Riot has blamed Texas’s high summer temperatures as one of the major reasons behind the decline in production.
Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms has shared exciting news about reaching a new milestone. This is with reference to the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) it now holds in possession. According to the announcement, Riot’s Bitcoin holdings have surpassed 10,000 BTC, marking a 37% increase from what it had a year ago.
Riot Platforms Faces Challenges as Energy Costs Rise
While the BTC holdings report is something to cheer about, figures from the firm’s production last month tell a different story.
Per Riot, rising energy costs and the impact of April’s Bitcoin halving helped it to see a notable decline in its mining output.
The firm says it produced 322 Bitcoin in August 2024, representing a 13% drop from the 370 Bitcoin it produced in the previous month. This production level, though slightly different, also showed a 3% decline from the 333 Bitcoin mined in August 2023.
In its defence, Riot has blamed Texas’s high summer temperatures as one of the major reasons behind the decline in production. The firm noted that the temperature led to increased demand for energy, and as expected, prices go up when demand is high.
Riot also reported that it did not sell any of its mined Bitcoin in August. That is, unlike the same month last year when it sold 300 Bitcoin for $8.6 million. Confirming this, Riot CEO Jason Les shared the strategy that the company employed to navigate the situation. He noted that, despite the production dip, Riot managed to optimize its energy usage by generating power credits that reduced its operational costs at its Rockdale, Texas facility to $20 per megawatt-hour (MWh). However, the other Texas facility in Corsicana saw higher costs of $39/MWh.
Notably, the issue of rising energy costs is not peculiar to Riot Platforms. It is a general situation that has turned out to be the reality of Bitcoin mining companies across the board.
Expanding Hashrate and Future Plans
Another interesting aspect of Riot’s report is its average operating hashrate. Despite the production setbacks, the computing power dedicated to mining in August was 14.5 exahashes per second (EH/s). That figure signals a 224% increase from the same month last year. Even at that, Riot is planning to take its hashrate further up and has targeted 28 EH/s for the end of Q3 and 36 EH/s by the end of the year.
The company has also hinted at some expansion plans. It said it is currently developing Phase 1 (400 MW) of its Corsicana Facility, which, once completed, will bring the total mining capacity to 1 gigawatt (1,000 MW). The firm expects its newest mining building, “Building B1,” to be fully operational by the end of September.
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