Bitcoin: Miners Turn to Zcash for Higher Profitability

Zcash mining currently yields much more per unit of electricity than Bitcoin mining. At the beginning of September, an Antminer Z15 Pro generated about 708 dollars in gross revenue per megawatt-hour consumed, compared to 179 dollars for an Antminer S23 Pro dedicated to BTC. The ratio therefore approaches 4 to 1. This figure does not correspond to net profit: electricity, hosting, maintenance, and depreciation still need to be paid. But it is enough to explain why new miners are now looking much more closely at Zcash.

Bitcoin is Outpaced in Revenue Generated per Megawatt-Hour

The first figure is hard to ignore. At the end of August, an Antminer Z15 Pro yielded about 727.30 dollars per MWh. By early September, the figure had dropped to 708 dollars. In the same comparison, the S23 Pro dedicated to Bitcoin runs around 179 dollars. An older S21 Pro drops to 113.45 dollars.

However, Cointribune noted this week an improvement in BTC mining: the hashprice increased by 22.24% in one month to reach 39.63 dollars per PH/s per day. Bitcoin miners’ revenues are rebounding, but the hashrate does not follow.

This is not enough to close the gap. The ratio between 708 and 179 is about 3.96. That is where the “four times more” mentioned in current comparisons comes from.

However, it is necessary to specify what we are talking about. This calculation compares the gross revenue produced by the same amount of energy. It does not mean that a Zcash miner automatically pockets four times more profit than a Bitcoin miner.

The machines, their prices, their lifespan, and availability are not the same. An operator who already owns a center filled with S23 Pros cannot simply decide, Monday morning, to mine Zcash with these devices. Bitcoin uses SHA-256. Zcash operates with Equihash. The ASICs are specialized.

What the 708 Dollars per MWh Actually Represent

The Z15 Pro consumes about 2.78 kW. At full load over twenty-four hours, that amounts to nearly 66.7 kWh. With a gross yield of 708 dollars per MWh, a machine currently produces around 47 dollars of revenue per day before expenses. The Energy Mag arrives at the same order of magnitude.

Electricity then rapidly changes the outcome. At 0.05 dollars per kWh, 66.7 kWh costs slightly more than 3.30 dollars per day. At 0.10 dollars, the energy bill increases to about 6.70 dollars.

This is still not profit. Hosting costs must be deducted when externalized, pool fees, fans, maintenance, downtime, taxes, and especially depreciation of the Z15 Pro.

The same goes for Bitcoin. For this reason, revenue per MWh is primarily useful to industrial operators. They already have a certain amount of electricity and must decide which machine deserves to consume it.

The reasoning then changes completely. The question is no longer: “Which crypto is worth the most?” It becomes: “Which computing load best transforms my megawatt into dollars today?”

In this precise ranking, Zcash clearly outperforms Bitcoin. But it is not first. Some sources cite about 941 dollars per MWh for certain AI cloud loads. The Z15 Pro ranks between artificial intelligence and BTC mining.

The Rise of ZEC Has Shaken Miners’ Calculations

This performance difference primarily comes from Zcash’s price. The ZEC surpassed 1,000 dollars on September 4, after previously trading below 900 dollars during earlier profitability estimates. The Z15 Pro earned 727.30 dollars per MWh on August 24, when ZEC was at a lower level.

The token’s rise mechanically increases the dollar value of rewards received by miners. But another event happened almost simultaneously. Grayscale’s Zcash ETF, ZCSH, began trading on NYSE Arca on August 25. The SEC had made its registration effective the day before. The product holds ZEC directly.

Two weeks later, assets under management exceeded 500 million dollars. Grayscale reported cumulative inflows of more than 70 million dollars since the start of trading, in addition to a previously announced investment of 100 million dollars.

The timing is interesting. It does not allow us to claim that the ETF alone pushed ZEC above 1,000 dollars. Several factors can move an asset so quickly. Nevertheless, it shows that a new financial demand arose at the same time mining revenues exploded.

Zcash also has a mechanism Bitcoin miners know well: proof-of-work, capped maximum supply of 21 million units, and rewards distributed to those securing the network.

The similarity then partly stops. Zcash adds privacy features and uses a different algorithm. For investors, these are two assets. For a data center operator, they are primarily two different ways to monetize electricity.

Cypherpunk and Foundry Already Arrive with Industrial Means

The profitability increase did not remain long reserved for small miners. On August 18, Cypherpunk Technologies announced a 33.33 million dollar operation with Winklevoss Capital to build what it presents as the world’s largest Zcash mining fleet.

