CleanSpark and Marathon Digital Report Record Bitcoin Mining Output Amid Rising Hashrate, Facing Legal Risks Over ECC Patents
Leading US Bitcoin miners CleanSpark and Marathon Digital posted record operational results for May 2025. CleanSpark mined 694 BTC—a 9.4% increase month-on-month—raising its hashrate to 45.6 EH/s and expanding its Bitcoin reserves to 12,502 BTC. Marathon Digital produced 950 BTC, up 35% from April, with a record 282 blocks mined, and grew its holdings to 49,179 BTC. Both companies attributed their gains to expanded power capacity, infrastructure upgrades, and in Marathon’s case, efficiencies from its self-operated mining pool. The strong May performance underscores miners’ resilience amid rising network hashrate and mining difficulty, driving both companies’ stocks higher. However, Marathon and fellow miner Core Scientific now face legal headwinds after Malikie Innovations filed lawsuits alleging infringement of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) patents—a move experts say targets financial settlements but raises sector-wide legal uncertainty. If successful, the suits could lead to additional costs and risks for public miners. Overall, the news spotlighted robust mining sector growth and strategic reserve management, while cautioning traders about potential legal and regulatory volatility in the industry.
Bullish
The record-breaking Bitcoin production and increasing reserves by CleanSpark and Marathon Digital reflect strong operational resilience and efficiency in the face of higher network hashrate and mining difficulty, which is fundamentally positive for Bitcoin’s ecosystem. The infrastructure expansion and improved production efficiency signal continued industry robustness and are likely to boost investor confidence in public mining companies, supporting BTC price stability or growth in the short term. However, legal challenges regarding ECC patents introduce uncertainty; while these lawsuits currently seem aimed at financial settlements rather than disrupting mining operations, successful litigation could impose additional costs and risks for miners over the longer term. Nevertheless, the immediate market impact remains positive due to strong production and positive stock movement.