updraftplus domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/aonyeani76/cryptocurrencypanther/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131hustle domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/aonyeani76/cryptocurrencypanther/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131wpforms-lite domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/aonyeani76/cryptocurrencypanther/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131
In a stunning display of operational excellence and rapid expansion, the Canadian Bitcoin miner HIVE Digital Technologies has delivered a jolt of power to the market, announcing a substantial and surprising increase in its Bitcoin production that sent its stock soaring over 25 percent.
The news is a powerful testament to the success of the company’s aggressive growth strategy, particularly its massive new facility in the heart of South America.
The market reaction was swift and decisive. Following the announcement, HIVE’s stock jumped more than 25 percent, closing at $5.57 on October 6.
This surge was a direct response to a stellar September production report, in which the company mined 267 BTC—an 8 percent increase from August and a staggering 138 percent jump in year-over-year growth.
The engine behind this explosive growth is the company’s new 100 MW Phase 3 Valenzuela plant in Paraguay.
HIVE confirmed that the facility, which is powered exclusively by renewable hydroelectric energy, is coming online “ahead of schedule.”
Almost half of the facility’s total hashrate capacity is now operational, a major milestone that has immediately translated into a surge in daily production, which now averages over 9 BTC per day.
This rapid deployment has had a dramatic effect on the company’s overall operational power.
HIVE’s average hashrate—the computational power it uses to mine Bitcoin—surged by 19 percent from August to September alone, a clear sign of the new facility’s immediate impact.
But this is not just a story of brute force; it is a story of remarkable efficiency.
During the same period that HIVE’s own hashrate grew by 19 percent, the entire Bitcoin network’s mining difficulty—a measure of how hard it is to mine a new block—rose by 16 percent.
HIVE’s ability to outpace the network’s own growth is a critical signal that it is operating with increasing efficiency, a key factor in a miner’s long-term profitability.
The company’s leadership has made it clear that this is just the beginning.
Executive Chairman Frank Holmes praised the Paraguay team for advancing Phase 3 “ahead of schedule,” a sentiment echoed by the company’s ambitious forward guidance.
President and CEO Aydin Kilic has confirmed HIVE’s expectation of reaching a total hashrate of 25 EH/s by US Thanksgiving, a significant jump from its current peak of 21.7 EH/s.
He also noted a projected fleet efficiency of 17.5 joules/terahash, a key metric in a competitive market.
With all of the necessary ASIC mining machines for the Paraguay expansion already shipped, the path to this next phase of growth appears clear.
For HIVE, the Paraguayan gambit is paying off, and the market has taken notice.
A fresh debate in the crypto space has emerged over whether the cost of production significantly impacts the XRP price and the value of Bitcoin (BTC). Market expert CrediBULL Crypto has outlined how these costs influence XRP’s value compared to Bitcoin, concluding that both cryptocurrencies follow the same pricing formula.
A recent discourse on X social media has reignited discussions on whether production costs play a decisive role in determining the prices of cryptocurrencies. CrediBULL Crypto weighed in, explaining that both Bitcoin and XRP follow the same fundamental pricing model, where the cost to produce, combined with speculative and utility value, determines the market price.
For Bitcoin, the analyst notes that the cost to mine, taking into account energy consumption and time, represents a significant portion of BTC’s market price. This production cost forms the “X” variable in the analyst’s pricing equation, with the remainder driven by speculative demand and utility.
In contrast, CrediBULL Crypto highlights that XRP’s production cost is negligible, arguably near zero, meaning its market price is primarily driven by demand, adoption, and other speculative factors. Whether mined or premined, the analyst asserts that the market ultimately assigns a value above the production cost based on perceived utility and shifts in investor sentiment.
CrediBULL Crypto’s statement comes in response to a recent clash between market expert BD and Robert Breedlove, a Bitcoin maximalist. In his post, Breedlove suggested that XRP’s “100% premined” status set it apart from Bitcoin, which he asserts is a 0% premined coin. The Bitcoin maximalist also warned investors of the potential consequences of this difference, subtly implying that XRP could be a scam token.
BD countered, asserting that market demand, not production method, dictates price. He further emphasized that neither mining costs nor premined supply inherently determines a cryptocurrency’s long-term value.
Following CrediBULL Crypto’s statement, a community member argued that premined assets, like XRP, could carry higher risks, such as large-scale sell-offs or “rug pulls,” potentially driving their value to zero. They further suggested that BTC’s mined supply structure offers more protection against such scenarios.
CrediBULL Crypto, however, pushed back, stating that production costs do not guarantee long-term survival or resilience. He noted that demand can disappear for any asset, regardless of whether it costs $5 or $100 to produce. He added that the same principle also applies to Bitcoin and XRP, which are respectively priced at $116,601 and $3.34, at the time of writing.
