This article first appeared in The Energy Mag. The original article can be viewed here. The Energy Mag (formerly The Miner Mag) provides news, data, and insights on the energy–compute–markets nexus.
A Bitmain Antminer Z15 Pro mining Zcash is generating an estimated $727.30 in gross revenue per megawatt-hour of electricity, according to The Energy Mag’s analysis as of Monday. That is about 3.3 times an estimated industry-average HPC yield of $222.73 per MWh.
The Z15 Pro also generates about 4.5 times the $162.11 estimated for Bitmain’s latest-generation Antminer S23 Pro bitcoin miner and more than seven times the $102.67 produced by an S21 Pro.
Zcash mining had already overtaken the other workloads before the latest market advance. The significance of the rally is how much further it has stretched that lead.
In a comparable The Energy Mag snapshot from late June, the Z15 Pro generated an estimated $373 per MWh, versus about $223 for HPC, $133 for the S23 Pro and $84 for the S21 Pro. Zcash mining’s premium over the HPC benchmark was then about $150 per MWh. It has since widened to more than $500.
The gap between the Z15 Pro and S23 Pro has more than doubled to about $565 per MWh from $240. The Z15 Pro’s revenue has risen by about 95% under the estimates, while the S23 Pro’s increased about 22% and the HPC benchmark was little changed.
The divergence reflects Zcash’s outperformance. ZEC gained about 70% in seven days and traded as high as roughly $890 over the past week, surpassing the more sustainable market peaks reached after its 2016 launch.
That record requires qualification. Major price databases retain anomalous launch-week trades ranging from about $3,200 to nearly $6,000 as Zcash’s official all-time high. Those prices were recorded when only a tiny number of coins had been mined and available liquidity was extremely limited. On the basis of its subsequent, more liquid trading history, the move to around $890 represents a practical all-time high and exceeds the peaks reached during the 2017-18 crypto cycle.
Bitcoin also rallied more than 20% last week, breaking out of a range between roughly $62,000 and $67,000 and climbing above $77,000 on Friday. That improved bitcoin mining revenue, but the increase was considerably smaller than the expansion in Zcash economics.
The broader cryptocurrency rally began after the US Treasury moved to expand purchases of longer-dated government debt, pushing yields and the dollar lower. Investors shifted toward alternative assets including gold and bitcoin amid concern about inflation, federal debt and the outlook for the US currency.
Regulatory developments added momentum. President Donald Trump used a White House cryptocurrency conference to press Congress to pass the Clarity Act, while regulators outlined additional measures that could ease rules for digital-asset businesses.
The initial advance then accelerated into a short squeeze. More than $4 billion of bearish cryptocurrency positions had been liquidated by Friday, according to Coinglass data cited by the Associated Press. Closing those positions required traders to buy back digital assets, adding further upward pressure.
The next test will come from US economic data and the Federal Reserve. July personal-consumption-expenditure data, revised second-quarter gross domestic product and durable-goods orders are scheduled for Wednesday. Weekly jobless claims follow Thursday.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is due to address the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday. A hawkish message on inflation could lift Treasury yields and the dollar, reversing part of the liquidity-driven crypto rally. A more accommodating stance could support further demand for risk and alternative assets.
