Institutional Interest in Crypto Miners is Peaking

FinancialBuzz.com News Commentary

NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. in now the new hub of the Bitcoin mining market. In fact. it is the second-biggest mining destination on the planet, accounting for nearly 17% of all the world's bitcoin miners as of April 2021. That's a 151% increase from September 2020, according to CNBC. "For the last 18 months, we've had a serious growth of mining infrastructure in the U.S.," said Darin Feinstein, founder of Blockcap and Core Scientific. "We've noticed a massive uptick in mining operations looking to relocate to North America, mostly in the U.S." In addition, Forbes indicated in a report that China's recent crackdown on cryptocurrency mining is a move that's expected to help shift the industry's center of gravity from Asia to North America. "… mining is set to become a whole lot easier (and profitable) for North American crypto miners, thanks to the Chinese government's aggressive crackdown on the industry. Until recently, China accounted for between 65% and 75% of all Bitcoin mining," the report stated. ISW Holdings Inc. (OTC: ISWH), Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA), Bit Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ: BTBT), Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT), HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: HVBT)

Overall, business and governments are gradually becoming more open to the use of cryptocurrencies. And, while China took steps in one direction, other countries have instead opened up to the cryptocurrency market. For example, El Salvador just recently become the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Shortly after, leaders in Argentina, Brazil, Panama, and Paraguay have also endorsed the move on social media, pointing to the potential development of a trend in South America. In addition, financial institutions are also more accepting of the digital assets. Morgan Stanley has recently purchased 28,289 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust through its Europe Opportunity Fund, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Furthermore, a report by Coindesk indicates that Morgan Stanley has been increasingly active in the cryptocurrency space in recent months to meet growing demand from its clients. Overall, the banking and financial services application area is expected to hold the largest market size in the blockchain market. 

ISW Holdings Inc. (OTC: ISWH) just announced breaking news that it is, "transitioning to "BlockQuarry", pending name change), a Nevada-based portfolio company with primary commercial-stage operations in Cryptocurrency Mining, is pleased to announce the completion of an asset purchase agreement (the "Agreement") with Minerset, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, providing for the purchase of 400 state-of-the-art cryptocurrency miners by ISW Holdings.

'As we have discussed in our recent communications, we are actively engaged in expansion in both our hosting and mining segments,' stated Alonzo Pierce, President and Chairman of ISW Holdings. 'This asset purchase agreement with Minerset represents a material broadening of our in-house mining capacity and will enable us to drive further topline growth in the second half of 2021 as we ramp up toward the sizable jump lined up for next year thanks to our recent partnership deal with Bitmain.'

The Agreement provides for the purchase of 150 BitMain S19 95TH/s miners and 250 Canaan AvalonMiner 1246 90TH/s miners. The equipment purchase adds $3.8 million in new physical assets to the Company's balance sheet and will dramatically expand its total in-house mining capacity and hashrate once installed and activated.

Payment has already been made and the Company is set to take possession of the miners, which will be installed and activated in POD5 units at the Company's mining site in Pennsylvania, bringing its Stronghold mining operation hashrate to 54,000 TH/s."

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) reported back in June unaudited bitcoin ("BTC") production and miner installation updates for May 2021. The Company produced 226.6 new minted bitcoins during May 2021, increasing total bitcoin holdings to approximately 5,518 with a fair market value of approximately $203.4 million. As a result, Marathon currently holds approximately 5,518 BTC, including the 4,812.66 BTC the Company purchased in January 2021 for an average price of $31,168 per BTC. On May 31, 2021, the fair market value of one bitcoin was approximately $36,857, implying that the approximate fair market value of Marathon's current bitcoin holdings is approximately $203.4 million.

Bit Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ: BTBT) and Digihost Technology Inc. announced last month that the Companies have entered into a second strategic co-mining agreement (the "Agreement"). Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Digihost will provide certain premises (the "Premises") to Bit Digital for the operation of a 100 MW Bitcoin mining system (the "Miners") to be delivered by Bit Digital for a term of two years. This expanded collaboration between Digihost and Bit Digital is expected to facilitate an additional increase in hashrate of approximately 2 EH between the companies, and a total increase in hashrate between the two companies of approximately 2.4 EH including the initial collaboration agreement that was previously announced on June 10, 2021.

Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) announced earlier in June its May production and operational updates, including its unaudited Bitcoin ("BTC") production for May 2021 and its latest miner delivery status. The Company plans to continue to provide monthly operational updates and unaudited production results through the end of 2021. These updates are intended to keep shareholders informed of Riot's mining production as it continues to deploy its expanding miner fleet. On May 26th, 2021, Riot announced it completed its previously announced acquisition of Whinstone U.S. ("Whinstone"). Whinstone's Bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, TX is the largest Bitcoin mining facility in North America, as measured by its 300 MW in developed capacity. The Company announced its plans to immediately commence further development of additional capacity at Whinstone in order to rapidly bring the property to its current capacity of 750 MW. This expansion will be driven by Whinstone's industry leading development team of over 100 employees.

HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: HVBT) reported last week that it has ordered 1,800 Antminer S19j Pro miners from Bitmain Technologies Ltd. ("Bitmain"). These new miners have an aggregate hash power of 180 Petahash per second (PH/s). HIVE is proud to reconnect with Bitmain one of the leading manufacturers in our industry and is excited to make this initial order of S19j Pro miners from Bitmain. These 1,800 miners are the first of our 2022 mining purchase program and will be delivered in 6 equal tranches of 300 miners, commencing in January 2022 through June 2022. "We are constantly upgrading our ASIC fleet to have the most efficient miners we can buy from cash flow," Frank Holmes, Executive Chairman of HIVE continued, "This purchase with Bitmain enables us to maintain our strategy to diversify the manufacturers we purchase from. Over the past year, we have been expressing our concerns about global shortages in chips and logistics delays in shipping equipment from Asia due to Covid 19. We have deep relationships Bitmain, MicroBT and Canaan which are all top global manufacturers in our industry."

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