Bitcoin mining firm Cipher Mining has purchased 16,700 new miners for delivery in the second quarter, with hopes to be “one of the industry winners” of the Bitcoin halving event — expected in April.
Cipher expects to have the latest generation Avalon A1466 miners installed at its Bear and Chief Mountain facilities in Texas in the second quarter as well, bringing the firm’s total self-mining capacity to 8.4 exahashes per second (EH/s), the firm stated on Jan. 3.
Today $CIFR announced a 60 MW expansion at our Bear and Chief JV data centers, along with the purchase of 16k+ new miners from Canaan for delivery in the second quarter, bringing our expected total self-mining capacity to ~8.4 EH/s. More here: https://t.co/tRPa3sImWH
— Cipher Mining (@CipherInc) January 3, 2024
Terms of the purchase were reached between Bitcoin mining firm Canaan — the firm selling the Avalon A1466 miners — and joint venture firm Bear LLC and Chief Mountain LLC. Cipher holds a 49% interest in the joint venture.
Cipher and its joint venture partner plan to install half of these miners at the Bear facility and the other half at the Chief facility, representing an expansion of 30 megawatts — 1.25 EH/s — at each mining center.
Cipher Mining CEO Tyler Page said the new purchase was timed to work with the Bitcoin halving event — the process whereby Bitcoin mining rewards are cut in half to reduce the number of new coins entering the network. The event has typically coincided with an outsized price increase for Bitcoin.
“These expansions [...] position us for strong growth, and I expect Cipher to be one of the industry winners coming out of the halving.”
Cipher didn’t disclose how much the 16,700 miners set them back but said the agreement was reached on “very favorable terms.”
“[We’re] happy to have done so at this point in the machine market cycle,” Page added.
It’s the second time Cipher has purchased machines from Canaan. Page said he was pleased with how the first stack of Canaan machines performed in the “Texas summer heat” — which saw temperatures reach as high as 119 degrees Fahrenheit (48.3 degrees Celsius) in 2023.
Last year, Cipher purchased 37,396 units of the latest generation Antminer T21 miners from Bitmain.
The purchase, which totaled $99.5 million, represents 7.1 EH/s of self-mining capacity. However, the miners won’t be delivered until the first half of 2025.
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Cipher mined 465 BTC in December, representing a 7.4% increase from November, according to its latest operational update. The firm holds 796 BTC on its balance sheet, worth $34 million.
The firm’s share price (CIFR) bounced 638% from $0.56 to $4.13 in 2023 following a tough 2022, which saw CIFR fall 88%, according to Companies Market Cap.
Its market cap currently sits at $1.01 billion, trailing only Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Platforms, CleanSpark and Hut 8 Mining.
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