HIVE Blockchain Technologies Limited, the Canada-based publicly-traded company that mines pioneer cryptocurrency, Bitcoin , saw its revenue plunge roughly 50% at the end of its 2023 fiscal year ended March 31. The Nasdaq-listed firm’s revenue came in at $106.3 million, tumbling from a record-high amount of $211 million from the previous fiscal year.

HIVE, which released the latest financial performance figures today (Friday), said the sharp decline is “primarily due to the fall in the Bitcoin price and increase in the mining difficulty of Ethereum and Bitcoin resulting from continued growth in global mining operations.”

Tough Market Conditions Impact HIVE’s Metrics

Using application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners, which are specialized computers used to solve the complex mathematical problems required to add new blocks to the Bitcoin blockchain, HIVE produced 3,258 bitcoins in the fiscal year 2023. The figure represents an increase of 37% from the 2,368 BTCs the firm mined earlier in the fiscal year 2022.

Despite the growth in its BTC production, HIVE suffered a net loss of $236.4 million or $2.85 loss per share during the recent fiscal year. This is a sharp turn from a net income of $79.6 million or $1.02 gain per share in 2022.

In addition, HIVE’s gross operating margin, or the percentage of revenue it retains after all costs directly related to its core business operations are deducted, totalled $50.4 million, falling 69% from $163.9 million a year earlier. The figure means that the Bitcoin miner retained 48% of its revenue, compared to 76% from the prior fiscal year.

“Gross operating margin is directly impacted by digital currency prices and network difficulties as this impacts revenue from mining operations,” HIVE explained. “The decrease is mainly attributed to the decrease in Bitcoin price and an increase in the Bitcoin network difficulty versus the prior year, combined with the company not mining Ether since the merge on September 15, 2022.”

HIVE operates blockchain data centres that utilize green energy sources to mine and secure various digital currencies. However, the negative market conditions have affected the firm’s digital currency assets and stand at $65.9 million as of March 31, 2023. During the same period last year, the company had $170 million in crypto assets.

Bitcoin's Recent Upward Trend

While BTC reduced HIVE’s financial metrics in the recent fiscal year, the prices of the foremost digital asset have rallied in recent months, touching $30,000 in early April. This was BTC’s highest market price since mid-2022.

According to CoinMarketCap, BTC is trading at over $30,200. However, experts such as Crypto Hedge Fund Manager, Thomas Kralow, believe that the asset’s price will surge in the next 24 hours, potentially reaching $32,000. Kralow, who is the Founder of Kralow Capital, added that BTC whales or large investors are still buying into the current rally, indicating strong demand for Bitcoin.

“Additionally, we see an upward trend in Bitcoin's on-chain accumulation. After a period of lower activity, there's now less Bitcoin available on exchanges, suggesting a decrease in supply,” Kralow told Finance Magnates. “Considering the upcoming halving in 2024 and the growing interest from big investors in China, it indicates a positive long-term outlook for Bitcoin's price.”