Is keeping the coins different from buying bitcoin?

No. The owner who keeps pays the same power bill in cash and holds the coins the other owner sold. That is the same as selling them and buying them back each month with the power money. It comes out ahead when bitcoin is above the average price those coins were sold at.

When does keeping come out behind?

When bitcoin is below that average price. In a falling market the owner who keeps has paid cash for power and holds coins worth less than the cash. The chart shows each month when that was the case. There is no date by which a lower price must recover.

Why one machine from the first month?

It keeps the comparison simple: the same speed and power every month. A real fleet is upgraded over time, and a machine mines a little less bitcoin every month as difficulty rises, which the replay includes.

Transaction fees, pool fees, downtime and repairs. Fees added a few percent to miners' income in 2021 and 2024 and under one percent since mid-2025, so output reads slightly low. Both owners are affected the same way.

LiveBTC$76,716Hashprice$0.033/TH/dayDifficulty148.4 THalvingin 526 daysHosting space open atF49,F48,F39+7 moreas of 02:40 GST

Sell or keep calculator

Sell bitcoin to pay the power bill, or pay in cash and keep it?

An Antminer S19 mining since Jan 2022: keeping the coins is

+$6,515

ahead of selling them for power, valued at today's price of $76,716.

Selling wins only below: $41,538
Months keeping was behind: 12 / 58

Machine

Start mining in

FromTo

Power rate, US cents per kWh

¢/kWh

Keeping minus selling, at each month's close

Oct 2026 · +$6,675

Keeping aheadKeeping behind

Sells to pay power

Coins left

0.1114 BTC

Sold for power: 0.1852 BTC

Sold 0.1852 BTC for $7,693 to pay the power, and added $568 in cash in months when the coins did not cover it.

Pays in cash, keeps the coins

Coins kept

0.2966 BTC

Every coin kept

Paid $8,260 for power in cash.

What keeping is worth at real prices

Close of Oct 2026
$77,582
+$6,675
keeping ahead
Today
$76,716
+$6,515
keeping ahead
12-month high
$110,500
+$12,771
keeping ahead
All-time high
$126,080
+$15,656
keeping ahead

Keeping was behind at the close of 12 of 58 months, for example Jan 2022, Apr 2022, May 2022. It pays only if you can wait for a better price.

Ask about paying power in cash

Method and sources

Prices: Binance daily closes, averaged per month. Output: daily network difficulty (mempool.space) and the block reward of each day, fees left out. One machine at its rated speed, every hour of every month.

Sources: Binance · mempool.space · data to Oct 2026

Virtual assets may lose their value in full or in part and are subject to extreme volatility. Past prices do not tell you future prices. This calculator is for education and is not investment advice. Segments sells bitcoin mining hosting.

Pay upfront

Pay 12 or 24 months of hosting upfront

Settle the power bill ahead and you never have to sell mined bitcoin to pay it. You choose when to sell.

12 months upfront
5%
off the hosting for the term
24 months upfront
8%
off the hosting for the term

Your rate stays fixed for the whole term.
Each month is still billed on the kWh your machines actually use, paid from the prepaid balance. A machine that is off or in repair uses none.
Unused credit is refunded when you leave.
Pay from the client portal: Billing, then Prepay hosting.

Ask for a prepay quote

Virtual assets may lose their value in full or in part and are subject to extreme volatility. This is not investment advice.

Questions

Is keeping the coins different from buying bitcoin?: No. The owner who keeps pays the same power bill in cash and holds the coins the other owner sold. That is the same as selling them and buying them back each month with the power money. It comes out ahead when bitcoin is above the average price those coins were sold at.
When does keeping come out behind?: When bitcoin is below that average price. In a falling market the owner who keeps has paid cash for power and holds coins worth less than the cash. The chart shows each month when that was the case. There is no date by which a lower price must recover.
Why one machine from the first month?: It keeps the comparison simple: the same speed and power every month. A real fleet is upgraded over time, and a machine mines a little less bitcoin every month as difficulty rises, which the replay includes.
What is left out?: Transaction fees, pool fees, downtime and repairs. Fees added a few percent to miners' income in 2021 and 2024 and under one percent since mid-2025, so output reads slightly low. Both owners are affected the same way.

Read what the 2028 halving means for a miner, or see hosting with Segments.