Bitcoin mining companies continue to build despite the slump in BTC mining profitability

Despite a 44% drop in Bitcoin (BTC) mining profitability over the past year, some Bitcoin mining companies have continued to build and ramp up production, according to recent announcements.

On June 1, US Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark announced that it had purchased 12,500 brand new Antminer S19 XP units for $40.5 million. The deal came in at $23 per terahash per second (TH/s), which is below the average market price.

Hot off the press! More miners have been bought by $CLSK for lower than the current average market price. Approximately 12,500 Antminer S19 XP units were purchased for $40.5 million – or $23 per terahash.

The units have an energy efficiency class of 21.5 joules per terahash… pic.twitter.com/TKRxhWXlzx

—CleanSpark Inc. (@CleanSpark_Inc) June 1, 2023

The news comes as Bitcoin mining difficulty reached an all-time high of over 50 trillion on June 1, putting further pressure on miners. The network’s hash rate was also near the peak level of 395 EH/s on May 30.

CleanSpark’s purchase agreement stipulated that the manufacturer would ship 6,000 machines in June and the rest in August.

Antminer S19 XP units have a hash rate of 141 TH/s, with the combined purchase providing an additional total hash rate of 1.76 exahashes per second over the current 6.7 EH/s. Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, said:

“This purchase ensures that we are prepared to meet and possibly exceed our year-end target of 16 EH/s.”

CleanSpark’s mining operations are located in Georgia. According to the website, the company has 67,700 mining machines in operation and has mined 2,395 BTC so far.

The company has continued its expansion despite declining Bitcoin mining profitability, which has fallen to $0.071 per TH/s per day, down 44% over the past 12 months and 82% since the crypto market peaked in late 2021. according to the Hashrate Index.

In February, CleanSpark purchased and paid for 20,000 brand new Antminer S19j Pro+ units and in April added 45,000 S19 XP ASIC installations to its fleet.

Related: Mining Difficulty Exceeds 50 Trillion – 5 Things To Know In Bitcoin This Week

In other recent company updates, Bitfarms announced that it had mined 459 BTC in May, increasing production by 6.5% year-over-year. “A 47% year-over-year increase in our hash rate was offset by a 65% increase in network issues over the same period,” said Chief Mining Officer Ben Gagnon.

Cipher Mining announced record production in May with 493 BTC mines. The increases were due to the spike in transaction fees during the BRC-20 memecoin coin craze that peaked in early May.

On May 31, Compass Mining signed a deal with hosting provider Arthur Mining to open a new facility in Ohio.

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