Are publicly listed Bitcoin mining companies becoming quality investment targets? The top 10 mining companies have mined over 20,000 BTC this year
The competition for computing power expansion, business transformation, and mergers among mining companies has already begun.Author: Nancy, PANews
Heavy investments in acquiring chip developers for new products, spending huge sums to purchase mining machines/mining farms to expand computing power, renting out data centers to increase revenue sources, laying out AI to attempt business diversification and transformation, selling large amounts of company shares or Bitcoin to raise funds, significantly increasing shareholding to "swallow" competitors… The news following the halving event is showcasing the diverse situations of mining companies under the test of survival.
In fact, since the beginning of 2024, the movements of listed mining companies have become the focus of capital attention. Notably, former U.S. President Donald Trump recently publicly supported Bitcoin mining activities, further boosting market sentiment towards mining companies. According to CompaniesMarketCap data, as of June 18, the total market capitalization of 21 listed mining companies in the U.S. has risen to $28.8 billion.
As mining companies face increasingly brutal reshuffling and consolidation, future market shares will concentrate in companies with stronger capital. Several institutions have also provided investment recommendations for mining companies. For example, Bernstein suggests that investors buy stocks of well-performing crypto mining companies; 10x Research recently stated that crypto mining stocks may rise further and recommended investing in light of Bitcoin's potential bullish trend.
This article by PANews reviews the top 10 U.S. listed mining companies by market capitalization. From market trends, these mining companies have mined over 21,000 Bitcoins this year, and as profit margins have significantly compressed following Bitcoin's halving, these companies have proposed countermeasures. The competition for computing power expansion, business transformation, and mergers among mining companies has already begun; in terms of stock performance, the top ten listed miners have seen an average maximum increase of about 88.3% this year, with a total market capitalization exceeding $24.6 billion, accounting for over 91.6% of the overall market size (all data as of June 17).
Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) Market Cap: $5.5 billion
Marathon Digital Holdings is the largest publicly listed Bitcoin mining company. Bitcointreasuries.net data shows that Marathon holds over 17,000 Bitcoins. Marathon mined 12,850 Bitcoins in 2023, generating over $380 million in revenue, and has mined 4,277 Bitcoins so far this year.
In recent months, Marathon has been continuously optimizing mining machine products and expanding its computing power, planning to reach 50 EH/s by the end of 2024, doubling from the beginning of the year. For example, Marathon Digital acquired a Bitcoin mining data center from Applied Digital for $87.3 million, partnered with NiceHash to launch custom firmware optimized for the NiceHash mining platform, and introduced mining products like the MARAFW firmware and MARA UCB 2100 control board aimed at improving the efficiency and performance of Bitcoin mining machines. Additionally, Marathon has diversified its business, including launching a Bitcoin sidechain and related development platform Anduro, and signing an agreement with Kenya to invest over $80 million to develop the energy infrastructure of the African country.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, Marathon's market cap is $5.5 billion, ranking 2,473rd globally, more than 14.1 times higher than in 2022. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, MARA has risen by a maximum of 35.3%.
CleanSpark (CLSK) Market Cap: $4.03 billion
CleanSpark's market size is second only to Marathon. In the first quarter of this year, CleanSpark's net profit exceeded $126.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 163%. Bitcointreasuries.net data shows that CleanSpark holds 6,154 Bitcoins. So far in 2024, CleanSpark has mined 3,746 Bitcoins.
In recent months, CleanSpark has also been increasing production and expanding computing power, including plans to purchase 160,000 Bitmain S21 mining machines, with an initial order of 60,000 machines valued at $193.2 million, and spending over $23 million to acquire four Bitcoin mining facilities. Additionally, CleanSpark plans to launch an internal Bitcoin trading platform this year to maximize returns on its held cryptocurrencies.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, CleanSpark's market cap is approximately $4.03 billion, nearly 1.98 times higher than in 2023. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, CLSK has risen by nearly 103.1%, with short sellers losing over $100 million.
