Title: “Top 10 Publicly Listed Mining Companies as Premium Investment Targets? The Top 10 Companies Have Mined Over 20,000 BTC This Year After Halving, Transformation, and Integration Bring New Changes”
Author: Nancy, PANews
High-value acquisitions of chip developers, development of new products, massive investments in mining machines/mining farms to expand hash power, leasing data centers to increase income sources, diversifying and transforming business operations with AI, selling large amounts of company shares or bitcoin to raise funds, and aggressively increasing shareholdings to “swallow” competitors… The news that has followed the halving event is presenting the true nature of mining companies under the test of survival.
In fact, the movements of publicly listed mining companies since 2024 have become the focus of attention for investors. Especially, not long ago, former US President Donald Trump openly supported Bitcoin mining activities, which has also boosted the market’s bullish sentiment towards mining companies. According to CompaniesMarketCap data, as of June 18th, the total market value of 21 US publicly listed mining companies has risen to $288 billion.
With mining companies facing increasingly brutal reshuffling and integration, future market share will be concentrated on companies with stronger capital, and many institutions have given investment advice for mining companies. For example, Bernstein suggests that investors buy stocks of outstanding crypto mining companies; 10x Research has also indicated that stocks of crypto mining companies may further rise, and advises investing in potential bullish trends in Bitcoin.
This article from PANews has compiled the top 10 publicly listed mining companies by market value. From market trends, these companies have collectively mined over 21,000 bitcoins this year, and with a significant compression of profit space after the Bitcoin halving, these companies have already come up with strategies to expand hash power, business transformation, and the battle for mergers; in terms of stock performance, the top ten listed miners have seen an average highest increase of about 88.3% this year, with a total market value exceeding $246 billion, accounting for over 91.6% of the overall market size (all data is as of June 17th).
Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) Market Value: $5.5 billion
Marathon Digital Holdings is the largest publicly listed Bitcoin mining company. According to Bitcointreasuries.net, Marathon holds over 17,000 bitcoins. In 2023, Marathon mined 12,850 bitcoins, generating over $380 million in revenue, and has already mined 4,277 bitcoins this year.
In the past few months, Marathon has been continuously optimizing mining machine products and expanding its hash power. Its plan is to reach a hash power of 50 EH/s by the end of 2024, doubling from the beginning of the year. For example, Marathon Digital acquired mining data centers from Applied Digital for $87.3 million, and collaborated with NiceHash to launch custom firmware for Bitcoin ASIC miners optimized for the NiceHash mining platform, as well as launching mining products such as MARAFW firmware and MARA UCB 2100 control boards to improve the efficiency and performance of Bitcoin miners. In addition, 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.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that Marathon’s market value has reached $5.5 billion, ranking 2473rd globally, a 14.1-fold increase from 2022. According to Google Finance, MARA has risen by 35.3% since the beginning of the year.
CleanSpark (CLSK) Market Value: $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 163% increase year-on-year. Bitcointreasuries.net data shows that CleanSpark holds 6,154 bitcoins. Since the beginning of 2024, CleanSpark has mined 3,746 bitcoins.
In the past few months, CleanSpark has been increasing production and expanding its hash power, including plans to purchase 160,000 Bitmain S21 mining machines, with the initial orders for 60,000 machines valued at $193.2 million, and spending over $23 million to acquire four Bitcoin mining facilities. In addition, CleanSpark also plans to launch an internal Bitcoin trading platform this year to maximize returns on its holdings of cryptocurrencies.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that CleanSpark’s market value is about $4.03 billion, nearly a 1.98-fold increase from 2023. According to Google Finance, CLSK has risen by nearly 103.1% since the beginning of the year, causing short sellers to lose over $100 million.
Riot Blockchain (RIOT) Market Value: $3.04 billion
Riot Blockchain is one of the companies with the most financing in the first quarter of 2024, with a net profit of over $210 million, setting a new record for quarterly performance. Bitcointreasuries.net data shows that Riot currently holds 9,084 bitcoins. In the entire year of 2023, Riot produced 6,626 bitcoins, setting a new record of $281 million in total revenue. So far this year, Riot has mined 1,954 bitcoins.
