Coinbase shares rise 3% as Q2 crypto trading doubles from last year

August 2, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin miners Marathon, Riot, CleanSpark increase BTC output in September

October 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Marathon Digital, in particular, produced 1,242 Bitcoin in September, which accounted for a record 4.3% share of Bitcoin miner rewards.

Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark recorded strong Bitcoin production increases in September, leading to a small boost in share prices on Oct. 4.

The firm’s balance sheets also strengthened despite Bitcoin’s price (BTC) recording another month of sideways movement — hovering between the $25,100 and $28,500 mark.

Marathon's Bitcoin production rises 245%

Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital produced a total of 1,242 BTC in September — a 16% increase from August and a massive 245% increase from September 2022.

The huge spike in BTC production came from a 508% increase in the firm’s installed hashrate from 3.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) in September 2022 to 23.1 EH/s, according to Marathon’s September results.

Marathon Digital Holdings’ September #Bitcoin Production Update is here:

- Increased Monthly Average Operational Hash Rate 20%
- Produced 1,242 BTC in September 2023 and 8,610 BTC Year-To-Date
- Record Monthly Share of Miner Rewards at 4.3%
- Combined Unrestricted Cash and…
— Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) (@MarathonDH) October 4, 2023

In the Oct. 4 statement, Marathon’s CEO Fred Thiel said the firm was pleased to reach its goal of 23 exahashes on an installed basis. The United States-based firm says it’s now on the lookout for new mining locations offering low-cost renewable energy:

“We are evaluating multiple opportunities for our next 5 exahashes of hash rate capacity including international locations with low-cost renewable energy.”

Marathon says it has now produced 8,610 BTC year-to-date in 2023. The firm's balance sheet shows 13,726 unrestricted BTC and $101 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet — totaling $471.2 million.

The firm’s share price increased 3.29% to $7.54 on Oct. 4, according to Google Finance.

Riot Platforms ups BTC production too

Meanwhile, Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms increased its BTC production by 9% month-on-month, producing 362 BTC in September while "strategically curtailing mining operations."

The firm is in a long-term contract whereby it sells pre-purchased power to its utility provider at market-driven spot prices in exchange for power curtailment credits.

Riot Produces 362 #Bitcoin in September 2023 While Continuing to Execute Power Strategy.

Read the full press release here: https://t.co/8v798bXwLg
— Riot Platforms, Inc. (@RiotPlatforms) October 4, 2023

Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les said the contract has continued to provide a strong revenue source for the firm:

“By strategically curtailing mining operations, we also received $11.0 million in Power Credits pursuant to our long-term power contracts with our utility provider, and $2.5 million in Demand Response Credits from participating in ERCOT’s ancillary services program.”

The results show that Riot earned more from power curtailment credits than the net proceeds of its Bitcoin sales in August and September.

Meanwhile, Les said Riot’s total self-mining hash rate capacity is currently at 12.5 EH/s, and the firm expects to bolster that figure to 20.1 EH/s once the firm installs another 33,000 next-generation Bitcoin miners in mid-2024.

Riot’s share price increased 3.25% to $9.06 on Oct. 4, according to data from Google Finance.

CleanSpark records its ‘best quarter’ and ‘best fiscal year ever’

Bitcoin miner CleanSpark produced 643 BTC in September and 6,903 BTC during its fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023 — making it the company’s best performance to date, according to CleanSpark’s CEO and President Zach Bradford.

“We had our best quarter and best fiscal year ever," Bradford said in an Oct. 3 statement.

We had our best quarter and best fiscal year ever. Our efficiency is up, our energy costs are among the best in the industry, and our facilities are running at max capacity. I'm especially proud of our teams and leaders who, day in and day out, demonstrate grit@CleanSpark_Inc… https://t.co/61LGL4kAKL
— Zach Bradford (@ZachKBradford) October 3, 2023

Bradford cited increased efficiency, low energy costs and its facilities running at max capacity as three of the main drivers behind the firm’s record results.

CleanSpark’s share price increased 4.61% to $3.63 on Oct. 4, according to Google Finance.

