Riot Blockchain Inc RIOT

Riot Produces 370 Bitcoin in July 2024 and Expands into Kentucky

CASTLE ROCK, Colo., Aug. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --

Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) ("Riot" or "the Company"), an industry leader in vertically integrated Bitcoin ("BTC") mining, announces unaudited production and operations updates for July 2024.  

"July was a major step forward for Riot, as we increased our Bitcoin production 45% over June and completed a new acquisition, expanding our operations into a new market," said Jason Les, CEO of Riot. "Riot mined 370 Bitcoin during July, a significant month-over-month increase, demonstrating improved results from the significant deployment of hash rate at our Corsicana Facility at the end of June. We are seeing strong performance from the immersion systems and MicroBT miners at our Corsicana Facility, and expect results to further improve as the commissioning process completes and all cooling systems become fully operational. Combined with ongoing improvements at our Rockdale Facility, we remain on path to significantly enhance operating uptime as the year progresses. 

"During July, Riot also announced the acquisition of Block Mining, a vertically-integrated private miner operating in Kentucky. From this acquisition, Riot immediately added 1 EH of self-mining capacity and will begin to add additional hash rate based on already available capacity at the newly acquired Kentucky facilities. Work to expand into the power capacity available is underway, and we anticipate reaching 5 EH/s of hash rate capacity in Kentucky by the end of this year."

Riot's Power Strategy Overview

Riot's power strategy is based on being a flexible consumer of power. The Company typically consumes power when it is low-cost and abundant, as opposed to residential consumers, who typically increase power usage during peak periods of demand. When demand increases and/or supply decreases, causing prices to rise, the Company can either power down to reduce power costs, or bid competitively to provide the grid operator with visibility into, and control over, Riot's power utilization. This control gives the grid operator the ability to either absorb excess power when supply is high or to curtail Riot's operations in order to reduce demand when beneficial to the grid, and ultimately, to all consumers.

During July, Riot continued its participation in ERCOT's Four Coincident Peak Program ("4CP"). The 4CP program is an opportunity for users of power to curtail usage during periods of highest demand on the grid in each of the four summer months of the year. Riot curtailed operations in July during peak periods of demand within ERCOT and will continue to do so throughout the summer. These periods of curtailment occur whenever total demand on the grid could reach its peak point for each month and does not depend on the current price for power, which fluctuates due to a variety of factors and may be lower or higher than anticipated.  As part of Riot's participation in this voluntary program, the Company can achieve substantial savings on future costs, and participation is a key part of the Company's partnership-driven approach with the grid and all consumers of power in ERCOT. 

Infrastructure Update

Riot is currently developing Phase 1 of the Company's second large-scale facility, the Corsicana Facility, which is expected to total 400 megawatts ("MW") of developed mining capacity upon completion of this initial phase. Once fully developed, the Corsicana Facility is expected to total 1 gigawatt (1,000 MWs) in total developed mining capacity.

Buildings A1 and A2 are fully energized and operational, while deployment and energization continues in Building B1. Building B2 is currently under construction and miner deployment is expected to begin in September. 

Estimated Hash Rate Growth    

Riot anticipates achieving a total self-mining hash rate capacity of 36 EH/s by the end of 2024.

On April 18^th, Riot announced the successful energization of the Corsicana Facility substation. The Corsicana Facility will have a total capacity of 1 GW when fully developed, at which point it is expected to be the largest known Bitcoin mining facility in the world by developed capacity. The recently energized substation will power the initial 400 MW phase of development of the Corsicana Facility. This initial phase is expected to add 16 EH/s to Riot's self-mining capacity by the end of 2024.

On July 23^rd, Riot announced the acquisition of Block Mining. The transaction immediately increases Riot's hash rate by 1 EH/s and establishes an additional arm of growth for Riot in new jurisdictions and energy markets, starting in Kentucky. The acquisition includes 60 MW of existing operational capacity with potential to expand to over 300 MW in total in Kentucky. Riot's immediate focus will be on integrating Block Mining's operations and team into Riot and providing support towards near-term expansion opportunities.

Following the Block Mining acquisition, Riot raised its 2024 deployed hash rate guidance from 31 EH/s to 36 EH/s, and upon full deployment in 2025, Riot now anticipates a total self-mining hash rate capacity of 56 EH/s.

Human Resources Update   

Riot is currently recruiting for positions across the Company. Join our team in building, expanding, and securing the Bitcoin network.   

Open positions are available at: https://www.riotplatforms.com/careers.    

About Riot Platforms, Inc.   

Riot's (NASDAQ: RIOT) vision is to be the world's leading Bitcoin-driven infrastructure platform.  Our mission is to positively impact the sectors, networks, and communities that we touch. We believe that the combination of an innovative spirit and strong community partnership allows the Company to achieve best-in-class execution and create successful outcomes.   

Riot is a Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company focused on a vertically integrated strategy. The Company has Bitcoin mining operations in central Texas and Kentucky, and electrical switchgear engineering and fabrication operations in Denver, Colorado.   

For more information, visit www.riotplatforms.com.   

Safe Harbor   

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements rely on the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "expects," "intends," "will," "potential," "hope," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of acquisitions, including financial and operating results, and the Company's plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions. Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: unaudited estimates of Bitcoin production; our future hash rate growth (EH/s); the anticipated benefits, construction schedule, and costs associated with the Corsicana site expansion; our expected schedule of new miner deliveries; the impact of weather events on our operations and results; our ability to successfully deploy new miners; the variance in our mining pool rewards may negatively impact our results of Bitcoin production; megawatt ("MW") capacity under development; we may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits from immersion cooling; the integration of acquired businesses may not be successful, or such integration may take longer or be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than anticipated; failure to otherwise realize anticipated efficiencies and strategic and financial benefits from our acquisitions; and the impact of COVID-19 on us, our customers, or on our suppliers in connection with our estimated timelines. Detailed information regarding the factors identified by the Company's management which they believe may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements in this press release may be found in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as amended, and the other filings the Company makes with the SEC, copies of which may be obtained from the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur, or of which the Company hereafter becomes aware, except as required by law. Persons reading this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.   

Investor Contact:   
Phil McPherson   
303-794-2000 ext. 110  
IR@Riot.Inc   

Media Contact:   
Alexis Brock   
303-794-2000 ext. 118   
PR@Riot.Inc   

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SOURCE Riot Platforms, Inc.