Every “most profitable Bitcoin miner” list you have ever read was a snapshot. It told you what earned the most yesterday. That is a useful number and a terrible way to choose hardware, because a Bitcoin miner is not a day trade — it is a five-to-seven-year position in a market whose revenue per terahash has fallen by more than three orders of magnitude this century.

So we did the opposite of a snapshot. We reconstructed the network’s daily hashprice for every day since January 2013 from block subsidy, block count, Bitcoin’s price and network hashrate, then pushed fourteen real Bitcoin miner generations through that timeline — from the 180 GH/s Antminer S1 to the 1.16 PH/s Antminer S23 Hyd 3U shipping today. Each unit runs when revenue covers its power bill, curtails when it does not, and retires after a sustained year below cost.

As of today the network sits at 936.9 EH/s with Bitcoin at $78,297 and difficulty at 127.45 T, which puts subsidy-only hashprice at $37.61 per PH/s per day — the level Hashrate Index and CoinWarz have been tracking through the post-halving grind, and roughly a 98.6% decline from where the S1 was mining. Every figure below is computed from that same series. Nothing here is copied from a calculator screenshot.

First, the stakes: why the wrong power price quietly erodes a decade

Electricity is 75–85% of the ongoing cost of running a Bitcoin miner. Everything else — pool fees, firmware, racking, your time — fights over the remainder. That ratio is why a difference of a few cents per kilowatt-hour does not trim your margin. It decides whether you have a margin at all.

Run the century’s champion at two power prices and watch what happens:

Same machine. Same century. Same Bitcoin price, the same difficulty adjustments, the same bull run and the same drawdown. The only variable is the number on the power contract, and it took $6,707 per unit and three years of productive life off the table. Scale that to a ten-unit rack and the power price alone was a $67,070 decision.

This pattern repeats across every generation we modelled, and it gets worse as machines get better: the more efficient the fleet, the thinner the energy margin per terahash, and the more brutally the power price sorts winners from write-offs.

How we ranked them

One model, one basis, no exceptions — so no table on this page can contradict another.

• Revenue. Daily hashprice = block subsidy × 144 blocks × BTC price ÷ network hashrate, computed for every day from 2013 to 9 September 2026 using network hashrate and price history, with subsidy stepped at each halving (25 → 12.5 → 6.25 → 3.125 BTC).
• Costs. Power at the unit’s real wattage, billed only on days the machine runs. We model both $0.048/kWh — the OneMiners network average — and $0.12/kWh, a realistic residential rate in much of North America and Europe.
• Operator behaviour. A unit curtails when revenue drops below its power bill and restarts when it recovers. It retires after 365 consecutive days below cost, or at eight years, whichever comes first. This is how real fleets behave, and it matters: a rule that retires a machine at the first bad month would have thrown away the S19’s entire 2021.
• Primary ranking metric = lifetime net revenue per unit at $0.048/kWh. Return multiple (net ÷ launch price) is shown alongside, because the two ranks are almost opposites and that tension is the real story.
• Limits, stated plainly. Hashprice here is subsidy-only, so it understates revenue by roughly 0.5–3% depending on the fee environment. We assume full uptime while running and no pool fee. Launch prices are the widely reported MSRPs of the day, and they are the softest input in the model — so every multiple is shown with the capital that produced it, and you can substitute your own. Independent cross-checks: asicprofit.com and btcfq.com.