Riot Blockchain (RIOT) Market Cap: $3.04 billion
Riot Blockchain is one of the mining companies that raised the most funds in the first quarter of 2024, with a net profit exceeding $210 million, setting a new quarterly performance record. Bitcointreasuries.net data shows that Riot currently holds 9,084 Bitcoins. Riot produced 6,626 Bitcoins last year, setting a new record with total revenue of $281 million. So far this year, Riot has mined 1,954 Bitcoins.
Riot is expanding its market share; on one hand, Riot raised $559 million through equity issuance for large-scale purchases of products from Bitcoin mining machine manufacturer MicroBT, and spent $97.4 million to acquire 31,500 Shennong mining machines; on the other hand, Riot planned to acquire competitor Bitfarms at a stock value of $950 million, but was rejected by the latter, which attempted to fend off the acquisition through a "poison pill" strategy. Subsequently, Riot began significantly increasing its stake in Bitfarms, which has now risen to 14%. Bernstein also considers Riot to be the most suitable company for consolidating the Bitcoin mining industry, with over $1.3 billion in cash and Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, Riot's market cap is currently $3.04 billion, showing no significant change from last year. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, RIOT has risen by nearly 14.5%.
Phoenix Group (PHX.AE) Market Cap: $2.96 billion
Phoenix Group completed a $371 million IPO on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange at the end of last year, attracting $12 billion in funds and being oversubscribed by 33 times. Reports indicate that International Holding Co., the largest business group in Abu Dhabi controlled by important members of the UAE royal family, purchased 10% of its shares.
According to Phoenix Group's disclosed Q1 financial report for this year, its total assets surged by 237% year-on-year, skyrocketing from $261 million to $879.3 million; net profit reached $66.2 million, a year-on-year increase of 166%. Phoenix Group is also continuously expanding its mining machine scale, announcing at the beginning of the year the purchase of Bitcoin mining machines from Bitmain worth $187 million.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, Phoenix Group's market cap is currently $2.96 billion. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, PHX.AE has risen by nearly 4.6%.
Iris Energy (IREN) Market Cap: $1.93 billion
Iris Energy is referred to by JPMorgan as an early entrant in high-performance computing, with the right to develop over 2 GW of power. Currently, Iris Energy's balance sheet holds over $320 million, and the company disclosed that it has mined 1,592 Bitcoins this year. According to Iris Energy's latest report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024, its Bitcoin mining revenue reached $53.4 million, with a profit of $8.6 million for the quarter. Iris Energy plans to increase its computing power to 30 EH/s this year by revising and signing new agreements with Bitmain and constructing an additional 50MW data center capacity in the Childress area in 2024.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, Iris Energy's market cap is $1.93 billion, approximately 4.1 times higher than last year. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, IREN has seen a maximum increase of 232.1%.
Core Scientific (CORZ) Market Cap: $1.83 billion
Core Scientific is one of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the U.S., having once filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In January of this year, Core Scientific's restructuring plan was approved by the U.S. bankruptcy court, and it was relisted on NASDAQ. The company will also begin to lay out in the AI field, including signing a multi-year contract with AI supercomputing company CoreWeave to provide up to 16MW of data center infrastructure to support AI and HPC workloads, with potential revenue exceeding $100 million. Subsequently, Core Scientific announced another 12-year contract with CoreWeave, which is expected to generate about $290 million in average annual revenue for Core Scientific, with total revenue exceeding $3.5 billion over the 12-year period. Additionally, Core Scientific rejected CoreWeave's proposal to acquire the mining company at $5.75 per share, totaling about $1 billion.
According to Core Scientific's disclosed financial performance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, it generated a net income of $210.7 million. So far this year, Core Scientific's Bitcoin production is 4,076. Despite facing bankruptcy issues last year, Core Scientific still mined 19,274 Bitcoins.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, Core Scientific's market cap has now reached $1.83 billion, nearly 70.3 times higher than in 2023. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, CORZ has risen by over 3 times.
Cipher Mining (CIFR) Market Cap: $1.53 billion
Cipher Mining operated as a subsidiary of Bitfury and announced a share distribution plan in January this year, planning to reduce its shareholding from 75% to less than 20%. Before the Bitcoin halving, Cipher Mining purchased 16,700 new mining machines and plans to deliver them in the second quarter, bringing the company's total self-mining capacity to 8.4 EH/s.
