Year of Bitcoin miners’ merge? Analysts predict key mining trends for 2023

After a shocking year for Bitcoin (BTC), public miners will focus on strengthening balance sheets and minimizing costs this year, according to industry analysts.

Bitcoin mining cost minimization will likely lead public miners to either go private or merge with other companies in 2023, Hash Rate Index’s Bitcoin analysts Jaran Mellerud and Colin Harper predicted.

In a blog post titled “10 Bitcoin mining predictions for 2023,” the analysts pointed out that public miners are burdened with strict reporting requirements, such as spending millions of dollars on annual reporting.

After many Bitcoin mining stocks plummeted 90% in 2022, public miners could significantly reduce administrative costs by going private or merging with others to share the costs.

Alongside predicting that 2023 will become the year of Bitcoin miners’ merge, Hash Rate Index also forecasted a massive restructuring year in the Bitcoin mining industry. The analysts are confident that strengthening balance sheets will be a top priority for Bitcoin miners in 2023 as they fight to avoid bankruptcy.

The analysts noted that the unsustainable debt levels of some Bitcoin miners will force them to proceed with debt restructuring as the only option. Debt restructuring can imply negotiating lower interest rates or extending the due dates of the debt, the authors added.

According to the analysts, Bitcoin miners will also increasingly hedge risks in 2023 by utilizing Bitcoin mining derivatives, including those allowing miners to sell their future hash rate for a specific hash price. “We will see a trend commencing of miners seeking to hedge everything that can be hedged, just like what is expected in more mature commodity-producing industries,” Mellerud and Harper stated.

As for broader industry predictions, Hash Rate Index also predicted that the ongoing Bitcoin bear market will likely come to an end in 2023, referring to historical BTC price cycles. However, a full-scale bull market will not commence until traditional finance firms are ready to move into Bitcoin, which would take another one or two years, according to analysts.

Bitcoin hash rate growth is also likely to slow down in 2023, while mining equipment will become even cheaper, the analysts predicted.

Related: Bitcoin miners see mixed successes in tackling debt-fueled overexpansion crisis

Hash Rate Index’s Bitcoin mining predictions come amid the crypto mining industry going through a major crisis fueled by Bitcoin losing about 60% of value in 2022. As many as 100% of public mining companies have been forced to sell almost all cryptocurrency that they mined in 2022 in order to survive the crypto winter.