The century’s most profitable Bitcoin miners

Bitcoin miner	J/TH	Launch price	Life	Net @ $0.048	Return	Net @ $0.12	Return
Antminer S19May 2020 · 95 TH/s	34.2	$2,400	6.3 yr	$14,970	6.2×	$8,263	3.4×
Antminer S19j ProAug 2021 · 104 TH/s	29.5	$9,000	5.1 yr	$10,813	1.2×	$5,453	0.6×
Antminer S17 ProApr 2019 · 53 TH/s	39.5	$2,700	7.4 yr	$10,765	4.0×	$5,733	2.1×
Whatsminer M20SSep 2019 · 68 TH/s	49.4	$1,700	7.0 yr	$10,217	6.0×	$4,483	2.6×
Antminer S9Jun 2016 · 13.5 TH/s	98.0	$2,100	7.1 yr	$9,105	4.3×	$5,597	2.7×
Antminer S21 XP HydMar 2025 · 473 TH/s	12.0	$6,199	1.5 yr	$7,444	1.2×	$2,239	0.4×
Antminer S19 XPJul 2022 · 141 TH/s	21.5	$8,500	4.2 yr	$6,885	0.8×	$1,162	0.1×
Antminer S21Jan 2024 · 200 TH/s	17.5	$3,800	2.7 yr	$5,620	1.5×	$1,058	0.3×
Antminer S23 Hyd 3UMar 2026 · 1,160 TH/s	9.5	$28,399	0.5 yr	$5,101	0.2×	$1,431	0.1×
Antminer S1Dec 2013 · 0.18 TH/s	2,000.0	$300	3.1 yr	$4,462	14.9×	$4,216	14.1×
Antminer S7Sep 2015 · 4.73 TH/s	273.4	$480	4.9 yr	$3,723	7.8×	$1,828	3.8×
Antminer S23 HydMar 2026 · 580 TH/s	9.5	$12,299	0.5 yr	$2,550	0.2×	$715	0.1×
Antminer S9jJul 2018 · 14.5 TH/s	94.1	$1,000	5.1 yr	$2,060	2.1×	$59	0.1×
Antminer S5Dec 2014 · 1.16 TH/s	510.8	$370	4.4 yr	$1,311	3.5×	$541	1.5×

Ranked by lifetime net revenue per unit at $0.048/kWh. Bitcoin miners still in the catalogue link to their product page; retired generations show a manufacturer product photo. The Antminer S1 and S5 are shown without one — we could not verify a photograph of those two models, and we would rather leave the cell blank than show you the wrong hardware.

The S19 cleared about $14,970 net per unit over 6.3 years at $0.048/kWh — a 6.2× return on $2,400 of capital, and roughly $238 of lifetime revenue for every terahash it carried. It needed only 271 curtailment days in six years to get there.

What made it the champion was timing, not silicon. It was bought when hashprice was near a cycle low, at a price that had not yet been bid up by a bull market, and it was still efficient enough to survive the 2022 drawdown. Six years on it is finally at the edge: its energy-only breakeven is about $0.0458/kWh, which is now marginally under the OneMiners network average. It is a unit finishing its career, not starting one — and it finished as the century’s top earner.

Net revenue of $10,813 per unit puts it second on the century list. But it launched in August 2021, at the top of the post-China-migration scramble, when a 104 TH/s Bitcoin miner cleared roughly $9,000. That capital turned a strong Bitcoin miner into a 1.2× return — barely above break-even — while the older, worse, cheaper S19 returned 6.2×.

At $0.12/kWh the same unit returns 0.6× and gives up 873 days to curtailment. Buy the cycle, not the spec sheet.

The S17 Pro has a reputation for hardware faults, and it earned it. It also earned $10,765 net per unit and about $305 of lifetime revenue per terahash. It arrived in April 2019 at 39.5 J/TH, which was enough to stay above water through two halvings when it was hosted on genuinely cheap power. At $0.12/kWh it retired in 2023; at $0.048/kWh it was still turning a margin years later. Longevity is a power-price outcome.

MicroBT’s M20S returned $10,217 at $0.048/kWh on $1,700 of capital. It also sat idle 837 days — more than two years of its life — and still cleared 6.0×. That is the argument for buying robust, cheap terahash rather than premium terahash: a unit does not need every day of the decade to work, it needs the good ones.

The S9 launched in June 2016 into a 1.5 EH/s network — today’s network is over 600 times larger. It cleared $9,105 net on $2,100, a 4.3× return across 7.1 years, and it mined the entire 2017 run at hashprice levels that will not be seen again. At 98 J/TH it finally retired in 2023 even on cheap power; at $0.12/kWh it was finished by 2020 — three years earlier.

