Swan Bitcoin purchasing miners to bolster institutional offering

Swan, a bitcoin-focused financial services company, announced Thursday that it has been building out a bitcoin mining arm since the summer of 2023. Swan also said it is eyeing a Series C, and is hoping to become publicly traded within the next year.

Swan Mining will run under Swan Institutional, a recently-announced division that also plans to offer bitcoin-backed lending, advisor services, asset management, private equity and a bitcoin trust company.

The announcement comes at a turbulent moment for bitcoin mining companies. Mining stocks broadly surged in anticipation of spot bitcoin ETF approval but have fallen since. Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Miners ETF is down nearly 33% in 2024. Core Scientific recently managed to emerge from the bankruptcy it entered in December 2022 but saw its price plummet after being re-listed on the Nasdaq.

Among the major tailwinds for miners is the upcoming bitcoin halving, when rewards earned for mining will be cut in half.

Swan said in late 2023 it was generating $125 million in annualized revenue. CEO Cory Klippsten told Blockworks in an interview that at that time — as well as now — mining was Swan’s biggest source of top-line revenue.

Klippsten said the firm’s goal is to have half of its mining rigs in the US and half abroad, but declined to disclose where most of its rigs are currently.

In a press release, Swan said that its miners were capable of producing 4.5 exahashes per second (EH/s). It hopes to raise that figure to eight EH/s by March.

For context, mining giant Marathon Digital said its hash rate reached 23.1 EH/s in November. Swan is more on par with Australian mining firm Iris Energy, which currently boasts six EH/s. At time of publication, the global bitcoin hashrate is roughly 532 EH/s, according to the hashrate tracker on CoinWarz. By the numbers, Swan contributes a little under 1% of all bitcoin mining power.

Swan is looking to raise a Series C. Klippsten said the target amount for the raise is in flux, though he cited the company’s previous mention of $150 million.

Klippsten said Swan’s bitcoin lending service should launch in February. The firm also plans to go public in the next year following a “ton of work with auditors and lawyers and bankers.”

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