Cryptocurrency mining firm Hut 8 has reported a remarkable 79% increase in its hashrate during the first quarter of the year. This news comes despite a significant net loss of $134.3 million, as detailed in Hut 8’s latest quarterly report released on May 8. The firm’s revenue stood at $21.8 million, and CEO Asher Genoot attributed the losses to extensive investments made in the company’s operations.
“As reflected in our results, the first quarter was a deliberate and necessary phase of investment,” Genoot stated. He expressed confidence that the returns on these investments will become increasingly apparent in the coming quarters.
As of March 31, Hut 8’s operational energy capacity reached a total of 1,020 megawatts, sufficient to power over 800,000 average homes in the United States. Moreover, the company holds the potential to scale its operations by an additional 2,600 megawatts.
Scaling Up Operations
Genoot explained that the company’s financial results follow substantial investments, which include upgrading Hut 8’s application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) fleet and launching a majority-owned subsidiary, American Bitcoin. Announced at the end of March, American Bitcoin aims to position itself as the world’s largest and most efficient pure-play Bitcoin miner, focusing on building a robust strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Recent reports indicate that American Bitcoin is also considering raising additional capital, including through an initial public offering. In the quarterly earnings announcement, Genoot remarked:
“The streamlined capital allocation framework made possible by the American Bitcoin launch reinforces our ability to scale lower-cost-of-capital businesses such as high-performance computing.”
Future Expansion Plans
Looking ahead, Genoot highlighted that Hut 8 is actively pursuing plans for 2025. These include the energization of the Vega data center, initial site work at the River Bend data center, and developments in the firm’s utility-scale power portfolio. Genoot stated:
“We believe these initiatives will further accelerate our ability to generate resilient near-term cash flows while building toward enduring leadership across next-generation digital infrastructure markets.”
Currently, Hut 8’s stock is trading at $12.66, reflecting a 2.2% increase during the trading day on Nasdaq. However, the stock is down by over 38% from the beginning of the year, where it stood at $20.49.
This announcement regarding Hut 8 comes on the heels of Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining firm Core Scientific, which recently reported a net profit of $580 million for the first quarter, despite missing analyst revenue estimates due to a decline in mining profitability.
Magazine: AI may already use more power than Bitcoin — and it threatens Bitcoin mining
