The plan involves acquiring new miners, aiming to triple hash rate to 21 EH/s, and increasing operating capacity to 440 MW.
Bitfarms, a leading Bitcoin mining company, has announced a substantial investment of nearly $240 million in upgrading their mining equipment. The investment is strategically targeted to bolster the company's operations in anticipation of the Bitcoin halving event slated for 2024.
Having confirmed the tremendous performance of our T21 miners currently running, and with #Bitcoin prices reaching all-time highs, we acted quickly to secure these miners at attractive prices in advance of anticipated hardware price increases. Together, with our 35,888 Bitmain… pic.twitter.com/tmZw9nR6Md
— Bitfarms (@Bitfarms_io) April 2, 2024
The upgrade centers on improving the performance and profitability of Bitfarms' mining operations. The company has acquired a considerable number of Bitcoin miners, including 35,888 Bitmain T21 miners, and has secured an option to purchase an additional 28,000 T21 units. Further acquisitions include 19,280 Bitmain T21 miners, 3,888 Bitmain S21 miners, and 740 Bitmain S21 hydro miners.
In March, Bitfarms mined 286 BTC, operating at 6.5 exahashes per second (EH/s), as opposed to the 424 BTC mined in March 2023 with a hash rate of 4.8 EH/s. The data reflects the critical need to boost hash rate capacity to maintain profitability in the face of diminishing block rewards.
Ben Gagnon, Chief Mining Officer at Bitfarms, highlighted the company's commitment to its extensive upgrade and expansion plan, which is poised to triple its hash rate to 21 EH/s and increase operating capacity by 83% to 440 megawatts (MW). Gagnon stated, "This marks the largest growth in the Company’s history and propels us toward becoming one of the industry leaders in energy efficiency."
Bitfarms' proactive approach is underscored by its financial position, with the firm holding $66 million in cash and 806 BTC in its treasury, amounting to a total liquidity of $123 million as of March 31. Geoff Morphy, President, and CEO of Bitfarms, explained that the equipment orders are crucial to the company's expansion efforts, positioning it to operate one of the newest and most efficient mining fleets in the industry.
The upcoming halving event is expected to significantly impact the mining sector, with analysts suggesting that up to 20% of the Bitcoin hash rate could go offline, favoring those with the most efficient operations.
Bitfarms has reinvested the proceeds from the Bitcoin mined over the past two months to grow its mining fleet. Jeffrey Lucas, Bitfarms' chief financial officer, conveyed to Cointelegraph that the fleet upgrade is set to enhance scale and profitability, positioning the company advantageously for the halving. "The success of our upgrade program rests on our proven ability to utilize our operational expertise to achieve industry-leading performance and profitability," Lucas concluded.
Other industry players, such as Texas-based Giga Energy, are also adapting their operations, with initiatives like utilizing wasted energy from natural gas flaring in Argentina for Bitcoin mining, although profitability remains uncertain due to pending equipment imports required for scaling up.
