Riot Blockchain (RIOT), one of the largest bitcoin miners in the United States, has begun moving its bitcoin mining machines from its hosting site in New York to its own in Texas to reduce costs.
Riot hopes to switch from the Coinmint office in Massena, NY to the Whinstone mine in Rockdale, Texas, to reduce electricity costs and eliminate other hosting costs, the miner said in a statement Wednesday. . About 5,700 of Riot’s offline bitcoin mining rigs are due to move, but the rest of its fleet may be shipped in July, according to the release.
Part of the change is an agreement to turn miners on, Riot said. Bit Digital (BTBT) said it signed with Riot on June 9 to exchange its vision machine with Riot’s employees in Massena. BTBT’s hashrate has suffered since it was forced out of China after it broke last year. RIOT also said it received 1,273 Antminer S19j Pro machines from developer Bitmain in June, took another 4,676 into its dive room, and has another 6,324 “in preparation for deployment.” RIOT expects 6,333 S19j Pros to arrive this month.
Rack space has been a stumbling block for bitcoin miners in recent months as facilities are crowded and new buildings are delayed. Riot is working to increase the capacity of the Whinstone facility by 400 megawatts (MW), which will take it to 750 MW, the largest mine in the United States.
Riot Blockchain prospects
However, Riot has lowered its hashrate expectations for the year to 12.5 exahash per second (EH/s). The downward revision follows a downgrade forecast in June, when it said it expected 12.6 PE/s by January 2023, below May’s forecast of 12.8 PE/s. s. The miner produced 421 bitcoins in June, compared to 466 BTC in May, according to the statement.
This is the fourth month in a row that Riot Blockchain has sold bitcoin, even though the market is facing a setback. In June, it raised about $6.2 million by selling 300 bitcoins, compared to $7.5 million in May by selling 250 bitcoins. The company initially maintained its bitcoin production. RIOT always takes a “long-term view of its bitcoin holdings and believes it is in the best interests of shareholders to acquire strong bitcoins,” Wednesday’s statement reiterated.
Miners are selling their holdings to pay off debts and loans as their income falls and the price of bitcoin and ether.