Bitdeer Technologies Group has tested its SEAL02 chip, reaching an efficiency target in Bitcoin mining.
Bitdeer Technologies Group announced on Sept. 26 the successful testing of its latest (BTC) mining chip, SEAL02, via a press release.
The chip achieved a power efficiency ratio of 13.5 joules per terahash (J/TH). This result marks a significant step in the company’s SEALMINER technology roadmap, set in June 2024.
The SEAL02 chip was developed in partnership with TSMC, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, using one of the latest technologies available. The chip’s performance was verified during prototype testing, demonstrating its effectiveness in a power-saving mode.
At the time of writing, Bitdeer’s stock (ticker symbol BTDR) is up over 8%. Yesterday, its close price was $7.54 per share.
Bitdeer’s mining plans
The SEAL02 chip will be integrated into Bitdeer’s upcoming SEALMINER A2 mining machines, with mass production expected to begin in November 2024.
Additionally, Bitdeer is developing its next chip, SEAL03, which is on track for its planned release.
In May, Tether (USDT) entered a subscription agreement with Bitdeer to purchase up to $150 million worth of shares in a private placement. The deal included 18.6 million Class A shares and a warrant for an additional 5 million shares, raising $100 million, with potential for another $50 million if the warrant was exercised.
Bitdeer’s team of engineers focuses on various areas, including ASIC design, algorithm development, and platform architecture, as part of their broader efforts to contribute to the security of the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin mining involves using computers to solve complex problems that validate transactions on the blockchain. The more efficient a mining chip is, the less power it uses to earn Bitcoin, which can save costs for miners and reduce energy consumption.
H.C. Wainwright analysts believe Bitfarms’ stock is set for growth following a settlement with Riot Platforms that ends a six-month-long hostile takeover attempt.
Earlier on Sept. 23, Bitfarms and Riot Platforms reached an agreement to end Riot’s bid to take over the Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm.
According to H.C. Wainwright analysts, Bitfarms’ stock should hit $4 per share. The analysts maintained their “Buy” rating on Bitfarms, viewing the company’s shares as undervalued, according to a note shared with crypto.news.
At the time of writing, Bitfarms’ stock (NASDAQ: BITF) is trading at $2.06 per share. Based on 2024 revenue estimates, Bitfarms’ shares trade at roughly a 40% discount compared to other Bitcoin mining firms, the analysts noted.
Details of the Bitfarms deal
This deal marks the conclusion of Riot’s pursuit, which began in April when it offered $950 million to acquire Bitfarms – a proposal rejected by Bitfarms’ board as undervalued.
Following the rejection, Riot acquired 19.9% of Bitfarms’ outstanding shares and sought to change the board structure through a special shareholder meeting, a move that has now been withdrawn as part of the settlement.
Under the agreement, Bitfarms will expand its board to six members and will nominate an independent director, with Riot agreeing to support all proposed measures. Riot will also gain the right to acquire additional Bitfarms shares, provided it holds at least 15% of outstanding shares.
Analyst’s thoughts
According to the analysts, this agreement is a significant win for Bitfarms, removing a major overhang on the company’s shares.
The analysts noted that Bitfarms can now focus on its 2024 growth strategy, aiming to achieve its target of 21 exahashes per second by the end of next year. They view this as a crucial step for Bitfarms to regain investor confidence and execute its expansion plans without distraction.
The analysts also believe that this settlement benefits Riot, as it avoids the potential for a costly proxy battle with Bitfarms.
The analysts’ $4 price target is based on a 6.5x enterprise value-to-revenue multiple for 2024, which aligns with valuations applied to other Bitcoin mining peers. However, they caution that risks such as Bitcoin price volatility, construction delays, and potential shareholder dilution remain.
In the wake of the settlement, Bitfarms shares rose 1.7%, while Riot’s shares climbed 1.3%, reflecting the market’s positive reaction to the resolution.
On Sept. 19, Hut 8 announced a major hosting agreement with Bitmain, aiming to generate $125 million annually.