Riot is expanding its market share, on one hand by raising $559 million through equity issuance, used for a large-scale purchase of Bitcoin mining machines from MicroBT’s WhatsMiner, and spending $97.4 million to purchase 31,500 Canaan machines; on the other hand, Riot plans to acquire competitor Bitfarms for $950 million in stock value, but was rejected by the latter and tried to refuse the acquisition by adopting a “poison pill” strategy. Subsequently, Riot began to significantly increase its stake in the company, and now holds a 14% stake. Bernstein also believes that Riot is the most suitable mining company to consolidate the Bitcoin mining industry, with over $1.3 billion in cash and Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that Riot’s market value is $3.04 billion, with no significant changes from last year. According to Google Finance, RIOT has risen by nearly 14.5% since the beginning of the year.
Phoenix Group (PHX.AE) Market Value: $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, oversubscribed 33 times. It has been reported that the International Holding Co., the largest enterprise group in Abu Dhabi controlled by an important member of the royal family, purchased 10% of its shares.
According to Phoenix Group’s financial report for the first quarter of this year, its total assets increased by 237% year-on-year, from $261 million to $879.3 million, and net profit reached $66.2 million, a 166% increase year-on-year. Phoenix Group is also continuously expanding its mining machine scale, announcing the purchase of $187 million worth of Bitcoin mining machines from Bitmain at the beginning of the year.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that Phoenix Group’s market value is $2.96 billion. Google Finance shows that PHX.AE has risen by nearly 4.6% since the beginning of the year.
Iris Energy (IREN) Market Value: $1.93 billion
Iris Energy has been referred to by JPMorgan as a company that entered high-performance computing early, with the right to develop over 2 GW of power. Currently, Iris Energy’s balance sheet holds over $320 million, and the company has already mined 1,592 bitcoins this year. According to Iris Energy’s latest financial report for the third quarter of 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 hash power to 30 EH/s by revising and signing new agreements with Bitmain and constructing an additional 50 MW data center capacity in the Childress region in 2024.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that Iris Energy’s market value is $1.93 billion, nearly a 4.1-fold increase from last year. Google Finance shows that IREN has risen by 232.1% since the beginning of the year.
Core Scientific (CORZ) Market Value: $1.83 billion
Core Scientific is one of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the US and once applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In January of this year, Core Scientific’s restructuring plan was approved by the US Bankruptcy Court and relisted on Nasdaq, and the company has begun to expand into the AI field, including signing a multi-year contract with AI supercomputing company CoreWeave to provide up to 16 MW of data center infrastructure to support AI and HPC workloads, with potential revenue exceeding $1 billion. Subsequently, Core Scientific announced a 12-year contract with CoreWeave, which is expected to generate an average annual revenue of about $290 million for Core Scientific, with total cumulative revenue of over $3.5 billion over 12 years. In addition, Core Scientific rejected an offer from CoreWeave to purchase the mining company for $5.75 per share, totaling about $1 billion.
According to Core Scientific’s published financial performance data for the first quarter of 2024, it generated net revenue of $2.107 billion. So far this year, Core Scientific has produced 4,076 bitcoins. Despite facing bankruptcy issues last year, Core Scientific still mined 19,274 bitcoins.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that Core Scientific’s market value has reached $1.83 billion, a 70.3-fold increase from 2023. Google Finance shows that CORZ has risen by over 3 times since the beginning of the year.
Cipher Mining (CIFR) Market Value: $1.53 billion
Cipher Mining previously operated as a subsidiary of Bitfury and announced a stock distribution plan in January of this year, planning to reduce its stake 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, increasing its total self-mining capacity to 8.4 EH/s.
