Riot Blockchain suffers, but increases its Bitcoin (BTC)

The entire mining sector of Riot Blockchain is suffering after the April halving, but despite this, the company is increasing its Bitcoin (BTC). 

The increase of Bitcoin by Riot Blockchain

Yesterday, the mining company Riot Blockchain published a note stating that it has surpassed 10,000 BTC (Bitcoin).

It is worth noting that at the end of August last year, it held only 7,300, and in July 2024 it had reached 9,700. 

So this increase came right after the halving, despite a drop in the extraction of Bitcoin.

In fact, in July it had mined 370 BTC, while in August it stopped at 322. In August of last year, it had mined 333, so the reduction in August 2024 is significant.

What is surprising, however, is how in July 2024, after the halving of the April reward, the company was still able to mine more BTC than in August of last year. 

It should be remembered that most of the Bitcoin mined through mining still comes from the reward given to those who mine a block, which was halved in April from 6.25 to 3.125. 

The performance of Riot on the stock market

The company, whose new full name is Riot Platforms, has been listed on the Nasdaq since 2003 with the ticker RIOT. 

In the past, when Bitcoin did not yet exist, obviously it was involved in other things, even though from the initial placement price in 2003 until 2012 it lost almost all of its value on the stock exchange. 

Riot began to recover only in 2017 precisely because it started doing Bitcoin mining.

Since then, the peak maximum price of the RIOT stock remains at $79.5 in February 2021, during the full bullrun, while the bottom of the subsequent bear-market was at $3.25 in December 2022. 

During 2023, the stock has shown a significant rebound, although it has not even come close to the highs of 2021, as the price of Bitcoin has done. 

The peak maximum of 2023 stopped at $20.6, and since then it has entered a bit of suffering. 

To tell the truth, the entire mining sector crypto has been suffering, after the halving in April, so much so that the price of RIOT shares has lost 60% this year. 

The bulk of the loss, however, occurred in January, followed by a substantial rebound in February, and then by four consecutive months of decline. 

The current price of about $6.7 is still at the annual lows of 2024. 

Although with ups and downs, the decline that started at the end of February is still ongoing. 

The note released

The note published yesterday by the company also contains other information. 

First of all, specify that in August in Texas it is very hot, and since their plants are mostly in Texas, they had to face some issues that forced them to reduce production. 

It should be noted that the total energy cost of their Rockdale facility, which produces electricity independently, in August was only $20 per MWh, while the other facility in Corsicana, which instead purchases energy on the market, had to settle for a total energy cost of $39 per MWh.

Riot in fact bases its Bitcoin mining activity on a true energy strategy that allows it to also use low-cost electricity produced internally. 

Additionally, they announce having made significant progress towards the completion of the third 100 MW building at the Corsicana Facility, and having started to increase the hashrate at their recently acquired Kentucky facilities. The goal is to reach 28 EH/s in this third quarter of 2024, and 36 EH/s by the end of the year. 

The incredible growth of Riot Blockchain’s hashrate

What is most intriguing about that note is the chart of the growth of Riot’s overall hashrate. 

In 2021 it barely exceeded 3 Eh/s, and in 2022 it had risen to almost 10. 

In 2023 it remained below 13 Eh/s, but during 2024 it first skyrocketed to 22, and now it is aiming towards 28, with the goal of reaching 36 by the end of the year. 

In other words, they aim for a tenfold increase in hashrate in just three years, and they are already on the right track to get there. 

Their medium/long-term goal is to reach 100 within the next three years. 

It should be noted that 2021 ended with a total Bitcoin mining hashrate globally of about 170 Eh/s, of which 1.7% was held by Riot alone. 

Now the overall hashrate has risen to almost 660 Eh/s, with a +290% increase in less than three years. Instead, in the same period, Riot’s hashrate has grown by as much as 630%, thanks especially to the acquisition of new facilities. 

Now its share of the global hashrate has risen to 3%.