New data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode calculated that since 2010, Bitcoin (BTC) miners netted more than $50 billion via fees and block reward subsidies.

Glassnode suggests that the total all-time income of Bitcoin miners is nearly 40% higher than estimated costs, generating $50.2 billion against $36.6 billion, respectively. The metrics used to calculate the figures were thermocap and transaction fees, which calculate the “the cumulative sum of issuance multiplied by spot price in addition to all-time generated fee revenue”, as well as the difficulty production cost.

The report explains that the “Thermocap and Transaction Fees can be considered the realized revenue by miners, whilst the Difficulty Production Cost is considered the aggregate mining input expense.” The computed results counter growing fears that a low BTC/USD spot price could fuel mass capitulation in the mining realm.

The fundamentals of the Bitcoin network support this argument; Bitcoin difficulty and hash rate are setting new all-time highs throughout 2023. Estimates from BTC.com, however, expect that this week’s difficulty adjustments will represent the first negative one for Bitcoin since mid-February of 2023.

Since the inception of cryptocurrencies, crypto mining has represented not only a popular means of generating secondary income, but many individuals and corporations alike depend on crypto mining as their primary method of making a living.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miners-earned-50b-from-btc-block-rewards-fees-since-2010

https://twitter.com/glassnode/status/1653371715710246912

https://btc.com/stats/diff