Riot Blockchain buys 15K Bitmain Antminers, expects 65% hash rate increase

Riot Blockchain, a Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency mining company, has inked another deal with Chinese mining giant Bitmain to buy 15,000 Antminers. According to a Dec. 21 announcement, the Colorado-based firm expects the new purchase will contribute to an increase in its total Bitcoin (BTC) mining hash rate by 65%.

The purchase cost Riot $35 million, comprising of 3,000 S19 Pro Antminers and 12,000 S19j Pro Antminers. The company expects to receive and deploy the new miners starting from May 2021 up to October 2021.

With the latest purchase Riot further expands its total mining equipment from Bitmain as the company has been regularly receiving and deploying new miners in 2020. At full deployments of more than 37,000 miners, Riot estimates its total operational hash rate to surge from 2.3 EH/s to 3.8 EH/s, consuming about 120 megawatts of energy.

Riot CEO Jeff McGonegal said that continued growth in deployed miners is “paramount to a miner’s success,” adding further: “Expanding the Company’s bitcoin mining hash rate and operating on a cost-effective basis is very important, particularly during periods when the bitcoin spot price has appreciably increased."

As part of its partnership with Riot, Bitmain has been consistently delivering its latest Antminers to the United States-based firm. In October 2020, the companies announced  a deal for 2,500 Antminer S19 Pro on top of the previous batch of 5,100 Antminers deal and another one for 8,000 Antminers in September.

Bitmain, one of the world’s largest crypto hardware suppliers, have been actively tapping the North America market. In September 2020, Bitmain announced that mining operator Core Scientific will become its first North American cooperative repair center. Previously, Bitmain partnered with Foundry, a wholly-owned crypto mining subsidiary of Digital Currency Group. As part of the partnership, Foundry was set to provide financing to Bitmain’s end customers in the market.