Riot plots aggressive hash rate growth via latest MicroBT deal

Crypto miner Riot Platforms has bought another 66,000+ machines as part of a deal with MicroBT that could ultimately help the company eclipse 100 exahash per second (EH/s) in mining capacity. 

The buy of MicroBT M66S model machines for $290.5 million is the largest hash rate purchase in Riot’s history, Riot CEO Jason Les said in a statement Monday. It amounts to approximately 18 EH/s of mining capacity.

The Colorado-based miner, which operates mainly in Texas, had 11.7 EH/s of deployed hash rate as of Oct. 31.

Its latest buy comes after Riot made a deal in June with the China-based bitcoin miner manufacturer in June to buy 33,280 machines — the initial order in what the company called a “long-term purchase agreement.”

Read more: Riot inks MicroBT deal to build bitcoin miners in US — not China

The company had secured the option to buy an additional 66,560 machines before the end of 2024. It chose to do so Monday, and it also updated the agreement to include the option to purchase up to 265,000 more MicroBT miners on the same terms as the new order.

Such future purchases would add 75 EH/s to the company’s self-mining capacity, pushing it above 100 EH/s.

Riot bought the 66,560 machines at a cost of $16 per terahash, the company said.

“The price of these future purchase options will not exceed our current order as announced today, giving Riot the ability to more effectively plan future capital requirements and providing protection from potentially higher market prices for miners in the future,” Les said in a statement. 

The crypto mining sector is expected to come under financial stress next year, with the next bitcoin halving — when per-block mining rewards will fall from 6.25 bitcoin (BTC) to 3.125 BTC — slated for April. 

Industry players have made moves of late.

Hut 8 and US Bitcoin Corp finalized their merger last week in a deal executives say helps diversify the business. Another Riot competitor, Marathon Digital, continues to expand geographically and diversify its mining methods.

Like Riot, Bitfarms last week made a big purchase, buying nearly 36,000 Bitmain T21 miners as part of “a transformative fleet upgrade plan.”

“To be a large scale miner you need to be bold and think two steps ahead of your peers who are also your competitors,” Dan Weiskopf, a co-portfolio manager of the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK), previously told Blockworks. 

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