H.C. Wainwright analysts view this move positively as management shifts to offense and carries out a major deal. Under the deal, Hut 8 will deploy up to 15 exahashes per second of Bitmain’s U3S21EXPH ASIC miners by Q2 2025 at its new Texas-based site, according to an H.C. Wainwright release shared with crypto.news.
Mike Colonnese, H.C. Wainwright’s crypto analyst, anticipate this option could lift Hut 8’s self-mining hash rate from 4.7 EH/s to 19.7 EH/s, solidifying the company’s market position.
Colonnese highlighted the next-generation miners, featuring direct liquid cooling, are expected to triple computing power compared to existing models, offering a significant efficiency boost.
The agreement grants Hut 8 the option to purchase all deployed rigs within six months of activation at a competitive $21 per terahash, allowing the company to scale its self-mining operations.
“This unique hosting arrangement and miner purchase option structure provides Hut with three key benefits 1) stable, recurring hosting revenues from Bitmain that are not tethered to BTC price fluctuations, 2) the optionality to purchase and immediately convert up to 15 EH/s of the latest gen rigs to the company’s self mining fleet, which had a below average efficiency rating of 31.7 J/TH as of 2Q24, and 3) reduces upfront capital requirements.”
H.C. Wainwright analysts
Stable revenues
This partnership provides Hut 8 with stable, recurring revenues from Bitmain while mitigating Bitcoin (BTC) price volatility.
Additionally, the custom-built data center design, optimized for high-performance computing, will support up to 180 kilowatts per rack, ensuring operational synergies and future cost savings. With a projected 57% gross margin from this deal, Hut 8 is poised to enhance profitability despite recent Bitcoin price fluctuations.
Hut 8’s stock climbed 3.7% following the news, with market observers expecting further gains as the company completes its expansion.
The analysts reiterated a “Buy” rating, with a price target of $13.50, highlighting the company’s ability to self-fund the buildout using its $175.5 million cash reserve and 9,105 BTC holdings, valued at $558.2 million.
A long-dormant wallet, inactive since 2009, moved 250 BTC on Sept. 20, offering a rare look into the activities of a whale from the earliest days of Satoshi-era mining on desktop computers.
The transfer of “Satoshi era” Bitcoin (BTC) refer to the period when Bitcoin’s elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was actively engaging on online forums between 2009 and 2011.
During that time, Bitcoin was seldom spoken of in the mainstream media, much less on Bloomberg as Exchange Traded Funds. Yet a lot has changed since the early days of cryptocurrency.
Fast forward over 15 years and, on Sept. 20, the on-chain tracker Whale Alerts has flagged the movement of 250 BTC—valued at nearly $16 million—from a wallet that has been dormant since 2009. A rare glimpse into the movements of an original Bitcoin holder.
💤 A dormant address containing 50 #BTC (3,184,108 USD) has just been activated after 15.7 years!https://t.co/jduMfplXag
During the European morning, five separate transactions carried out in batches of 50 BTC were sent to new addresses.
According to on-chain data, these BTC were mined as block rewards during the earliest weeks of the cryptocurrency’s release.
While Satoshi era transfers are becoming increasingly rare, they aren’t necessarily uncommon.
In June of this year, for example, a wallet inactive for 14 years transferred $3 million in BTC to Binance. And, puzzlingly, in Jan. 2024, someone event sent back over $1 million in BTC to the null address of Bitcoin’s founder.
Bitcoin miner Hut 8 is expanding its partnership with Bitmain to introduce a new ASIC miner with direct liquid-to-chip cooling, set to deploy in Q2 2025.
Miami-headquartered crypto mining firm Hut 8 has expanded its partnership with Bitmain, announcing the upcoming launch of the U3S21EXPH, a next-generation ASIC miner capable of reaching up to 860 TH/s.
In a Sept. 19 press release, the company the miner, which is scheduled for deployment in Q2 2025, is the first mass-commercialized ASIC model to feature direct liquid-to-chip cooling in a U-form factor.
