Argo Blockchain PLC sees mining revenue rise in May despite Bitcoin halving

() has reported higher cryptocurrency mining revenues in May despite a reduction in the number of digital currency mined as a result of the Bitcoin ‘halving’ event.

The company reported mining revenue during the month of £1.93mln, up from £1.8mln in April, while the number of Bitcoin and Bitcoin equivalent mined fell to 252 from 319, which Argo said was largely a result of the Bitcoin halving.

READ: Argo Blockchain reports triple-digit rise in amount of Bitcoin mined in early 2020, appoints new CFO

A Bitcoin halving occurs around every four years and reduces the rate at which new Bitcoin enters circulation by making it twice as hard to mine a single Bitcoin. Historically, halvings tend to reduce the level of inflation and drive up Bitcoin prices, maintaining an incentive for miners to stay active despite the increased difficulty.

At the end of May, Argo said it held 117 Bitcoin equivalents, following its asset management strategy, while its total mining capacity stood at 18,000 machines.

“We were well prepared for the halving and our healthy mining margin post-halving shows that Argo was extremely well-positioned for this event”, Argo chief executive Peter Wall said in a statement.

“We believe Argo remains one of the most efficient publicly-traded cryptocurrency miners. This week will see another BTC mining difficulty adjustment and we expect a further drop of between 4-6% in difficulty based on current hashrate and projections. This change is expected to result in improvements to our overall mining margins”, he added.

Shares in Argo were 3.6% lower at 4.2p in early trading on Wednesday.