Riot’s net income was boosted by a 131% year-on-year increase in Bitcoin’s price despite the cryptocurrency becoming more difficult and expensive to mine.
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Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Riot Platforms reported a $211.8 million net income for Q1 2024 — a company record and a 1,000% increase from the same time last year — but missed analyst revenue estimates.
Riot’s first quarter results released May 1 show minin revenue spiked 55.4% year-on-year to $74.6 million, primarily driven by a 131% increase in Bitcoin’s price.
The firm’s total revenue was $79.3 million, fallin 14% short of estimates by research firm Zacks.
The miner said a rise in net income and mining revenue was partially slowed by lower Bitcoin production and higher mining costs due to an increase in Bitcoin’s network difficulty and hash rate.
Riot mined 1,364 BTC during Q1, a 36% decrease from 2023’s first quarter. Its average cost to mine 1 BTC was $23,000 — 144% more expensive compared to the same time last year which Riot said was “primarily driven by an increase of 89% in global network hash rate.”
Riot announced a new facility in Corsicana, Texas last month which CEO Jason Les believes will become the largest dedicated Bitcoin mining facility in the world once fully developed.
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The mining firm claimed it was on track to increase its hash rate capacity from 12.4 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 31 EH/s before the end of the year.
It anticipates its hash rate will increase to 41 EH/s when its Corsicana facility fully deploys in 2025 and Riot has a long-term goal to reach 100 EH/s in 2027 or soon after.
Riot currently boasts the third largest hash rate among miners trailing only rivals Marathon Digital and Core Scientific at 24.7 EH/s and 16.9 EH/s respectively, according to Hashrate Index.
Riot’s share price fell 2.87% over May 1 to $9.82, but is up 1.1% in after-hours trading, according to Google Finance.
Bitcoin miners are adjusting after the blockchain’s mining rewards were cut in the April 20 halving event from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC — the latter currently worth around $180,600.
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