Bitcoin Mining Power Use Jumps 112% to 33 Gigawatts as Network Transactions Hit 2-Year Low: GoMining

Bitcoin’s mining infrastructure has evolved into an energy-consuming giant, requiring over 33 gigawatts of power to maintain block production even as network transaction activity drops to its lowest point in nearly two years, according to a recent analysis from GoMining Institutional.

The GoMining Q2 2025 analysis indicates that Bitcoin’s mining power consumption surged from 15.6 gigawatts (GW) in January 2024 to 24.5 GW by January 2025.

The figure continued climbing to 33.1 GW by May’s end, marking a substantial 112% surge over 17 months.

Bitcoin Mining Power Consumption Explodes Despite Efficiency Gains

The January-to-May period alone witnessed a 35% spike in energy requirements, driven by expanded deployment of power-intensive mining equipment following the April 2024 halving event.

Fakhul Miah, Managing Director of GoMining Institutional, noted in the analysis that while individual mining devices have become more efficient, their rapid expansion is negating the network’s mining difficulty.

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty measures the computational challenge required to discover new blocks on the blockchain.

This parameter adjusts approximately every two weeks, or after 2,016 blocks, based on changes in the total network hashrate.

During the first half of 2025, the network underwent 13 difficulty recalibrations. Starting at 109.78 trillion in January, it reached 116.96 trillion by June’s conclusion, representing a year-to-date gain of 6.54%.

The average monthly increase stood at 1.09%, significantly slower than 2024’s 4.48% monthly average.

The period’s largest upward revision occurred on April 5 with a +6.81% adjustment.

May 30th brought a +4.38% change, pushing difficulty to a record peak of 126.98 trillion. This spike preceded two subsequent downward corrections.

June 29th marked the network’s most significant difficulty reduction since China’s mining prohibition, with Bitcoin’s difficulty falling by 7.48%, the sharpest drop since July 2021.

Transaction Fees Fall Below 1%: Bitcoin Miners Face Revenue Crisis

While the network’s energy consumption climbs, transaction activity paints a different picture.

According to the GoMining analysis, Bitcoin’s network utilization has retreated to levels last observed in October 2023.

The data reveals that the seven-day transaction average declined to approximately 313,510 on June 25th.

June 1st recorded the lowest with just 256,038 confirmed transactions.

Throughout the year, users have consistently broadcast transactions at a minimum 1 satoshi per virtual byte fee, irrespective of urgency.

At current Bitcoin valuations, 1 sat/vB equals approximately $0.115.

Transaction fees represent payments users make to include their transactions in blocks. Unlike percentage-based credit card fees, these charges are calculated in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB) based on transaction size.

While block subsidies remain fixed, transaction fees fluctuate according to block space supply and demand dynamics.

Transaction fees now comprise less than 1% of total block rewards, making the first half of 2025 particularly challenging for miners regarding fee-based revenue.

However, several brief fee revenue spikes emerged from exceptional market events.

April witnessed transaction fee surges as Bitcoin’s price climbed nearly $10,000 within two days.

Late May also saw sharp fee increases, indicating a heightened market activity that contributed to Bitcoin’s new all-time high achievement.

Can Bitcoin Hit $150K? Mining Data Reveals Bullish Signal

Examining current Bitcoin production metrics for future price implications reveals important considerations.

Elevated mining activity typically signals confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term profitability prospects.

Miners wouldn’t expand energy consumption and equipment investments without expecting higher BTC prices to justify these expenses.

Bitcoin requires price appreciation to maintain miner profitability and network security.

This dynamic could establish a price floor, as miners may resist selling below profitable thresholds, suggesting a medium to long-term bullish scenario that could propel Bitcoin toward the popular $150,000 target despite recent market weakness that pushed it to $114,540 over the past 24 hours.

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