“We believe this model represents a more thoughtful approach to capturing the lucrative economics offered by next-generation machines, reducing upfront capital requirements while we continue to pursue growth initiatives in AI infrastructure.”
Asher Genoot, Hut8 chief executive officer
Under the hosting agreement, Hut 8 has the option to purchase all or a portion of the hosted miners in up to three tranches at a fixed price within six months of deployment. If Hut 8 exercises the option in full, the company’s self-mining hashrate is expected to increase from 5.6 EH/s to 20.6 EH/s, the press release reads.
The agreement is designed to minimize upfront capital expenditures and provide flexibility for future purchases, allowing Hut 8 to assess market conditions “before committing additional capital,” per the document.
The news comes after Hut 8 secured a $150 million investment in June from Coatue Management to accelerate its artificial intelligence infrastructure development. At the time, Hut 8 said the investment was made as “many traditional data center operators are failing to meet the surging demand for AI compute capacity due to power shortages.”
Ukraine remains among the top countries in terms of cryptocurrency adoption. How does mining work in the country during the current conflict with Russia?
Analysts at the OSINT agency Molfar collected data from July 2023 to June 2024 using various open sources, including archival information and mining pool hashrates. As a result, the experts determined the average hashrate by month.
The study found three active mining pools with six miners in Ukraine, which likely consumed 33 kW per hour. Also, from the resource asictrade.com, 146 types of miners (mining systems) are known.
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How much Electricity do mining farms consume in Ukraine?
The report shows that Ukrainian miners consumed an average of 616 MW per hour in April and 487 MW per hour in May. Depending on production volumes, a steel mill can consume between 200 and 1,000 MW per hour.
Ukrainian miners’ electricity consumption in April and May 2024 equaled or exceeded that of large industrial enterprises. This is despite the fact that cryptocurrency mining is a relatively new industry.
Ukraine’s total electricity consumption in 2023 was about 15 GW per hour. At the same time, the current deficit is 9 GW. In March 2024, about 6.7% of the country’s total electricity consumption was consumed by miners.
However, compared to global indicators, this is a small amount. For example, in the U.S., miners consume about 8-10 GW of electricity per hour. Thus, Ukrainian miners’ electricity consumption in March 2024 was only 10% of what miners in the U.S. consumed.
The hash rate and electricity consumption decrease in warmer months, such as June and August. This is because the costs of cooling mining devices increase. Mining becomes less profitable, so fewer people are engaged in it.
Bitcoin mining and household electricity consumption
The average cost of electricity required to mine one Bitcoin (BTC) is $46,291. On the market, its price at the beginning of September was $58,000 at the time of the study. Costs and profits will vary in different regions of the world.
Mining one BTC requires approximately 110,000 kWh. At the same time, the total consumption of the Bitcoin network is estimated at 176.02 TWh per year. Therefore, if calculated based on prices for consumers in Ukraine, the cost of one BTC will be $12,540.
“Of course, this calculation does not take into account other expenses, such as equipment and its depreciation.”
Estimation of electricity consumption by miners and infrastructure
According to the study, the average volume of electricity consumption by miners from April to June was equal to the needs of 658 hospitals, 3.5 million units of street lighting, more than 36,000 stores, and more than half a million air conditioners.
In addition, the level of energy consumed by miners would be enough to supply the largest Ukrainian cities for several days.
“The daily rate of electricity consumption by the miners (9052 MW per day) allowed for 3.89 days without outages in Kyiv and Dnipro. 1 day of mining covers 4 days of no power outage in Kyiv and Dnipro.”
Maksym Zrazhevskyi, Head of Research at the OSINT agency Molfar, in conversation with crypto.news notes that miners’ consumption significantly affects the operation of Ukraine’s infrastructure. Electricity consumption by miners is especially negative in the evening when electricity consumption by the country’s population reaches its peak.
Thus, miners are harming the country since the estimated electricity consumption by miners is comparable to the consumption of, for example, 770 hospitals — infrastructure vital for the country during a wartime.
