Bitcoin Miners Face Shakeout as Only Strongest Survive at $6,000

Bitcoin miners face a reckoning as the cryptocurrency’s tumble wipes out profits for all but the industry’s most efficient operators, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Only miners with access to “very cheap” electricity of about 6 cents per kilowatt hour or less can stay profitable after Bitcoin slumped to $6,000 on Tuesday, said Sophie Lu, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Beijing. If Bitcoin stays this low for more than a couple of weeks, miners with high operating costs will leave the market, she said.