Riot Platforms, a renowned player in the cryptocurrency mining industry, has expanded its operations with the acquisition of over 33,000 Bitcoin mining rigs from MicroBT, a leading manufacturer in the crypto mining world.
According to the announcement, this strategic purchase which amounted to about $162.9 million is expected to boost Riot’s hashrate capacity and position the company for success ahead of the anticipated 2024 Bitcoin halving event.
With this acquisition, Riot is strategically positioning itself to stay on top of its game in the highly competitive mining industry, which has become increasingly more challenging due to the scarcity of hardware components. Likewise, the new mining rigs will increase Riot’s hash power capacity, allowing the firm to mine more cryptocurrencies with greater efficiency.
Per the release, the delivery of the new mining rigs will begin in December 2023, although the main deployment will be in the first quarter of 2024. Upon deployment, the new miners will contribute an extra 7.6 hashes per second (EH/s) to Riot’s self-mining capacity bringing the firm’s total to 20.1 EH/s across its facilities.
Riot Platforms is Looking Ahead
Interestingly, this move comes at an opportune time for the Texas-based Bitcoin miner, as the industry braces itself for the impending halving event, which will reduce block rewards from 6.25 to 3.125 Bitcoins (BTC) per block. By increasing its hashing power, Riot Platforms is seeking to offset the potential loss of revenue that may occur as a result of the halving event.
According to records, this is not the first time Riot Platforms is making a significant investment in its mining infrastructure. Recall that back in 2021 the miner entered a $138.5 million deal with Bitmain Technologies Limited to acquire 42,000 S19j Antminers.
Also, in early 2022, the company acquired Whinstone US. Inc, a leading data center provider in Texas. The acquisition allowed Riot to expand its mining operations considerably, as it gained access to Whinstone’s 100-acre facility, which houses over 300,000 miners.
Notably, the recent acquisition of 33,000 mining rigs aligns with the company’s objective of becoming one of the largest and most successful cryptocurrency mining companies globally.
