Bitcoin appears to be breaking away from the bear market it experienced through most of 2018 and a good portion of this year. Among those hurt the most were mining facilities, which found themselves in a situation where they had to shut down a significant portion of their operations and even sell some of their equipment by the kilogram.
November marked the peak of this period, with hashrates dropping significantly as it was no longer feasible for many to justify the cost of electricity for the meager returns they were getting. This, coupled with the added maintenance required for the ASICs powering these mining centers, made the entire market experience a downturn.
Since the beginning of 2019, however, it seems that many miners were coming back online, hopeful that profitability will return once Bitcoin breaks from its bear trend.