Cipher Mining's net income for Q1 2024 reached $40 million. So far this year, Cipher Mining has produced 1,483 Bitcoins. According to Cipher Mining's latest plan, it will undertake significant upgrades to its mining equipment to increase the hash rate to 13.5 EH/s by the end of 2024, with mining machine efficiency reaching 18.6 J/TH.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, Cipher Mining's market cap is $1.53 billion, up 44.3% from last year. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, CIFR has risen by about 29.1%.
Bitdeer Technologies Group (BTDR) Market Cap: $1.38 billion
Bitdeer announced its unaudited financial performance and operational updates for Q1 2024, showing total revenue of $119.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 64.6%, with a net profit of $600,000, compared to a net loss of $9.5 million in Q1 2023. The revenue growth was primarily due to increased self-mining capacity and Bitcoin production, leading to higher income from the company's self-mining business. Additionally, as of March 31, 2024, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $118.5 million. So far this year, Bitdeer has produced 1,360 Bitcoins.
Bitdeer has increased its R&D efforts for mining machines this year. For example, in March, Bitdeer announced the successful design of the Bitcoin mining chip SEAL01, achieving an energy efficiency ratio of 18.1 J/TH, which will reduce operating costs and minimize the environmental footprint of miners. This month, Bitdeer announced plans to acquire ASIC chip design company Desiweminer in an all-stock deal worth $140 million to enhance its hardware development capabilities. Bitdeer also released a technical roadmap for the SEALMINER Bitcoin mining machine, aiming to improve transparency in the mining industry, with the first batch of SEAL01 chips expected to be mass-produced and delivered in Q3 2024, the second-generation SEALMINER mining machines expected to start mass production in Q4, and the third-generation SEAL03 and fourth-generation SEALMINER mining machines expected to be delivered starting in 2025. Bitmain recently launched two new mining machines, the Antminer S21XP and S21XP Hydro.
At the end of May, Bitdeer also announced the completion of a $150 million private placement, which will be used to fund the expansion of its data centers, ASIC-based mining machine development, as well as for working capital and other general corporate purposes. According to Tether Holdings Limited, it has acquired a 25% stake in Bitdeer, making it the second-largest shareholder of the Bitcoin mining company.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, Bitdeer's market cap is $1.38 billion, up over 26.6% from last year. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, BTDR has seen a maximum increase of about 12%.
TeraWulf (WULF) Market Cap: $1.3 billion
According to TeraWulf's latest announcement, as of May 31, 2024, TeraWulf's operational infrastructure capacity includes 160 MW from the Lake Mariner facility and 50 MW from the Nautilus facility, with the company's total self-mining hash rate approximately 8.0 EH/s, a year-on-year increase of 82%. TeraWulf is also constructing a data center with a capacity of 30 MW, expecting to increase total mining capacity to over 10.0 EH/s in the second half of this year. Additionally, TeraWulf is advancing a 2.0 MW AI pilot at Lake Mariner to adapt to next-generation GPU technology.
So far this year, TeraWulf has produced 1,590 Bitcoins. According to CompaniesMarketCap, TeraWulf's market cap is $1.3 billion, nearly 2.4 times higher than last year. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, WULF has seen a maximum increase of 123.3%.
Bitfarms (BITF) Market Cap: $1.18 billion
Bitfarms is the target of Riot's acquisition plan and is currently employing a "poison pill" strategy to prevent unsolicited acquisitions and attempts to reduce its attractiveness.
According to Bitfarms' financial performance report for the first quarter ending March 31, 2024, its hash rate reached 7.0 EH/s, producing an average of 10.4 Bitcoins per day, with total financial revenue reaching $50 million, a 9% increase from $46 million in Q4 2023. So far this year, Bitfarms has mined 1,368 Bitcoins. Bitfarms is also expanding its computing power and upgrading mining equipment, including investing nearly $240 million to upgrade its Bitcoin mining equipment to triple its hash rate to 21 EH/s to maintain profitability after the 2024 Bitcoin halving.
According to CompaniesMarketCap, Bitfarms' market cap is $1.18 billion, up 26.8% from last year. Google Finance shows that since the beginning of this year, WULF has seen a maximum increase of about 28.9%.
