Riot Platforms’ Bitcoin holdings cross 10K BTC, production drops

Bitcoin ( BTC ) mining company Riot Platforms announced that it now holds over 10,000 Bitcoin, a 37% increase from the same period last year.

The company reported a 13% decrease in Bitcoin production in August 2024 compared to July. Bitcoin mining firms have been grappling with profitability challenges due to increasing energy costs and adjusting to the Bitcoin network’s halving event in April, which cut mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per 210,000 blocks.

As a result, Bitcoin miners are looking to diversify operations into data centers to boost revenue. However, running an artificial intelligence or high-performance data center is much more expensive than running a crypto mining facility.

Riot’s production drops, no Bitcoin sales in August 

Riot produced 322 Bitcoin in August, down from 370 in July. This also represents a roughly 3% decline compared to August 2023, when the company produced 333 Bitcoin. Unlike last year, when Riot sold 300 Bitcoin in August and generated $8.6 million in net proceeds, the company did not sell any Bitcoin this August.

“August is historically the hottest month of the year in Texas, resulting in some of the highest periods of demand on the ERCOT grid,” Jason Les, CEO of Riot, said in a statement . 

Source: Riot Platforms

Riot to focus on optimizing energy costs as miners struggle

Les said that the company optimized its energy costs while making more power available to the grid during periods of peak demand. As a result, Riot generated power credits in August that led to an all-in power cost at its Rockdale facility in Texas of $20 megawatt per hour (MWh).

The company’s Corsicana facility in Texas, which purchases energy at the real-time spot price, achieved an all-in power cost for the month of $39/MWh.

Riot’s unaudited Bitcoin production and operations update for August 2024. Source: Riot Platforms

Riot’s average operating hashrate in August was 14.5 exahashes per second (EH/s), a 7% decrease from July’s 15.5 EH/s but a significant 224% increase compared to August 2023.

A higher hashrate reflects the greater computing power needed to verify and add transactions to a cryptocurrency’s blockchain. This increased computational demand strengthens the security of the cryptocurrency, as it would take more miners, time, and energy to compromise the network.

Riot’s estimated hashrate growth. Source: Riot Platforms

Riot said it has also begun increasing the hashrate with its newly acquired Kentucky facilities, where it intends to achieve its third-quarter hashrate target of 28 EH/s and year-end hashrate growth target of 36 EH/s.

Related: Bitcoin mining CEO eyes hashrate contracts to offset rising costs

Riot Platforms did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Riot elaborates on expansion plans

The company said it is currently developing Phase 1 (400 MW) of its Corsicana Facility, which, once fully developed, is expected to total 1 gigawatt (1,000 MW) in developed mining capacity. Elaborating further, Les said:

“We have made significant progress towards completing the development of our third 100 MW building at the Corsicana Facility, Building B1, and the deployment of miners within it, which will be completed and operating at full capacity by the end of September.”

Riot, Bitfarms bickering continues

Riot Platforms is the largest shareholder in Bitcoin mining firm Bitfarms, with a 19.9% stake.  Riot has sent an open letter to Bitfarms' shareholders advocating for further changes to the company’s board of directors.

The shareholders’ meeting is set for Oct. 29, where Riot is anticipated to push for reforms aimed at enhancing governance and maximizing value for all shareholders.

The move comes after Bitfarms announced its acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining for about $125 million, which also takes into account assumed debt of about $50 million.

Bitfarms has issued a response to Riot Platforms’ open letter to shareholders, clarifying that the upcoming special shareholder meeting is unrelated to corporate governance matters.

Bitfarms contends that Riot Platforms’ proposed changes to the board are driven by its own interests. Additionally, Bitfarms emphasized that recent modifications to its board and management were made independently of Riot Platforms.

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