JP Morgan: Mining Stocks Significantly Outperformed BTC in January, Short-Term Outlook Supported but Valuation Deviation Widens

Odaily According to a report by JP Morgan, Bitcoin mining companies performed strongly in early 2026, benefiting from reduced network competition and renewed enthusiasm for high-performance computing (HPC). The bank noted that the total market capitalization of the 14 US-listed Bitcoin mining companies and data center operators it tracks reached $60 billion at the end of last month, a 23% increase month-on-month, far exceeding the S&P 500's 1% gain. This rise was partly driven by news of Riot Platforms signing an HPC agreement with AMD, highlighting mining companies' efforts to diversify beyond Bitcoin. Facing record-low profit margins post the 2024 halving, Bitcoin miners are repositioning themselves as digital infrastructure providers, converting power-intensive mining sites into data centers usable for AI, in pursuit of more stable, long-term revenue.

The report pointed out that winter storms across the US in January caused the average network hash rate to drop 6% month-on-month to 981 EH/s, and mining difficulty decreased by 5% compared to December. The reduction in competition helped offset Bitcoin's price weakness. Analysts estimate that miners' daily block reward revenue in January was approximately $42,350 per EH/s, slightly higher than December, while gross profit increased by 24% to about $21,200 per EH/s. Among the 14 mining companies tracked by JP Morgan, 12 outperformed Bitcoin's 4% decline in January, with IREN rising 42% and Cango falling 18%. The group's total valuation remains about 15% below the peak of October 2025. (CoinDesk)