Price Drop Casts Pall Over Bitcoin Miners’ Equipment Upgrades

Bitcoin’s price crash last week has cast a shadow over mining firms, which have spent over half a billion dollars overhauling equipment over the last six months in preparation for the network’s next so-called halving.

Large bitcoin (BTC) mining farm operators in three countries told CoinDesk they’ve been on a buying spree to upgrade or expand facilities since September, reflecting a shared commitment to staying in the mining game for the long haul. 

In May, the amount of freshly minted bitcoin awarded to a successful miner every 10 minutes or so will be programmatically split in half, hitting these firm’s top line. Since older equipment is becoming unprofitable even before the reward is cut, more than $500 million has been poured into the new, more efficient machines that can churn out more bitcoin, according to a CoinDesk estimate.

But bitcoin price’s recent plunge – crashing to below $5,000 on last Friday and recording a 50 percent drop since its high above $10,000 in…