Wall Street broker Bernstein said bitcoin miners are fast becoming an essential part of the AI value chain.
Strong bitcoin mining performance and data center expansion drive momentum.
Alongside, JPMorgan downgraded IREN and CleanSpark
The bank updated its miner estimates to reflect second-quarter earnings and changes to the network hashrate and the bitcoin price.
The bank increased its CleanSpark, Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings price targets.
The bitcoin miner also advanced plans to build massive data centers in Texas to support AI workloads.
Jonathan Gibbs will lead Riot’s push into enterprise-grade data centers for AI and cloud computing.
Riot Platforms sold 475 Bitcoin worth $38.8 million in December as profit margins narrow throughout the mining sector. The Colorado firm, the second-largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner by market capitalization, sold the cryptocurrency at an average price of $81,731 per coin, Monday’s operations update disclosed. Related Reading: BNB Bulls Target $644 As Classic Chart Formation Emerges Mining Profits Narrow Following Bitcoin Halving Event The sell-off follows a year since Bitcoin’s fourth halving event, where mining rewards were halved. Miners now get 3.125 Bitcoin per block, down from 6.25, in a pre-programmed cut that happens every four years or so. The self-adjusting cut has tightened margins for mining operations that depend on a continuous stream of new tokens to pay for increasing expenses. Riot Platforms mined 463 Bitcoin last April, decreasing by 13% from the prior month though it sustained the same level of computing power. The firm tapped the remaining 12 Bitcoin from reserves for finishing the sale. Source: Riot Platforms CEO Defends Strategy As ‘Reducing’ Shareholder Dilution Throughout April, Riot said it made the strategic choice to sell its monthly production of bitcoin to finance continued growth and operations, Riot CEO Jason Les stated in the update. Les said selling Bitcoin lessens the company’s need to raise money by issuing new shares, which would dilute current shareholders’ ownership stakes. Riot Announces April 2025 Production and Operations Updates. “Riot mined 463 bitcoin in April as the network experienced two successive difficulty adjustments during the month,” said @JasonLes_, CEO of Riot. “April was a significant month for Riot as we closed on the acquisition… pic.twitter.com/0cSznh5fBM — Riot Platforms, Inc. (@RiotPlatforms) May 5, 2025 Even with the sell-off, Riot retains 19,211 Bitcoin on its balance sheet. That stash is valued at about $1.8 billion at current prices, demonstrating the company has substantial cryptocurrency holdings even as it sells some to cash out. Mining Difficulty Increases As Competition Heats Up The problems that Riot is experiencing are reflective of wider trends in Bitcoin mining. The difficulty level of the network, a measure of how difficult it is to mine new Bitcoin, was nearly a whopping 120 trillion hashes as of May 4. That’s a 35% increase from last year, according to CoinWarz data. As more miners vie for the same diminished payouts, each operation must increase electricity and equipment expenses in order to receive Bitcoin. This competition has constricted margins throughout the industry, compelling businesses to reassess their cash management practices. Source: Statista Related Reading: Is This The Spark? New Bitcoin Metric Points To Bullish Shift While Bitcoin has gained 45% in value over the past year and most recently traded over $95,000, it remains below its January peak of $109,000. This price retreat has further pressured mining companies already dealing with higher costs and lower production. Riot’s move underscores the tightrope Bitcoin miners walk: they have to balance short-term cash requirements with speculation on the future price tag of the most popular cryptocurrency. For the time being, at least one large player is opting for cash upfront over future potential. Featured image from Riot Platforms, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms has entered into a $100 million credit agreement with Coinbase, using its BTC holdings as collateral. According to the firm, the facility will be accessed through staged withdrawals over two months until the full $100 million is drawn. Riot confirmed that the capital will support expansion efforts and other corporate priorities. […]
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The funds will be used for strategic initiatives and general corporate purposes, and cash drawn from the line will carry at least a 7.75% interest rate.
Feasibility study confirms Corsicana Facility’s potential for AI/HPC growth as Riot delivers strong mining performance in March 2025.
Riot also announced it has hired investment banks Evercore and Northland Capital Markets to lead discussions with potential AI and HPC partners.
Riot mined 527 bitcoin in January, the highest amount since December 2023.
Grayscale has introduced a new crypto-related investment product focused on the Bitcoin mining sector, according to a Jan. 30 statement shared with CryptoSlate. The new product is called the Grayscale Bitcoin Miners ETF and is designed to track the performance of Bitcoin mining companies. The fund trades under the ticker MNRS on the New York Stock […]
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The move comes after another activist investor, Starboard, had taken a stake in the miner late last year.
CleanSpark joins MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms and Hut 8 Mining Corp as a major listed Bitcoin mining firm with 10,000 Bitcoin or more on its balance sheet.
In 2024, the combined market capitalization of public Bitcoin mining companies reached $50 billion for the first time.
Bitcoin miner Hive Digital will move its headquarters from Vancouver to Texas, saying Trump will make Bitcoin mining great again.
Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms has increased its BTC holdings with the addition of over 5,000 coins in the past few days. This significant purchase came on the back of reports that the miner was under pressure from activist investor Starboard Value. How Much BTC Does Riot Platforms Currently Own? On Friday, December 13, Riot […]
CleanSpark joins the crowd in raising funds through convertible notes, but doesn't plan to invest the proceeds.
Riot Platforms, a leading Bitcoin mining company, has acquired 5,113 BTC for $510 million. According to a Dec. 13 post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the company said the Bitcoin was bought at an average price of $99,669 per BTC, including fees and related expenses. With this acquisition, Riot’s Bitcoin holdings have […]
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The purchase came amid reports that the Bitcoin mining company was under pressure from activist investor Starboard Value.
The activist investor is said to be pushing Riot to optimize the use of its facilities the same way many of its colleagues already have.
Starboard is reportedly pushing the miner to convert some of its mining sites into data centers.
It comes as US Bitcoin miners have had to deal with delayed deliveries of Bitmain ASICs that have been stuck at US ports of entry for weeks.
If it follows through with its proposal, Riot Platforms will join many of its colleagues in paying top prices for BTC.
Despite announcing a strategic Bitcoin purchase plan, Riot Platforms’ shares fell nearly 10%. At the market opening on Dec. 9, the miner stock dropped by 7.1% to $12.03, reflecting a broader decline in crypto-related equities such as Coinbase, Marathon Digital, and CleanSpark, as reported by Yahoo Finance. This contrasts with the broader crypto market’s upward […]
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Two of the largest public Bitcoin miners — Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms — recorded their highest monthly Bitcoin production since the April halving event, despite the industry’s ongoing challenges with rising mining difficulty. On Nov. 4, Marathon Digital announced that it boosted its Bitcoin production by 2% to 717 BTC in October, marking its strongest […]
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Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les revealed substantial interest from “blue-chip” companies looking to partner with the Bitcoin miner on AI and high-performance computing (HPC) initiatives. Speaking during the Oct. 30 earnings call, Les explained that the company has received numerous inbound offers to secure large-scale power capacity. The\ inquiries come from highly credible, financially stable […]
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