On 28 June, Bitdeer, a Bitcoin mining company, announced that it had signed a 30-year lease agreement with the Monroe County Port Authority for a site at the Hannibal Industrial Park in Clarington, Ohio. The site, which used to be an aluminium factory, already has the power infrastructure in place to support Bitdeer's mining operations.
Bitdeer plans to get up to 570 MW of extra power from this site in two phases. The first phase, which will deliver 266 MW, is scheduled for Q3 2025. The remaining 304 MW will become available once the utility authorities have given the all-clear.
Bitdeer garners attention from industry
Bitdeer's move has got people talking in the industry. Analyst Mark Palmer highlighted Bitdeer's competitive advantage in March, saying that its energy costs are the lowest in the industry, averaging just $0.04 per kilowatt hour. In May, Tether, the issuer of stablecoin, further boosted Bitdeer's profile with a $150 million investment. They acquired over 18 million shares and gained warrants for an additional 5 million shares at $10 per share.
The Bitcoin halving and the mining industry
The Bitcoin halving event in April 2024 made it even more important for miners to be profitable, especially with high energy costs and reduced block rewards of 3.125 Bitcoin. Cantor Fitzgerald's research showed that several mining companies might not be making as much money as they thought. The study showed that Argo Blockchain Mining had the highest costs at $62,276 per Bitcoin, with Hut8 not far behind at $60,360 per coin. It's still tough to make a profit at $40,000 per BTC, even after the halving. This could affect the industry's future viability.