“However, if the situation with power generation improves along with the conditions for legal mining business, mining may well become a boon for post-war Ukraine.”
Legal status of crypto in Ukraine
In February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law on virtual assets. According to the new rules, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission would regulate the crypto market. At the same time, mining is not prohibited in Ukraine. In fact, it is an activity involving the use of equipment to obtain assets.
However, crypto regulation in Ukraine has yet to be fully established. In March, the Ukrainian government approved a reform plan within the framework of the Ukraine Facility program, ensuring the receipt of €50 billion from the EU during 2024-2027. The document, among other things, contains provisions on the cryptocurrency market.
To combat illegal activities, the government emphasized the need to amend the relevant law on virtual assets to take into account the provisions of MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) and the adoption of taxation of the crypto market.
Meanwhile, since the beginning of the conflict with Russia, cryptocurrencies have become especially popular in Ukraine, including due to the simple collection of donations for the Armed Forces’ needs.
Prospects and difficulties in developing mining in Ukraine
Analysts note that the conflict with Russia has further aggravated the situation with cryptocurrency mining. If, at the end of 2021, it was planned to build mining centers around nuclear power plants with a capacity of 2-3 GW, then in 2024, such plans look ghostly.
“The current state of Ukraine’s energy system raises questions about the profitability of this industry. We see that the electricity costs for mining are generally much higher than the energy limits provided to cities like Dnipro and Kyiv. However, miners could theoretically solve this problem using solar or wind power plants.”
However, Zrazhevskyi is confident that the country has prospects for mining development since Ukrainians are very passionate about cryptocurrencies. They often choose cryptocurrency as a means of protecting their savings. In addition, the low price of electricity makes the country attractive for mining development.
“Ukrainians are actively involved in the cryptocurrency sphere, and together with cheap electricity the country has high prospects for becoming a major hub in the world of cryptocurrencies. At the moment, the main obstacles in Ukraine are power outages as well as imperfect legislation.”
At the same time, As for legislation, initiatives are already being considered in Ukraine that will allow for the regulation of the cryptocurrency market in the future, including mining, he concluded.
Bhutan, a country with a population of under one million, ranks as the world’s fourth-largest sovereign Bitcoin owner.
According to Arkham, the Kingdom of Bhutan holds over 13,000 Bitcoin (BTC) tokens valued at over $750 million as of Sept. 16. Only the U.S., China, and the U.K. have larger BTC holdings. Bhutan overtook El Salvador to claim fourth place and joined world governments that cumulatively control over 2.2% of BTC’s total supply, per CoinGecko.
BREAKING: BHUTAN GOVERNMENT’S $750M BTC NOW ON ARKHAM
Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings are now labeled on Arkham. These holdings come from Bitcoin mining operations carried out by the Kingdom of Bhutan’s investment arm, Druk Holdings.
Where most authorities in the rankings acquired BTC from criminal seizures and crackdowns, or in El Salvador’s case, daily purchases, Bhutan grew its BTC stash through mining.
Arkham reported that the South Asian Kingdom expanded its BTC mining operations since early 2023. Through its investment arm, Druk Holdings, the nation leveraged its mountainous landscape to set up several Bitcoin mining facilities.
In one case, Bhutan transformed an abandoned Education City project into a large-scale crypto mining complex. There’s no indication that the government plans to sell its BTC, but its overall crypto strategy remains largely unknown.
Bitcoin caches appear across the globe
National balance sheets and BTC increasingly intersected as global blockchain adoption surged. Even apex banks in Norway and Switzerland amassed exposure to the so-called digital gold.
While some see this development as bullish for BTC, there are concerns about whether governments owning Bitcoin aligns with the ethos of Satoshi Nakamoto, BTC’s pseudonymous creator.
As adoption advances and companies like Arkham uncover more sovereign BTC caches, two questions loom over the industry: Who else owns Bitcoin, and what do they plan to do with it?
