginning of this month to close to $23 million within 30 days.

In addition, the hash rate continues to reach new record highs as an increasing number of miners join to power and secure the Bitcoin network, Cointelegraph reports. The Bitcoin hash rate was around 300 exahashes per second (EH/s) at the time of writing.

Following reports in October last year that Bitcoin registered a 41% rise in energy consumption year-on-year, a push to sourcing greener energy to power BTC mining facilities may solve the issue. 

Indeed, a mining firm tapped into a source of stranded energy in the south-eastern country of Malawi, the Cointelegraph report adds.

The project, carried out by Gridless, utilises 50 kilowatts (kW) of stranded energy to test as a new Bitcoin mining site.

CEO and co-founder of Gridless, Erik Hersman, said of the initiative’s impact: “The power developer had built these powerhouses a few years ago, but they weren’t able to expand to more families because they’re barely profitable and couldn’t afford to buy more meters to connect more families. So, our deal allowed for them to immediately buy 200 more meters to connect more families.”

The Bitcoin mining facility’s environmental footprint is low as it runs off river-based hydropower.