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Bitdeer Head of Capital Markets Jeff LaBerge broke down how Bitcoin mining economics are shifting in real time — and why tech innovation may be the key to staying competitive.

TheStreet Roundtable host Rob Nelson opened the conversation with a basic question: does a lower Bitcoin price mean mining becomes more expensive?

“It can,” LaBerge said. “But in some cases, if the network hash rate decreases… now you’ve got a smaller pool of people competing for the same fixed pie of Bitcoin.” That means some miners may shut down, leaving a bigger slice for the rest.

Still, he clarified, “Bitcoin and mining economics get worse when Bitcoin price goes down, but it’s not just in a straight linear fashion like that.”

Mining economics have gotten tough

Nelson followed up: “So what’s happening right now?”

LaBerge responded, “Right now, network hash rate has been pretty consistent. Bitcoin price has gone down, but you’ve still had the same or near the same amount of participants.”

That means mining profitability has dropped in the short term. “Now that the space has been more institutionalized… hash rate is more likely to increase based on a spike in Bitcoin price than it is to come offline with a dip,” he added. “So it is making it tough for some of the miners right now.”

Bitdeer’s edge

Asked how Bitdeer navigates this, LaBerge emphasized that their edge isn’t just mining scale — it’s the technology.

“We are actually designing the chips and the hardware that go into making the Bitcoin mining rigs,” he said. “We can design those and build those for ourselves to use in our own data centers at a discount to the rest of the market.”

LaBerge added that this sets them up well for the future: “We expect a significant refresh cycle… where efficiency and having the most efficient Bitcoin miners is going to be critical.”

Bitdeer does hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet — “we’re very bullish,” LaBerge said — but it’s not the core strategy. “Our core business is really that technology side.”

Bitcoin's hashrate hit a record 1 ZH/s on April 17, boosting network security.