Author | Wu Says Blockchain
Supported by NASDAQ-listed mining company Bitdeer
1,
Publicly listed mining company MARA Holdings announced plans to privately place $700 million in zero-coupon convertible senior notes (due 2031) and $105 million in options. MARA expects to use up to $50 million in net proceeds from the sale of the notes to repurchase its existing convertible notes due 2026, with the remaining net proceeds to be used for purchasing more Bitcoin.
2,
U.S.-listed mining company Core Scientific announced a private placement of $500 million of convertible senior notes due 2031 to qualified institutional buyers. Core Scientific also hopes to grant initial purchasers an option to purchase additional notes in an amount up to $75 million principal within 13 days of the initial issuance of the notes. Core Scientific intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions of complementary businesses, or repurchases of its securities.
3,
Bitcoin mining company Argo Blockchain announced it has raised £4.2 million through a stock subscription. An unidentified institutional investor participated in this stock subscription. The new funds will support Argo's relocation of mining equipment to Texas while maintaining Bitcoin mining activities in Quebec and supporting the company's diversification into the high-performance computing (HPC) sector.
4,
Foundry announced a 27% workforce reduction, decreasing its staff from 274 to 200, affecting multiple business lines. The company stated that this move is aimed at consolidating its core business, focusing on operating the world's largest Bitcoin mining pool and expanding its site operations. The layoffs and business adjustments affected approximately 40%-60% of employees, with some employees being transferred to the newly established subsidiary Yuma. Foundry also plans to deprioritize hardware products while continuing to maintain its ASIC repair business. This restructuring is part of DCG's adjustments to its cryptocurrency landscape business.
5,
Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 announced three capital market plans: 1. Launch an “at-the-market” (ATM) program to issue up to $500 million in common stock; 2. Introduce a $250 million common stock repurchase program; 3. Coatue has agreed to initiate a stock repurchase program without requiring registration of its convertible notes' common stock. Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot stated that these plans will enhance the company's ability to respond to market fluctuations and support its comprehensive capital strategy and fund management.
6,
Ethiopia's Bitcoin mining industry is rapidly rising, currently accounting for 2.5% of global computing power. According to the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), if current trends continue, this percentage could double to 7% in the coming year. Local mining operations have consumed 600 megawatts of power, which may increase to 1 gigawatt by the end of the year. Following China’s ban on Bitcoin mining in 2021, many Chinese mining companies have migrated to Ethiopia, including Bitmain-supported BitFuFu and BIT Mining, which have made large-scale investments locally. In just the past 10 months, the country has generated over $55 million in revenue through collaborations with 25 Bitcoin mining companies. (CryptoSlate)
7,
Bitcoin mining company Arkon Energy's European AI cloud company Nscale announced the completion of a $155 million financing, led by Sandton Capital Partners, with participation from Kestrel, Bluesky Asset Management, and Florence Capital, which will drive its growth plans in Europe and North America. Nscale is set to officially launch in May 2024. The company offers GPU cloud based on AMD hardware, specifically AMD's Instinct M1300X accelerator, as well as AMD MI250 GPU and Nvidia's A100, H100, and V100 GPUs. (DCD)
8,
ETF issuer YieldMax announced the launch of the YieldMax™ MARA Option Income Strategy ETF on the NYSE, based on Bitcoin mining company MARA, which seeks to generate income through options-based strategies on MARA but does not directly invest in MARA. Its first distribution is expected to be announced on January 2, 2025.
9,
Digital Currency Group (DCG) is spinning off its mining business Foundry Digital into two independent entities. The new entity Fortitude Mining will include Foundry's self-mining operations and physical infrastructure, while Foundry will retain pool operations and other mining services. According to DCG's third-quarter shareholder letter, Foundry's self-mining business is expected to generate $80 million in revenue in 2024.
