Bitcoin mining firm CleanSpark is increasing its U.S. mining capacity via the addition of 20,000 new Antminer S19j Pro+ rigs. The mining computers were reportedly purchased for $43.6 million USD. The purchase should increase the firm’s processing power by 37%. The acquisition brings CleanSpark’s total number of discounted bear market rig purchases to 46,500 units.
According to a media statement released on February 16th, CleanSpark will spend a total of $32.3 million for the mining rigs after using coupons offering a 25% discount. The total price per terahash equals approximately $13.25. Antminer Pro+ rigs are 22% more efficient than their preceding models and are scheduled to be shipped in batches between the months of March and May.
CleanSpark is using the cryptocurrency market’s reduced rig prices to increase its overall mining capacity, while the price of Bitcoin continues to rebound. As indicated by data provided by Hashrate Index, the current price per terahash of ASIC rigs offering the same mining efficiency is currently $15.09, much lower than the $90.72 price tag seen one year ago. The company stated that the Antminer S19j Pro+ models deliver a greater ROI when compared to exact same ASIC-generation rigs.
“After they are fully operational, they are expected to add 2.44 EH/s to CleanSpark’s existing 6.6 EH/s of bitcoin mining computing power (for a total of 9 EH/s), constituting a 37% increase.”
CleanSpark remarked that under the existing market conditions, the models it has purchased continue to be more helpful to its current operations.
“The S19j Pro+ delivers 122 terahash per machine and saves an average of 2 joules of energy per terahash compared to the S19j Pro model of the same generation.”
The vast majority, 15,000 of the new mining rigs, will be delivered to CleanSparks’s facility located in Washington, Georgia. In January, the company announced an upcoming $16-million expansion to that site, which is predicted to boost its hash rate by approximately 2.2 EH/s, with the total hash rate climbing as much as 8.7 EH/s. The Georgia facility was purchased by the firm in August 2022 before the takeover of Mawson Infrastructure Group’s plant in Sandersville.
Following a tough year, complete with decreasing Bitcoin prices and elevated energy prices, publicly listed crypto mining companies experienced an increase in both production and hash rates last month. During the month of January, CleanSpark increased its Bitcoin production by 50%, hitting a record-high monthly production volume of 697 BTC. Meanwhile, its hash rate climbed to 6.6 EH/s up from 6.2 EH/s in the month of December 2022.
Other publicly traded mining companies, like Core Scientific, Riot, and Marathon have experienced considerable Bitcoin production growth over the past month, assisted by consistent energy prices and improve weather conditions.