Bitdeer hashrate surge puts miner in contention with MARA for top capacity spot

Rising competition among industrial-scale Bitcoin miners is intensifying as the bitdeer hashrate becomes a key metric in the race for dominance.

Bitdeer reports 71 EH/s under management

Bitdeer Technologies Group ended December with a total hashrate under management of 71 exahashes per second (EH/s), according to company data. This capacity may place the Singapore-based miner ahead of MARA Holdings Inc. in overall bitcoin miner capacity, though definitions differ between the two firms.

The 71 EH/s figure includes 55.2 EH/s dedicated to self-mining alongside equipment hosted for third-party clients, Bitdeer stated. By comparison, MARA currently lists an energized hashrate capacity of 61.7 EH/s on its official website, suggesting a close rivalry for industry leadership.

MARA had emerged as the largest publicly traded miner by self-generated hashrate since mid-2023, expanding from less than 20 EH/s to more than 60 EH/s by September 2025. However, the comparability between Bitdeer’s reported “total hashrate under management” and MARA’s “energized hashrate” remains uncertain, complicating direct ranking between the two companies.

Self-mining scale and SEALMINER deployment

Bitdeer disclosed that its 55.2 EH/s self-mining capacity is supported by more than 1,100 chips, of which 538 operate under external subscription agreements. Moreover, the company is aggressively expanding its proprietary hardware footprint through deployment of SEALMINER chips across its campuses.

“Bitdeer reported 71 EH/s of capacity as of end December (~6% of the global hashrate), +18% month over month and +229% year over year,” Matt Sigel, Head of Research at VanEck, wrote in a post on X. He added that, like many rivals, the miner is selling virtually all coins mined, and more, to finance its infrastructure shift toward artificial intelligence workloads.

The company mined 636 bitcoins in December 2025, sharply higher than the 145 bitcoins produced in December 2024, according to its quarterly report. That said, this 339% year-over-year increase coincides with Bitdeer phasing out third-party rigs in favor of its own hardware, sharpening its focus on self mining hashrate.

SEAL04-1 chip efficiency versus MARA fleet metrics

Bitdeer’s SEAL04-1 chip has become central to its scaling strategy. The company reports that the chip delivers energy efficiency of roughly 6–7 joules per terahash (J/TH) at the chip level under low-voltage operating conditions. This specification highlights what Bitdeer presents as strong sealminer chip efficiency in its latest generation designs.

By contrast, MARA cites a “fleet energy efficiency” of 19 J/TH for its installed base. However, the metrics are not directly comparable. Bitdeer’s data reflects chip-level performance, while MARA reports a fleetwide average that incorporates system-level overhead. As a result, any simple one-to-one comparison between the two efficiency figures risks being misleading.

The rising bitdeer hashrate is therefore intertwined with hardware design decisions, data center engineering, and access to low-cost power. Moreover, chip-level improvements can compound over large fleets, giving operators with proprietary technology a structural advantage in both margins and scalability.

AI and high-performance computing pivot

Beyond Bitcoin, Bitdeer is pursuing an ai datacenter pivot to capture demand from artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) customers. The company reports construction and expansion projects at eight sites in Canada, Ethiopia, Norway, and the U.S. states of Ohio, Tennessee, and Washington.

These campuses collectively host 1,152 GPUs dedicated to AI and HPC workloads, complementing the firm’s ASIC-based mining operations. Moreover, the push into AI and HPC is reshaping the economics of traditional bitcoin mining, as operators repurpose or design facilities to service multiple high-density compute verticals.

The broader artificial intelligence sector’s growth has already influenced how miners approach capital allocation and energy procurement. That said, balancing power distribution between Bitcoin mining and AI compute will remain a key strategic question for operators like Bitdeer as they pursue diversified revenue streams.

MARA’s Antminer fleet and BTC treasury strategy

While Bitdeer emphasizes proprietary chips and AI infrastructure, MARA continues to rely heavily on Bitmain‘s Antminer ASICs. The company operates 18 data centers and reports an energized hashrate of 61.7 EH/s, signaling a large-scale, standardized fleet of third-party hardware.

MARA also follows a distinct balance sheet approach. The company maintains a strategy of retaining mined coins, holding more than 55,000 bitcoins, which constitutes the second-largest public miner treasury among listed firms. By comparison, Bitdeer holds 2,017 bitcoins, according to its disclosures, reflecting a more liquidity-focused stance.

This contrast underscores the broader bitdeer vs mara debate in the market: Bitdeer appears more willing to sell production and reinvest in infrastructure, while MARA leans on its bitcoin treasury as a strategic reserve. Moreover, MARA’s long-term holding policy could amplify upside or downside exposure to price cycles.

Outlook for large-scale Bitcoin miners

The rapid expansion of industrial miners since mid-2023, including Bitdeer and MARA, has reshaped competitive dynamics in the sector. Both companies now command tens of exahashes in capacity, yet they diverge in hardware strategy, capital allocation, and sensitivity to the AI infrastructure boom.

As mara energized hashrate and Bitdeer’s total hashrate continue to evolve, investors will likely focus on efficiency metrics, regulatory risk, and access to low-cost energy. Moreover, integration of AI and HPC workloads into existing mining campuses could become a decisive factor for long-term profitability and resilience.

In summary, Bitdeer’s 71 EH/s under management, SEALMINER-based efficiency gains, and AI-oriented data center buildout position it as a formidable rival to MARA. However, differences in metrics, hardware suppliers, and treasury management mean the leading role among public miners will remain contested as the market moves through the next phase of Bitcoin and AI expansion.