Riot Blockchain, a prominent Bitcoin mining company, has announced a significant expansion of its mining operations in preparation for the Bitcoin halving event scheduled for April 2024.
The company is acquiring 66,560 mining rigs from MicroBT, a leading manufacturer, marking one of the most substantial increases in hash rate capacity in Riot’s history.
This substantial purchase amounts to $290.5 million, averaging around $4,360 per machine.
The option to purchase these additional miners was part of Riot’s initial agreement with MicroBT when it initially procured 33,280 machines back in June.
This arrangement has been revised, allowing Riot the option to acquire up to 265,000 more miners under the same terms as the recent order.
Riot’s CEO, Jason Les, referred to this purchase as the “largest order of hash rate” in the company’s history and anticipates that the updated agreement will further enhance Riot’s mining performance.
Of the newly acquired miners, 72% will be MicroBT’s latest model, the M66S, boasting an impressive hash rate of 250 terahashes per second (TH/s).
The remaining machines will include the M66 (14,770) and M56S++ (3,720) models, adding a total of 18 exahashes per second (EH/s) to Riot’s mining operations.
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Riot plans to deploy the first batch of 33,280 miners from the June purchase in the first quarter of 2024, while the newly acquired 66,560 miners will be deployed in the second half of the same year.
The company expects its self-mining hash rate capacity to reach 38 EH/s once all 99,840 rigs are fully operational, which they anticipate happening in the second half of 2025.
Riot’s motivation for this significant expansion is primarily attributed to the upcoming Bitcoin halving event in April 2024, which is expected to impact Bitcoin mining rewards.
This news has driven positive investor sentiment, with Riot’s stock surging nearly 9% on December 4, leading to an impressive year-to-date growth of over 345% in 2023.
In other developments in the Bitcoin mining industry, CleanSpark reported mining 666 BTC in November, showcasing a 5.2% increase from October and a substantial 24% growth from the same period in 2022.
CleanSpark attributes this growth partly to rising transaction fees and the growing interest in Bitcoin’s various use cases.
TeraWulf, listed on Nasdaq, mined 323 BTC in November, a 3% increase from October, primarily driven by higher network transaction fees.
Additionally, Hut 8 completed its merger with Bitcoin Corp to form Hut 8 Corp, commencing trading on Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange on December 4, albeit with a less-than-ideal debut performance, experiencing a notable decline in its stock price on the same day.
