Update (June 22 at 14:27 UTC): This article has been updated to clarify that CleanSpark purchased the facilities for proprietary mining only.
Crypto mining firm CleanSpark is moving forward with its aggressive infrastructure expansion in the United States by acquiring two Bitcoin (BTC) mining facilities in a $9.3 million cash deal.
According to a June 21 announcement, the two facilities CleanSpark will purchase are turnkey Bitcoin mining campuses in Dalton, Georgia. The facilities will house 6,000 Antminer S19 XPs and S19J Pro+s, which are expected to add about 1 exahash per second (EH/s) to CleanSpark’s hash rate following the deal’s completion. According to Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, the newly acquired infrastructure will enable the company to reach its target of 16 EH/s by the end of the year.
The purchase follows several other acquisitions by CleanSpark in recent months, despite a slump in BTC mining profitability during the bear market. In April, the company announced the purchase of 45,000 Antminer S19 XP rigs for $144.9 million, which is expected to add 6.4 EH/s of mining power.
In February, CleanSpark added 20,000 new Antminer S19j Pro+ units to its portfolio for $43.6 million, expected to bring an additional 2.44 EH/s to its computing power. A few weeks earlier, the company announced a $16 million expansion at its Georgia facility, with 15,000 new rigs.
The profitability of Bitcoin mining has dropped to $0.066 per TH/s per day at the time of writing, down from its $0.40 peak in June 2019, according to data from Hashrate Index.
With the fast-paced miner expansion, CleanSpark said it anticipates being well-positioned for next year’s Bitcoin halving, expected between April and May 2024. The next halving will reduce Bitcoin block rewards to 3.125 BTC.
Bitcoin’s price has historically spiked post-halvings, as they reduce the cryptocurrency’s supply while demand generally remains steady. “We continue to make use of opportunities created by current market conditions to prepare for next year’s bitcoin halving,” CleanSpark chief financial officer Gary Vecchiarelli said.
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