The deployed power reaches about 4.2 GSol/s. At the time of the announcement, this represented nearly 18% of the total sol rate of Zcash. The machines are installed in the United States. Cypherpunk also states that about 43,800 ZEC are distributed every month to the network miners.

This is not the only institutional arrival. Foundry, already leading a major Bitcoin mining infrastructure, launched this year a pool dedicated to Zcash. The service specifically targets companies and professional miners, with KYC, AML procedures, and reporting adapted to companies.

This movement matters. Zcash had long maintained a mining industry much smaller than Bitcoin’s. The arrival of public companies, large pools, and capital is gradually changing the scale.

And the effects are already visible in the network figures. At the end of August, the sol rate was around 25 GSol/s. Early September, it surpassed 30 GSol/s. More than 20% increase in a few days.

It is estimated that such an addition would equate to almost 6,000 additional Z15 Pros if it came solely from this model. The network actually uses several types of machines, so this number mainly serves as a power equivalent. Miners saw the revenues. They came.

The More Zcash Attracts Miners, the More the Advantage Shrinks

This is already the paradox of the moment. The ZEC crypto increased between August 24 and early September. Yet, the Z15 Pro revenue fell from 727.30 to 708 dollars per MWh. About 3% less.

Why?

Because the sol rate increased faster. The available rewards do not simply multiply because more machines join the network. They must be shared among more computing power.

A miner thus recovers a smaller share. This mechanism also exists on Bitcoin. When a hashprice improvement attracts additional ASICs, competition increases. Difficulty eventually adjusts and part of the margin disappears.

On Zcash, the process can be much more brutal because the network is smaller. A few new GSol/s already represent a significant portion of total power. For a company now considering ordering several thousand machines, the 708 dollars per MWh therefore does not guarantee 2027.

They describe September 2026. That’s all. Calculations can change if ZEC declines, if the sol rate accelerates again, if the price of Z15 Pros increases, or if electricity becomes more expensive. A high yield precisely attracts what eventually reduces it: new competitors.

Bitcoin Remains Immense, But Its Miners Are Going Through a Difficult Year

The fact that Zcash yields more per MWh does not mean that its industry has become larger than Bitcoin’s. Bitcoin remains far ahead in network value, computing power, industrial investments, liquidity, and mining ecosystem size.

The problem is rather margin compression. In June, JPMorgan estimated that 15 to 20% of Bitcoin miners were operating at a loss under conditions observed at that time. 20% of Bitcoin miners in the red, according to JPMorgan

Canaan’s results published on September 8 provide a concrete example. The company produced 243 BTC in the second quarter of 2026. Its mining revenues reach 17.7 million dollars, versus 28.1 million a year earlier.

Canaan reports an average competitive electricity cost of about 0.043 dollars per kWh. Even with this cheap electricity, the period was not easy. Mining activity costs reached 20.4 million dollars for the quarter, an amount that includes electricity, hosting, and machine depreciation.

Bitcoin has since rebounded and the hashprice has improved. Yet not all miners rush to add machines. The hashrate remains below the previous peak, while some companies now seek another use for their data centers. Zcash arrives precisely at the right time to take advantage of this hesitation.

AI Now Competes with Bitcoin and Zcash for the Same Megawatts

The real competitor to crypto mining might not actually be another blockchain.

It is AI. Large miners already own what artificial intelligence companies seek: available electricity, land, network connections, data centers, and experience in operating intensive computing loads.

Several Bitcoin mining players have therefore started signing high-performance computing contracts. Cointribune has already observed this migration: some operators reserve a growing share of their electrical capacity to AI rather than BTC. The rush of miners towards AI weighs on Bitcoin’s hashrate

Some cloud AI loads would generate around 941 dollars per MWh. Zcash is around 708. Bitcoin, with the S23 Pro used in the comparison, is around 179. These are not three perfectly interchangeable activities.

Converting a mining site into an AI data center requires significant investments: cooling, fiber, guaranteed availability, GPU servers, and long-term contracts. But this is now the comparison financial management is making.

Each megawatt can be allocated somewhere. Bitcoin must therefore defend the electricity that powers it not only against other proof-of-work cryptos but also against clients capable of signing multi-year contracts for AI computing.

Zcash currently benefits from a rare window. Its crypto has risen sharply. The number of miners has not yet fully caught up with the price. The energy revenue remains almost four times higher than that of Bitcoin taken as reference.

This window can last. It can also close quickly. The sol rate has already increased by more than 20%, and the Z15 Pro revenue has declined despite the rise in ZEC. The market is already doing its job.

For miners, the conclusion is therefore less spectacular than the 4x ratio. Zcash currently yields much more per megawatt-hour. Bitcoin remains a much deeper industry. And AI pays even more in some configurations. Three markets. One resource: electricity.