Riot Blockchain Orders $17.7M Worth of Bitmain's Newest Antminer Units

Cryptocurrency mining hardware giant, Bitmain has announced that Riot Blockchain will be purchasing 8,000 Bitmain Antminer S19 Pros, a deal worth $17.7 million. Riot Blockchain, which is headquartered in Castle Rock, Colorado, is described in the post as “one of the few Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency mining companies.”

The announcement came in a blog post on Bitmain’s website. The post also explained that Bitmain will deliver 2,000 S19 Pros each month starting in January 2021 and continuing through to April until the order is complete.

The New Antminer Units Will Help Riot Reach Its Hash Rate Goal of '1 EH/s by Early 2021'

“We are glad to continue and expand our cooperation with Riot. Riot is a long-term friend of ours, and we have witnessed and assisted them building up a powerful mining operation in North America,” said Irene Gao, Bitmain’s Antminer Sales Director of NCSA Region.

Irene Gao, Bitmain’s Antminer Sales Director of NCSA Region.

“[...] We believe this new purchase help will Riot expand a leading position in the market and fulfill their business vision, which we are more than happy to be and continue being part of,” she added.

According to the blog post, the Antminer S19 Pro, which was launched earlier this year, has a hash rate of 110 TH/s and a power efficiency of 29.5±%5 J/TH.

Jeff McGonegal, chief executive of Riot Blockchain, commented that the new Antminer units will help Riot reach its hash rate goal of '1 EH/s by early 2021'.

“Sourcing hardware can be exceptionally challenging during the current pandemic and in this economic climate,” McGonegal said.

However, the new purchase deal has set the company on track to exceed its goals: “Bitmain provided us with exceptional service in a path towards achieving our goal, and because of their robust supply chain we are scheduled to exceed it.”

A Power Struggle Rages on at the Heart of Bitmain

The news of Riot’s purchase agreement closely follows the news that Marathon Patent Group, Inc., another Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency mining company, entered into a long-term purchase contract with Bitmain for 10,500 Antminer S-19 Pro ASIC Miners. The deal was worth roughly $23 million.

The new purchase agreements are good news for Bitmain, which has had some issues with its leadership over the year.

Two weeks ago, Finance Magnates reported that Bitmain would be delaying its shipments by up to three months as the power tussle between its co-founders, Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan Ketuan, continued to rage on. Hence, Wu and Zhan have been in a highly publicized power struggle for control of the company throughout 2020.

The New Antminer Units Will Help Riot Reach Its Hash Rate Goal of '1 EH/s by Early 2021'

According to the blog post, the Antminer S19 Pro, which was launched earlier this year, has a hash rate of 110 TH/s and a power efficiency of 29.5±%5 J/TH.

Jeff McGonegal, chief executive of Riot Blockchain, commented that the new Antminer units will help Riot reach its hash rate goal of '1 EH/s by early 2021'.

“Sourcing hardware can be exceptionally challenging during the current pandemic and in this economic climate,” McGonegal said.