Bitcoin mining was far less profitable in August than in July, with the average price of bitcoin falling more than 4 per cent and the average network arithmetic rising about 2.7 per cent, investment bank Jefferies said in a research report on Wednesday. As a result, miners' average monthly daily earnings fell 11.8 per cent from the previous month. Analysts wrote: ‘September will be another tough month as the bitcoin price remains below $60,000 while network arithmetic continues to climb.’ The bitcoin hash rate is a proxy for the industry's competition and the difficulty of mining.