Even while a crypto miner was aggressively selling bitcoin and its peers were compelled by the bear market, the miner continued
Even while a crypto miner was aggressively selling bitcoin and its peers were compelled by the bear market, the miner continued to do so.
Riot Blockchain (RIOT), one of the largest bitcoin miners in the U.S., started shifting its bitcoin mining rigs from a hosting site in New York to its own mine in Texas, with an aim to reduce expenses.
In a statement on Wednesday, Riot Blockchain said that the transition away from Coinmint's facility in Massena, New York to its Whinstone mine in Rockdale, Texas will bring down electricity costs and eliminate third party hosting fees. About 5,700 of Riot's mining rigs are offline as a result of the move and the rest of its fleet will likely be shipped in July, according to the statement.
Riot explained that the transition is partly a miner swap agreement. Bit Digital (BTBT) said it signed with Riot on June 9 to swap its brand new machines with Riot's operational ones in Massena. BTBT's hashrate has declined since it moved its operations out of China following a crackdown last year.
RIOT said that it received 1,273 Antminer S19j Pro machines from manufacturer Bitmain in June, deployed another 4,676 in its immersion-cooled buildings and has a further 6,324 "ready for deployment." The company expects 6,333 more S19j Pros to arrive this month.
In the past few months, bitcoin miners have been limited by the lack of rack space. Riot is trying to expand capacity at its Whinstone facility by 400 MW, which would make it the largest mine in the U.S.
In June, the miner produced 421 bitcoin, less than in May (466 BTC). The company lowered its hashrate estimate for the year to 12.5 EH/s. This is a decrease from June's forecast, which was 12.6 EH/s by January 2023 and below May's prediction of 12.8 EH/s.
Riot Blockchain has been selling bitcoin every month since February, but the sales are becoming less profitable. In June, it made $6.2 million by selling 300 bitcoins; in May, it made $7.5 million by selling 250 bitcoins. Before that, the company held onto its bitcoin production. RIOT continues to take a "long-term view on its Bitcoin holdings and believes that it is in the best interest of shareholders to have strong Bitcoin holdings," as stated in a Wednesday statement.
As the price of bitcoin and ether has fallen, miners have been selling their holdings to cover costs and loan obligations.