Bit Digital, which also released results on Oct. 4, was one of a few firms whose Bitcoin production fell in September — recording a 7% fall to 130.2 BTC.

In an Oct. 4 statement, the firm attributed the fall to approximately 600 petahashes (per second) of miners dropping offline due to a power utility mandated maintenance outage on Sept. 26.

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Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms trims Q2 loss to $27.7M

August 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin miner

The firm managed to narrow net loss in the quarter as it ramped up Bitcoin production.

Colorado-based Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms narrowed its second quarter net loss to $27.7 million as it ramped up its Bitcoin production and reached record hash rate capacity.

The crypto miner posted total revenue of $76.7 million — up 5.2% from Q2 2022 — which was primarily driven by a 27% year-on-year increase in Bitcoin (BTC) production, offset by a decline in Bitcoin prices, according to the firm’s Aug. 9 results filing.

The firm’s mining revenue of $49.7 million attributed to 64.7% of the firm’s total revenue over the quarter. An additional $13.5 million was made through the firm’s power curtailment credits.

Meanwhile, its Q2 net loss was a massive reduction from the prior year period, which was $353.5 million. It was also around half the net loss posted in the first quarter of 2023.

*Riot Platforms managed to cut its net loss to $27.7 million in Q2. Source: Riot Platforms*

The firm produced 1,775 Bitcoin in the quarter, while its average cost to mine a Bitcoin (BTC) was $8,389 in Q2, beating beat Q1’s average price.

The mining firm also reached an all-time high hash rate capacity of 10.7 exahashes per second and anticipates this figure will reach 20.1 EH/s by the second quarter of 2024, before reaching 35.4 EH/s in 2025.

The estimates come following its purchase of 33,280 mining rigs in late June, with the 35.4 EH/s figure assuming that Riot will exercise its right to purchase an additional 66,560 miners at the same price and terms at some time in the near future.

*Riot predicts the facility's hash rate capacity to increase from 10.7 EH/s at current levels to 35.4 EH/s in 2025. Source: Riot Platforms*

Despite Riot’s share price falling 4.42% earlier in the day, its share price fell another 0.86% in after hours, shortly after the firm’s results were released.

*Riot’s share price fell 0.86% to $16.34 in after hours trading. Source: Google Finance*

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Coinbase remains ‘100% committed’ to US market: Armstrong

May 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Australia

The Coinbase CEO has a lot of faith in Congress in making a “clear rule book” for crypto firms to follow. But the SEC? Not so much.

United States-founded cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has no plans to move its operations out of the U.S., CEO Brian Armstrong told investors in an Q1 earnings call.

On May 5, Armstrong assured shareholders the firm is “100% committed” to the U.S. market over the long term despite regulatory uncertainty in the U.S.

“So let me be clear, we're 100% committed to the U.S. I founded this company in the United States because I saw that rule of law prevails here. That's really important, and I'm actually really optimistic on the U.S. getting this right.”

The “optimism” alluded to by Armstrong comes from his confidence in Congress soon passing a clear set of rules for crypto firms to follow:

“When I go visit DC, there is strong bipartisan support for Congress to come in and create new legislation that would create a clear rule book in the U.S. and I think it's really important for America to get this right.”

However, Armstrong’s comments weren’t entirely “optimistic.”

The chief executive is concerned about the unpredictable enforcement action of the Securities Exchange Commission, which comes in light of the firm being served with a Wells Notice by the securities regulator in late March:

“Despite our ongoing engagement with the commission, they have not been as clear about what their specific concerns are with Coinbase as we might like, and so I have to refrain from speculating too much.”

“It's especially difficult to predict the timeline of any potential SEC litigation that we might face,” Armstrong added.

The troubles led Coinbase to file an action in a U.S. federal court seeking to compel the SEC to answer a petition that has been pending since July.

Today, to provide greater transparency in our long-standing engagement with the SEC, we are sharing our response to the Wells notice we received last month. https://t.co/aquuWmxmRM
— Coinbase ️ (@coinbase) April 27, 2023

The back and forth comes as Coinbase launched Coinbase International Exchange (CIE) on May 2, which prompted many pundits to believe that Coinbase was looking for an escape route from the U.S.