There is a reason every miner over 35 has a story about an S9. There is also a reason nobody is buying one now: efficiency is a clock, and its time ran out.

The S21 XP Hyd has produced $7,444 net per unit in 1.5 years — it has never once had to shut off at $0.048/kWh, because at 12 J/TH its energy-only breakeven is $0.1306/kWh. At $0.12/kWh it has already lost 159 days to curtailment and sits at 0.4×. The gap between those two outcomes, on a Bitcoin miner barely out of warranty, is the clearest preview of the next decade on this page.

On paper the S19 XP was a leap: 21.5 J/TH against the S19’s 34.2, a genuine engineering achievement. In practice it shipped in July 2022 at roughly $8,500 into a collapsing hashprice, and four years of flawless operation have produced $6,885 — still short of the ticket. At $0.12/kWh it is at 0.1× with 1001 idle days.

The postscript is the sharpest number in this article. That same S19 XP, 141 TH/s and working, is in our catalogue today at $410 — about 95% below its launch price. Efficiency depreciates faster than almost any asset class you will ever own. Which is precisely why the purchase price and the power price, not the datasheet, decide the outcome.

A 180 GH/s Bitcoin miner at 2,000 J/TH sounds absurd now — it is roughly 200 times less efficient than an S23 Hyd. But in December 2013 the entire network was a rounding error, and the S1 earned $26,244 of lifetime revenue per terahash: about 3,700 times what a machine bought today earns per terahash. It cleared $4,462 on a $300 unit before retiring in 2016.

The honest lesson is not “you missed it.” It is that the return multiple in mining has always been paid for scarcity of hashrate, and the only lever you still control over a seven-year hold is your cost per kilowatt-hour. The S1’s edge is gone forever. The power edge is available this afternoon.

The inversion nobody prices in

Stack the two rankings side by side and they run in opposite directions. By absolute net revenue the century belongs to the big, late, expensive units. By return multiple it belongs to the small, early, cheap ones.

Ranked by return multiple	Return	Net per unit	Capital	Lifetime revenue / TH
1. Antminer S1Dec 2013 · 0.18 TH/s	14.9×	$4,462	$300	$26,244
2. Antminer S7Sep 2015 · 4.73 TH/s	7.8×	$3,723	$480	$1,119
3. Antminer S19May 2020 · 95 TH/s	6.2×	$14,970	$2,400	$238
4. Whatsminer M20SSep 2019 · 68 TH/s	6.0×	$10,217	$1,700	$249
5. Antminer S9Jun 2016 · 13.5 TH/s	4.3×	$9,105	$2,100	$899
6. Antminer S17 ProApr 2019 · 53 TH/s	4.0×	$10,765	$2,700	$305

Return multiple = lifetime net revenue at $0.048/kWh divided by launch price.

What this means for the Bitcoin miner you buy in 2026

At today’s $37.61/PH/day, here is the live catalogue run through the same model: payback at the OneMiners network average, daily margin at a residential rate, and the energy-only breakeven power price each unit can survive.

