2021 was a rollercoaster year for bitcoin investors. Bitcoin (BTC) reached an all-time high of more than $68,000 in November 2021 after beginning the year at just below $30,000. Meanwhile, the crypto industry in its entirety grew to a total market cap of over $2 trillion US Dollars.
For Bitcoin miners, 2021 was also a wide ride. China’s crackdown on Bitcoin mining culminated in a full ban in September. The Chinese crackdown unleashed a diaspora of producers seeking new homes in far-flung places. Whilst some headed for greener Nordic low-cost energy, others tapped coal and natural gas in Kazakhstan, Iran, Kosovo, and tiny Abkhazia.
Bitcoin cloud mining – the process of mining Bitcoin that utilizes a remote data center with shared processing power, helping users mine Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies without the need to purchase or manage the hardware – became increasingly popular in 2021 and when you look at the revenues earned, it is easy to see why.
According to a report by Block Research and GSR, published in January 2022, Bitcoin miners enjoyed a record year in 2021. In total, Bitcoin miners generated $15.3 billion in revenue which represents a 206% increase from the revenues earned in 2020.
It wasn’t just Bitcoin miners that enjoyed a record year. Those mining Ethereum had a bumper year also. According to the report, Ethereum miners generated a total of $16.5 billion in revenue. Last year’s total represents a year-on-year increase of 678 percent, making 2021 a record revenue year.
However, 2021 was very much a game of two halves for crypto miners. A series of crackdowns in China and then Kazakhstan – the second-biggest country for bitcoin mining lost its internet access, taking as much as 15% of the network offline.
Though revenues increased to record levels overall in 2021, for the second half of the year, revenue levels plunged as the crackdowns began to bite. New countries sourced, a rise in ‘green mining’ and the adoption of bitcoin cloud mining has combined to ensure that crypto mining is a profitable adventure that has longevity.
Like Bitcoin itself, Bitcoin mining and crypto mining in general, are always going to be a rollercoaster ride. It’s a volatile asset and therefore, to mine it is always going to have an element of volatility to it. Changing energy concerns and threats worldwide add that extra spice to the crypto mining endeavour. However, the explosion of trusted crypto cloud mining services is keeping a lucrative industry affordable and accessible to everyday folk and not just to big corporations.