10,
The cryptocurrency mining chip design company Nano Labs announced the completion of a $36.25 million private placement financing, issuing 5.6115 million shares of Class A common stock at a price of $6.46 per share. Notably, this financing breaks through traditional financing models and supports multiple payment methods including USD, Bitcoin, and USDT.
11,
BitFuFu, an affiliate of Bitmain, announced that it has signed a 10-year exclusive lease agreement for two Bitcoin mining facilities in the U.S. with a total capacity of 33 megawatts (MW). The lease agreement grants BitFuFu an option to acquire a majority stake in these two mining facilities. The hosting capacities of these two mining facilities are 22 MW and 11 MW, which will increase BitFuFu's mining capacity by 2EH/s.
12,
Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 11, indicating that it has successfully completed a $525 million offering of senior notes. These notes, due 2030, have an interest rate of 0.75% and were issued privately to institutional investors. The funds raised will primarily be used to advance the company's Bitcoin acquisition strategy and further expand its holdings. (Cryptoslate)
13,
Luxor Technology Corporation signed a $131.4 million agreement with Bitcoin mining machine manufacturer MicroBT, which includes a confirmed purchase of $93.2 million worth of Whatsminer ASIC Bitcoin mining machines, with an option to purchase an additional $38.2 million. These ASIC miners will use a combination of immersion cooling, air cooling, and water cooling systems aimed at improving efficiency.
14,
Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 announced plans to construct a 1000 MW Tier III data center in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, with an estimated total investment of $12 billion. The center will initially construct a 300 MW data center supporting liquid-cooled GPU servers, primarily for AI and machine learning training, aiming to attract hyperscale tenants. The first phase of the 250 MW facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2025, with the overall project slated for completion in 2026. According to local media WBRZ, the project may create 2,000 local jobs.
15,
Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark announced its plans to offer a total of $550 million in convertible senior notes maturing in 2030 to initial purchasers based on market conditions and other factors. CleanSpark also expects to grant initial purchasers an option to purchase additional convertible notes of up to $100 million principal within 13 days of the initial issuance of the convertible notes. The company plans to use the net proceeds from the issuance to pay for the costs of capped call options transactions, up to $125 million in net proceeds to repurchase its common stock from convertible bond investors, and the remaining net proceeds will be used to fully repay the company's outstanding amounts under its credit line with Coinbase, capital expenditures, acquisitions, and general corporate purposes.
16,
Canaan Inc. announced that its Singapore subsidiary Canaan Creative Global Pte. Ltd. (CCG) has signed a mining machine purchase agreement with AGM Group Holdings Inc. (AGMH) for the purchase of its Avalon A15 HydU 370T (A15 Hydro) mining machines. Canaan initially agreed to supply AGMH with 2,000 Bitcoin mining machines. The company also agreed to provide customers an option to purchase approximately 30,000 additional Bitcoin mining machines. AGMH is a comprehensive technology company specializing in fintech software services and the production of high-performance hardware and computing devices.
17,
Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms announced that from December 10 to December 12, 2024, it purchased approximately 5,117 Bitcoins at an average price of $99,669 each, at a total cost of approximately $510 million. As of December 12, 2024, Riot Platforms' total Bitcoin holdings increased to 16,728 coins. The funds for this Bitcoin purchase came from part of the net proceeds of the 0.75% convertible senior notes (due 2030) and the company's existing cash reserves.
18,
The decentralized protocol Prosper announced the procurement of 7,000 ASIC mining machines from Bitmain to increase its Bitcoin mining hash rate. Additionally, Prosper completed strategic financing with investments from Metalpha, Waterdrip Capital, BIT Mining, Animoca Brands, and others.
19,
A group of investors has filed a class action lawsuit against the founder of Bitcoin mining company Rhodium Enterprises in Texas, alleging fraudulent activities. The lawsuit, filed by attorneys from Iacuone McAllister Potter, claims that the defendants (including Rhodium executives and Imperium Investments Holdings, LLC based in Fort Worth) intentionally misled the plaintiffs, who collectively invested $33 million, by concealing critical information and engaging in proprietary trading.