Cipher Mining’s first-quarter net revenue reached $40 million in 2024. So far this year, Cipher Mining has produced 1,483 bitcoins. According to Cipher Mining’s latest plan, it will undergo significant upgrades to its mining equipment to increase hash rate to 13.5 EH/s by the end of 2024, with machine efficiency reaching 18.6 J/TH.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that Cipher Mining’s market value is $1.53 billion, an increase of 44.3% from last year. Google Finance shows that CIFR has risen by about 29.1% since the beginning of the year.
Bitdeer Technologies Group (BTDR) Market Value: $1.38 billion
Bitdeer announced unaudited financial performance and operational updates for the first quarter of 2024, showing total revenue of $119.5 million, a 64.6% year-on-year increase, and a net profit of $600,000, while in the first quarter of 2023 it suffered a net loss of $9.5 million. Revenue growth is mainly due to the increase in self-mining hash power and the increase in Bitcoin production leading to increased revenue from its self-mining business. In addition, as of March 31, 2024, the company’s cash and cash equivalents were $118.5 million. Bitdeer’s Bitcoin output this year has reached 1,360 bitcoins.
Bitdeer has increased its research and development efforts on mining machines this year. For example, in March, Bitdeer announced that the energy efficiency of its designed Bitcoin mining chip SEA L01 can reach 18.1 J/TH, reducing operating costs and reducing the environmental footprint of miners; this month, Bitdeer announced plans to acquire ASIC chip design company Desiweminer for $140 million in an all-stock transaction, enhancing its hardware development capabilities; Bitdeer also announced the technical roadmap for SEALMINER Bitcoin mining machines, aiming to improve mining transparency, with the first batch of SEA L01 chips expected to be mass-produced and delivered in Q3 2024, the second generation SEALMINER machines expected to start mass production and delivery in Q4, and the third generation SEA L03 and fourth generation SEALMINER machines expected to start delivery in 2025; Bitmain has also launched two new mining machines, including the Antminer S21 XP and S21 XP 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, and as working capital and other general corporate purposes. According to the disclosure by Tether Holdings Limited, it already holds 25% of Bitdeer’s shares, making it the second largest shareholder of the Bitcoin mining company.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that Bitdeer’s market value is $1.38 billion, an increase of over 26.6% from last year. Google Finance shows that BTDR has risen by about 12% since the beginning of the year.
TeraWulf (WULF) Market Value: $1.3 billion
According to TeraWulf’s latest announcement, as of May 31, 2024, TeraWulf’s operational infrastructure capacity includes 160 megawatts for the Lake Mariner facility and 50 megawatts for the Nautilus facility, with the company’s total self-mining hash rate reaching about 8.0 EH/s, an 82% year-on-year increase. TeraWulf is also building a data center with a capacity of 30 megawatts, and expects its total mining capacity in the second half of this year to exceed 10.0 EH/s. In addition, TeraWulf is also advancing a 2.0 MW AI trial at Lake Mariner, aimed at adapting to next-generation GPU technology.
TeraWulf’s output this year has reached 1,590 bitcoins. CompaniesMarketCap data shows that TeraWulf’s market value is $1.3 billion, a nearly 2.4-fold increase from last year. Google Finance shows that WULF has risen by 123.3% since the beginning of the year.
Bitfarms (BITF) Market Value: $1.18 billion
Bitfarms is the target of a planned acquisition by Riot, and is currently employing a “poison pill” strategy to prevent the company from being acquired without consent and attempting to reduce its attractiveness.
According to Bitfarms’ financial performance for the first quarter ending March 31, 2024, its first-quarter 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 the fourth quarter of 2023 at $46 million. So far this year, Bitfarms has mined 1,368 bitcoins. Bitfarms is currently expanding its hash power and upgrading its mining equipment, including plans to invest nearly $240 million to upgrade its Bitcoin mining equipment to triple its hash power to 21 EH/s to remain profitable after the Bitcoin halving in 2024.
CompaniesMarketCap data shows that Bitfarms’ market value is $1.18 billion, an increase of 26.8% from last year. Google Finance shows that BITF has risen by 28.9% since the beginning of the year.
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