Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms acquires rival Block Mining for $92.5m

Colorado-based Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms has acquired its Kentucky-based competitor Block Mining to increase its operational capacity by 16 EH/s.

Bitcoin (BTC) miner Riot Platforms has acquired Block Mining, a Kentucky-based crypto mining firm, for $92.5 million to expand its operational resources. The company said in a Jul. 24 press release the deal immediately adds 1 EH/s to its self-mining hashrate “with a potential to add up to a total of 16 EH/s by the end of 2025.”

The acquisition includes a $18.5 million cash payment and $74 million in Riot common stock.

“With a combined 60 MW of existing developed capacity, and a pipeline to rapidly scale to over 300 MW, this acquisition expands our operations and further enhances our path towards our growth target of 100 EH/s.”

Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les

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Riot also plans to invest an additional $32.5 million through 2025 to enhance Block Mining’s power capacity, which includes two operational sites in Kentucky, the press release reads. By the end of 2024, Riot aims to increase Block Mining’s infrastructure to support 110 MW for self-mining operations.

Amid the news, Riot shares plunged by 5.3% to $11.59, according to data from Google Finance.

The acquisition comes a few months after Riot Platforms proposed acquiring its other rival Bitfarms for $950 million. However, Riot subsequently withdrew its proposal, citing an inability to engage with Bitfarms’ current board on a potential merger. Riot then requested a special shareholder meeting to address governance issues at the Toronto-based competitor.

Read more: Riot says ‘poison pill’ adopted by Bitfarms conflicts with ‘legal and governance standards’

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