Institutional interest in Bitcoin mining stocks is surging, analysts at H.C. Wainwright said after hosting an investment conference in New York.
The HCW Annual Global Investment Conference gathered major publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) miners and industry leaders like MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor. The main takeaway, according to the firm’s Managing Director and Crypto Analyst Mike Colonnese, was an increase in institutional involvement compared to previous years.
The analysts stated in a note shared with crypto.news that the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, combined with increasing demand for AI-driven power infrastructure, has piqued investor interest in Bitcoin mining equities and stocks.
Bitcoin mining stocks
Despite a 40% decline in mining stocks since mid-July, compared to Bitcoin’s 10% drop, industry insiders believe the sector is undervalued, presenting potential investment opportunities ahead of the next bull market.
Key themes from the event included major miners’ capacity expansions, efforts to upgrade fleets with more efficient ASIC machines, and a resurgence in miners holding their Bitcoin assets. Additionally, some miners are diversifying into AI and high-performance computing, leveraging their power infrastructure.
Bitcoin price targets
Panelists at the event expressed optimism about Bitcoin’s future, predicting prices ranging from $100,000 to $250,000 in the next cycle, with an average forecast of $144,000 by the end of 2025.
On Sept. 12, Michaël van de Poppe, Chief Investment Officer at MN Consultancy, said in a X post that he wouldn’t be surprised if Bitcoin reached between $300,000 and $600,000 in this market cycle.
On Sept. 13, Saylor’s company MicroStrategy announced that it continued its Bitcoin acquisition strategy, purchasing 18,300 BTC for $1.11 billion between Aug. 6 and Sept. 12. This brought the company’s total Bitcoin holdings to 244,800 BTC, acquired at an average price of $38,585 per coin.
CleanSpark has announced plans to acquire seven Bitcoin mining facilities in Knoxville, Tennessee, for $27.5 million.
The purchase will add over 85 megawatts of available capacity, and the company expects to close the deals by Sept. 25, according to a press release.
This move will increase CleanSpark’s hash rate by 5 exahashes per second, a 22% jump from its current capacity. The company recently surpassed 23 EH/s and aims to reach 37 EH/s by the end of 2024.
Hopefully this news will Knox-ville your socks off. 🧦
We’ve entered into definitive agreements to acquire 7 #Bitcoin mining facilities and certain associated land in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area with 85 MW of immediately available capacity, anticipated to add 5 EH/s to our… pic.twitter.com/x5X71YJtkX
In August, CleanSpark acquired a Bitcoin mining site in Wyoming despite national security concerns raised earlier in the year. The acquisition proceeded even after President Biden’s emergency order to halt operations at sites near sensitive military installations due to potential espionage risks.
Analyst thoughts
Analysts from H.C. Wainwright view CleanSpark’s acquisition of the seven Tennessee Bitcoin (BTC) mining facilities as a strong strategic move, highlighting the company’s ability to source high-quality infrastructure at a favorable valuation.
With this acquisition, CleanSpark can focus on integrating the latest S21 pro miners to maximize its output. The company also plans to use a community-oriented approach to expand operations in Tennessee.
With a price of approximately $323,500 per megawatt, CleanSpark has secured the lowest price per developed MW for any mining deal in 2024, according to the firm’s BTC Miner M&A Deal Tracker, Wainwright analysts noted.
CEO Zach Bradford highlighted Tennessee’s favorable political and energy environment compared to Georgia, where CleanSpark operates 500 MW of facilities.
“Tennessee has a similar political and energy environment to Georgia, where we’ve deployed nearly $1B of capital and operate nearly 500 MW… applying the same winning community-oriented strategy to The Volunteer State is our plan as we expand our presence in the region and continue showcasing how Bitcoin can benefit the local power grid and communities where we’re located.”
Zach Bradford, CleanSpark CEO
CleanSpark’s stock is currently trading at $9.30 per share, but analysts see this news as a buying opportunity and reiterated their “Buy” rating on CleanSpark, maintaining a $27 price target.