20,
Due to the surge in Bitcoin prices, the prices of Bitcoin mining machines in Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei have risen significantly. The Antminer S21 335T is priced at $5,600 each (approximately 40,700 RMB), a 30% increase compared to last year. Some high-performance models, such as the S21 XP water-cooled mining machine, are sold out on the official site, leading to a supply-demand imbalance in the mining machine market. Buyers mainly come from Russia, the U.S., and Canada, with some customers purchasing hundreds to thousands of machines at once. These regions have low electricity prices, such as only 0.37 RMB per kWh in Canada and as low as 0.2 RMB in Russia, allowing miners to have a larger profit margin.
21,
Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 announced the purchase of 990 Bitcoin at an average price of $101,710 each, totaling approximately $100 million, bringing its Bitcoin reserves to 10,096 coins, valued at around $1 billion, placing it among the top ten global corporate holders of Bitcoin. Hut 8 stated that these Bitcoin reserves will be managed flexibly through options strategies, staking, or sales, and plans to continue seeking opportunities to increase its holdings in the market. Influenced by recent industry trends, several mining companies have aggressively purchased Bitcoin through public markets to optimize their asset structures, such as Riot and MARA, which have significantly increased their purchases this year. (Coindesk)
22,
Halliburton, the world's second-largest oilfield services company, announced an equity investment in Bitcoin mining company 360 Energy through its accelerator project Halliburton Labs. 360 Energy utilizes abandoned or flared natural gas to mine Bitcoin at oilfield sites and currently has a mining capacity of 285 PH/s. (Blockspace)
23,
Ethiopia is leveraging the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to promote Bitcoin mining, with related revenues accounting for 18% of Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) income. Over the past year, mining investments have reached $1 billion, exceeding profits from power exports. The government is collaborating with 25 mining companies to attract international miners to utilize the excess electricity at a low rate of approximately $0.032/kWh. The combination of renewable energy and cryptocurrency mining is driving changes in energy utilization and policies in Africa.
24,
The Kyrgyz Ministry of Economy and Finance released the 2024 budget document, stating that cryptocurrency mining taxes contributed over 46.6 million Kyrgyz soms to the country's economy this year, approximately $535,000, but this marks a 50% decline compared to last year's mining tax revenue of 93.7 million soms. The cryptocurrency mining tax rate in Kyrgyzstan is 10% of the electricity costs used by cryptocurrency miners, including VAT and sales tax.
25,
Bitcoin mining pool giant Foundry USA Pool returned an erroneously paid transaction fee of 8.18 BTC (approximately $777,000). This fee was mistakenly paid by a user on December 19, exceeding the normal fee by 91,127 times. Foundry stated that after careful consideration, it decided to refund the fee to the user and emphasized that it will handle similar cases on an individual basis in the future.
26,
Bitcoin mining company Rhodium Enterprises' co-CEO Nathan Nichols has resigned, and the company completed the sale of its Temple, Texas mining site for $40.6 million in cash. Rhodium announced in an email to investors last week that Nichols has decided to resign, effective after the New Year. Just weeks earlier, Rhodium's creditors filed a lawsuit against him and other co-founders, accusing them of fraud. Rhodium also informed investors that the company had previously secured $30 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Galaxy Digital, of which $15 million was received. Following the completion of the Temple mining site sale on December 18, the company fully repaid the Galaxy debt with $16 million, including fees and interest. Furthermore, Rhodium indicated that after winning a legal battle with the custodian, the company is prepared to resume its mining hosting contract at Riot's Rockdale site.
27,
NASDAQ-listed cryptocurrency mining chip manufacturer Nano Labs announced that it has officially renamed its wholly-owned subsidiary Tsuki HK Limited to Nano bit HK Limited. Following this strategic name change, Nano bit HK Limited is expected to develop Bitcoin-related businesses and plans within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
