Hut 8 Corp. a major bitcoin mining operator in North America, announced on November 6 the modernization of its mining fleet with the acquisition of 31,145 BITMAIN Antminer S21 ASIC machines.
This acquisition, which is expected to be completed by the beginning of the first quarter of 2025, is part of Hut 8’s broader program to increase mining efficiency and expand its self-mining capabilities.
Under the purchase agreement, Hut 8 will acquire the miners at $15 per terahash, which is expected to significantly increase its hashrate of independent mining by about 3.7 exahash per second (EH/s). With this upgrade, Hut 8 intends to optimize its mining capacity in terms of 111 megawatts (MW) of independent mining capability.
Once operational, the new equipment is expected to increase Hut 8’s hashrate by 3.7 exahash per second (EH/s), bringing the total hashrate of stand-alone mining to 9.3 EH/s – a 66% increase. The upgrade will also reduce the fleet’s energy consumption from 31.7 to 19.9 joules per terahash (J/TH), increasing efficiency by about 37%.
The acquisition will complement Hut 8’s existing contract to host up to 15 EH/s of ASIC U3S21EXPH excavators at its Vega location, paving the way for a potential total hashrate of 24 EH/s with an average efficiency of 15.7 J/TH by the second quarter of 2025.
Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot highlighted the decision to choose the BITMAIN Antminer S21 , emphasizing its high return on investment compared to more expensive, higher-performing models.
This upgrade complements Hut 8’s previously announced option to purchase additional hosted ASIC U3S21EXPH excavators, which could increase the company’s total computing capacity to nearly 24 EH/s by the second quarter of 2025.
As part of its long-term growth strategy, Hut 8 said it is committed to scaling its computing infrastructure in power-intensive operations, focusing on bitcoin mining and AI computing.
on September 19, Hut 8 announced an expanded partnership with mining platform developer Bitmain. The collaboration has led to the development of the U3S21EXPH. In addition, Hut 8 is integrating AI into its data center operations to further optimize performance.
Hut 8 expects the new miner to increase managed computing power and significantly support their profitability in the face of the Bitcoin network’s growing difficulties.
To address industry pressures, including reduced block rewards and energy costs, Hut 8 is diversifying into high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) to secure stable revenue streams.
This expansion was made possible by a $150 million investment from Coatue Management in June 2024 to fund Hut 8’s energy and AI infrastructure, further supporting the company’s growth strategy.
