A day to block reward halving, Hashflare has become one of the first Bitcoin mining companies to inform their miners that the proposed reduction in the mining reward will affect their payout, though it didn’t say by how much.
In a message to its miners via email, Hashflare says:
“We would like to remind you that this weekend Bitcoin mining reward will be reduced by 50%. This process, namely halving, is a part of Bitcoin system script and occurs every 210 000 blocks. The last halving was 4 years ago and the block reward went down to 25 BTC from 50 BTC.
“The halving will occur on Saturday, approximately at 20:30 (UTC+3). This means that the whole Bitcoin network will start getting a reduced mining reward. This will also be reflected in the payout you will receive on Monday.”
Getting prepared
The company says its team has been getting ready for the event for a couple of months already and is currently preparing and installing new, more energy-efficient SHA-256 hardware.
It adds:
“We are putting a lot of effort from our side to keep BTC mining profitable. In the nearest future we will be able to reduce the cost of electricity, lowering the electricity fees for SHA-256 contacts in HashFlare as a result.
We work hard to make our service better and we hope that our efforts make your cooperation with us more profitable and enjoyable.”
Uncertainty remains
Most miners are not sure of what to expect after the halving. Also, not many mining companies so far have shown their identities or explained the dynamics of their operations.
Another mining company that has tried to avoid raising the hopes of its miners unnecessarily which could lead to blurry trust issues is Genesis Mining. Its CEO, Marco Streng, was able to share a little information when the World Economic Forum had a tour of its mining site. He disclosed that one Bitcoin costs about $200 to mine - that is with a good deal on electricity and ignoring all other costs like good internet connections and a cold climate such as that which the company enjoys in Iceland where its operations are located.
However, despite the revealed cost and the current price of Bitcoin, the company did not say what to expect after the halving and continues to err on the side of caution. Rather it maintains on its Facebook page that it is very difficult to forecast all consequences of this event. Streng even mentioned in an interview that the halving event, despite known since the start of Bitcoin, could drive up the price in the case of a slow growth in its supply, or it might not do anything at all.