The exchange is open to customers in 30 countries worldwide, including Singapore, Hong Kong, El Salvador, Philippines, Thailand and Bermuda — where CIE is now licensed from.

Today Coinbase launched Coinbase International Exchange @CoinbaseIntExch and will begin by offering BTC & ETH perpetual futures settled in USDC with up to 5x leverage to institutional clients in eligible jurisdictions outside of the U.S.https://t.co/OzhbgJlZ2K
— Coinbase ️ (@coinbase) May 2, 2023

Armstrong said the European Union is “in front” in terms of regulatory progress with its Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation set to enter into effect in mid-2024 or early 2025:

“They've adopted comprehensive crypto legislation called MiCA, creates a single clear rule book for the entire region. It's pretty powerful.”

“I just got back from a trip from the U.K. and D.C. Both of those, both have draft bills in the works that are working on things like around stable coins and market structure Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Brazil, all are essentially following in this direction,” Armstrong added.

The CEO’s remarks come as Coinbase managed to increase its revenue 22% and slashed its net income loss over $475 million to $79 million in Q1.

Our Q1'23 financial results are in and our letter to shareholders can be found on the Investor Relations website at https://t.co/8ovHEtPRgf pic.twitter.com/4iWAPGZNMh
— Coinbase ️ (@coinbase) May 4, 2023

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Marathon Digital posts quarterly record of 2,195 Bitcoin mined in Q1

April 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Antminer

With a new quarterly production record, Marathon Digital is now on track to meet its mid-year target of 23 exahashes.

Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Marathon Digital has reported a quarterly record of 2,195 BTC mined over the first quarter of 2023, currently worth around $62 million.

Marathon reported in an April 3 update that the 2,195 mined BTC is a 74% increase from the first quarter of last year and a 41% increase from Q4 2022.

It comes on the back of the miner increasing its operational hash rate by 195% from Q1 2022.

Marathon also recorded a monthly record of 825 BTC mined in March — currently valued at around $23.3 million — and marked a 21% production increase from February.

$MARA's March Production Update is here:
- Increased #Bitcoin Production 21% MoM
- Produced a Record 825 BTC in March ’23
- Produced a Record 2,195 BTC in Q1 ’23
- Increased Hash Rate 64% in Q1 ’23 (11.5 EH/s)
- Reported Unrestricted Cash and Cash Equiv. of $124.9M
- Increased… pic.twitter.com/Jc1ACI2kY2
— Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) (@MarathonDH) April 3, 2023

In a statement, CEO Fred Thiel said Marathon made “notable progress” on executing its two primary initiatives for 2023 — to energize its previously purchased mining rigs to reach 23 exahashes by the end of the second quarter and to optimize performance.

The firm is now exactly on target, having increased its operational hash rate from 7.0 exahashes on Jan. 1 to 11.5 exahashes as of March 31.

Marathon’s management attributed the increase in efficiency to it bringing online 25,900 Bitcoin miners based in various facilities in North Dakota, bringing its fleet to 105,200 mining rigs as of April 1.

Marathon explained its operational improvements cleaned up part of its balance sheet by wiping out $50 billion in debt in addition to repaying its loan back to the now-failed Silvergate Bank:

“We reduced our debt by $50 million and increased our unrestricted Bitcoin holdings by 3,132 Bitcoin after we prepaid our term loan and terminated our credit facilities with Silvergate Bank.”

The firm finished the quarter with approximately $124.9 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, and 11,466 BTC, which equates to over $450 million.

Marathon noted the figures have not been audited.

*Marathon’s figures show a stronger first quarter after tough market conditions in 2022. Source:* *Marathon Digital*

Marathon expects operational efficiencies to continue having purchased a new batch of Antminer S19 XPs Bitcoin mining rigs that are said to be nearly 30% more efficient than the Antminer S19 Pro.

Once those miners are installed approximately 66% of Marathon’s hash rate will come from the S19 XPs, it said.

The design of S19 XPs has, however, been criticized by fellow Bitcoin mining firm Compass Mining.

In a March report the firm identified “three flaws” of the new S19s which may result in the mining rig overheating, or in some cases, shutting down completely.

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