JPMorgan: For bitcoin's recent price movements, strategy resilience is more important than miner activity

Jinse Finance reported that JPMorgan analysts believe that, for bitcoin's recent price movements, the resilience of Strategy (stock code MSTR) is more important than miner activity. Although the world's largest bitcoin holder has not yet started selling, bitcoin miners appear to be facing increasing selling pressure. Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, Managing Director at JPMorgan, and his team pointed out in a report on Wednesday that the recent sustained pressure on bitcoin prices mainly stems from two factors: first, the recent decline in bitcoin network hashrate and mining difficulty, and second, the latest developments surrounding Strategy. The analysts stated that the decline in hashrate and mining difficulty reflects the influence of two forces: China reiterating its ban on bitcoin mining after a surge in private mining activity, and the combination of falling bitcoin prices and high energy costs squeezing profits, leading high-cost miners outside China to exit the market. The analysts noted that although a drop in hashrate usually increases miners' revenue, "bitcoin prices are currently still hovering below their production costs," which brings selling pressure to the bitcoin market. JPMorgan analysts have now revised their estimate of bitcoin's production cost down to $90,000, lower than last month's $94,000. According to the analysts, this update is based on an electricity price assumption of $0.05/kWh; for high-cost producers, every $0.01/kWh increase in electricity price will raise their production cost by $18,000. JPMorgan's report stated: "Against the backdrop of high electricity prices and falling bitcoin prices squeezing profits, some high-cost miners have been forced to sell bitcoin in recent weeks."