Bitcoin miner	Price	$ / TH	Net / day @ $0.048	Payback	Net / day @ $0.12	Breakeven $/kWh
Antminer S19 XP 141141 TH/s · 21.50 J/TH	$410	$2.91	$1.81	7.4 mo	−$3.43	$0.0729
Antminer S19k Pro 110110 TH/s · 23.00 J/TH	$297	$2.70	$1.22	8.0 mo	−$3.15	$0.0681
Antminer S21e Hyd 310310 TH/s · 17.00 J/TH	$1,399	$4.51	$5.59	8.2 mo	−$3.52	$0.0922
Antminer S21 200200 TH/s · 17.60 J/TH	$907	$4.54	$3.47	8.6 mo	−$2.62	$0.0890
Antminer S21e XP Hyd 3U860 TH/s · 13.00 J/TH	$7,499	$8.72	$19.46	12.7 mo	$0.14	$0.1205
WhatsMiner M73S 560560 TH/s · 13.50 J/TH	$5,996	$10.71	$12.35	16.0 mo	−$0.71	$0.1161
Whatsminer M79S1,350 TH/s · 14.81 J/TH	$14,559	$10.78	$27.73	17.3 mo	−$6.83	$0.1058
Antminer S21 XP Hyd 473473 TH/s · 12.00 J/TH	$6,199	$13.11	$11.25	18.1 mo	$1.44	$0.1306
SealMiner A3 Pro660 TH/s · 12.50 J/TH	$9,499	$14.39	$15.32	20.4 mo	$1.06	$0.1254
Antminer S23 Hyd 580580 TH/s · 9.50 J/TH	$12,299	$21.21	$15.46	26.1 mo	$5.94	$0.1649
Antminer S23e Hyd 2U865 TH/s · 10.00 J/TH	$19,440	$22.47	$22.56	28.3 mo	$7.62	$0.1567
Antminer S23 Hyd 3U1,160 TH/s · 9.50 J/TH	$28,399	$24.48	$30.93	30.2 mo	$11.89	$0.1649

Computed 9 September 2026 at $37.61/PH/s/day, static hashprice, subsidy only. Breakeven $/kWh = hashprice ÷ (24 × J/TH). Prices and photos pulled live from the OneMiners catalogue.

Three things fall straight out of that table, and all three are the century’s lessons repeating:

• Payback and power rank almost opposite. The quickest payback in the catalogue is the $410 S19 XP at 7.4 months. The biggest daily margin is the S23 Hyd 3U at $30.93/day — and the longest payback at 30.2 months. Neither is wrong. They answer different questions.
• Cheap terahash is fragile terahash. That same S19 XP survives only to $0.0729/kWh. The S23 Hyd survives to $0.1649/kWh. You are choosing between a quick return and a long one, and the century says the long one only pays if your power price is genuinely low.
• At $0.12/kWh, five of these twelve Bitcoin miners lose margin every single day — before rent, cooling or a single fee. Not one of them does at $0.048/kWh, where the whole catalogue pays back inside 7–30 months.

The one clear #1: it was never the hardware

Fourteen generations, thirteen years, one conclusion. Not one unit on this list won or lost on its datasheet. The S19 beat the S19 XP while being 60% less efficient. The M20S cleared six times its cost while idle for two of its seven years. And every single unit we modelled — the champion included — lost between a third and all of its lifetime return when we moved it from $0.048/kWh to $0.12/kWh.

The most profitable Bitcoin miner of the century was whichever one sat on the cheapest contracted power. That is the asset. The hardware is the delivery mechanism.

It is also the one variable OneMiners was built to fix. The network runs 20 hosting sites, roughly 2,163 MW, at an average of $0.0480/kWh — from $0.048/kWh in Nigeria to $0.079/kWh in Czechia — with 0% management fees, a 7-year hosted hardware warranty, 98%+ average uptime against a 95%+ guarantee, on-site repair centres, and AI Smart Mining handling pool switching so a unit is not sitting idle through a window it could have worked. You own the Bitcoin miner outright. We run the part that decided every result on this page.

Frequently asked

Final thoughts

The century’s record is unusually clean on this point. The Bitcoin miners that won were not the best ones. They were ordinary units bought at unremarkable prices and then run, for years, on power that never repriced. The units that lost were often the finest engineering of their generation, bought at the top and plugged into a tariff.

You cannot buy 2013’s hashrate scarcity and you cannot forecast the next halving cycle. You can control what you pay for a Bitcoin miner and what you pay to run it — and this study says that is where the entire outcome lives.

Compare hosting rates across the OneMiners network

Disclaimer. This article is research and education, not financial advice. Every figure is a model built on the stated basis and assumptions, computed on 9 September 2026, and historical performance says nothing about future results. Mining revenue varies with Bitcoin’s price, network difficulty, transaction fees, uptime and your power rate; launch prices used in the lifetime model are the widely reported MSRPs of the period and are the least precise input here. Verify current prices and hosting rates on oneminers.com before making any purchase.