Bitcoin's Share of PoW Mining Rewards Now Above 80%

Bitcoin miners were paid over $15 million worth of the cryptocurrency as incentive to mine blocks and secure the network on Jan. 9.

The total rewards paid across bitcoin, ethereum and other major PoW cryptocurrencies including zcash, litecoin, ethereum classic, bitcoin cash and bitcoin SV were just a bit more than $18 million.

Essentially, bitcoin miners were responsible for nearly 83 percent of the total mining rewards paid across major PoW blockchains.

Since mid-2017, bitcoin miners' salary share has increased by 250 percent, while that of ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has dropped significantly.

Bitcoin's share of PoW mining could grow even larger in the future as ethereum and other blockchains begin shifting to proof-of-stake, which is less energy-intensive consensus mechanism, said Ali.Ethereum is expected to complete the transition from PoW to PoS by 2022.

Another factor that could affect miner's income and influence bitcoin's share of PoW mining is the reward halving due in four months.

The rewards received for per block mined on bitcoin's blockchain will be reduced from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC sometime in May. Mining costs will double post halving and that could crowd out weak miners, causing changes between supply and demand.

RRMine's Tsou said miners' income will rise if halving creates a supply deficit, pushing prices above mining costs.

That could also boost bitcoin's share of PoW mining - more so, as increased profitability may attract miners from other chains.

If prices drop sharply, controlling cost will be a challenge and miners may exit, possibly leading to a drop in bitcoin's share of PoW mining.