The analyst further pointed out that just because a commodity costs money to produce does not make it inherently valuable. Without sustained interest, even a high-cost-to-produce asset could collapse in value. To illustrate this point, the analyst compared it to investing substantial resources into digging a massive hole—a process requiring real effort but might hold no value if no one finds the hole useful.
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
MARA, former known as Marathon Digital Holdings, has reported a significant 17% increase in Bitcoin (BTC) production for the month of July, as per the latest company update. The rise in production, coupled with other strategic initiatives, has positively impacted MARA stock, which saw a 3% increase. Earlier, the stock plummeted over 17% amid the U.S. stock market crash amid recession fears.
In July, the Bitcoin miner successfully completed a hash rate recovery effort at its Ellendale facility, hosted by Applied Digital. This effort contributed to a notable 27% increase in block wins compared to the previous month. The BTC mining company produced 692 BTC in July, up from 591 BTC in June. Additionally, MARA’s average operational hash rate grew by 5% to 27.5 exahashes per second (EH/s).
Fred Thiel, MARA’s chairman and CEO, emphasized the company’s aggressive mining strategy amid a fluctuating BTC price. “We will continue to mine aggressively while global hash rate comes offline due to a lower BTC price and use all the tools at our disposal related to mining economics for maximum production,” Thiel stated.
Furthermore, the Bitcoin miner has begun deploying its own technology to improve the efficiency of its mining operations. A significant portion of the company’s Granbury site is transitioning from air-cooled to immersion containers. This move is expected to enhance performance but temporarily lower the site’s hash rate.
The first group of 18 immersion containers is set to energize in August, with the entire deployment slated for completion by year-end. Thiel acknowledged the temporary impact on the Granbury site’s performance. However, he expressed confidence in meeting the company’s 2024 hash rate goal of 50 EH/s.
“We remain focused on delivering on our 2024 hash rate goal of 50 exahash and continue to install and energize miners according to plan,” he said. In July, the Bitcoin miner energized nearly 5,000 new miners. It also removing and relocating approximately 10,000 existing miners as part of its fleet optimization strategy.
Currently, MARA operating fleet comprises around 245,000 Bitcoin miners capable of producing 31.8 EH/s. It boasts a peak overall hash rate of 30.1 EH/s achieved during the month.
Also Read: Bitcoin ETF Outflows Drop As US Futures Stage Strong Recovery
The company also reported holding a total of 20,818 unrestricted BTC as of July 31, 2024. Notably, MARA did not sell any BTC in July, having adopted a full HODL approach to its BTC treasury policy. This strategy includes retaining all BTC mined and making periodic strategic open market purchases.
Financially, MARA is on solid ground with $242.1 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet at the end of July, $230.1 million of which is unrestricted. Combining this with the value of its BTC holdings, MARA’s total unrestricted cash and BTC amounted to $1,587.1 million as of July 31, 2024.
The Bitcoin mining company’s strategic initiatives and strong financial health have positively influenced its stock performance. After the announcement, the MARA stock gained 3.03% and traded at $17.46 on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. However, the stock soon extended into the red owing to geopolitical tensions and market uncertainty.
Also Read: Metaplanet Announces $68M Stock Rights Offering For Bitcoin Acquisition
The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
The spike in Marathon Digital’s revenue for Q3 2023 was a result of multiple factors, including increased Bitcoin production and higher uptime.
Bitcoin mining giant Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA) reported a considerable revenue spike for Q3 2023. According to a press release published Wednesday, Marathon Digital announced a 670% increase in quarterly revenue, from $12.7 million in Q2 to $97.8 million in Q3.
Marathon said the increase was due to several factors, including an increase in Bitcoin production for Q3, which rose by 467%. The press release also said the revenue for the quarter was positively impacted by Bitcoin prices, which were 32% higher.
Other figures include $31.7 million in quarterly gains for Q3 2023 as Marathon Digital sold 66% of all the Bitcoin it produced, channeling funds to operating costs. In addition, Marathon’s adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was $43.7 million, much higher than a $6.1 million loss in the same period last year.
Marathon said this increase was primarily because of improved profitability. Marathon Digital’s total margin, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased from a $1.1 million loss in Q3 2022 to $38.2 million in Q3 2023.
Figures also include an increase in the number of average Bitcoin produced per day, up 19% from 2,926 in Q2 2023 to 3,490 in Q3. The third quarter figure also represents a 467% increase from the 616 recorded in Q3 2022.
According to Marathon Digital’s Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel, the company grew its energized hash rate by 8% quarter over quarter to 19.1 exahashes. Also, significantly improved optimization efforts led to higher uptime, which spiked Marathon’s operational hash rate in the US to 14.2 exahashes, increasing 18% from Q2.
Thiel also spoke about Marathon taking proactive steps for the rest of the year and next:
“In preparation for next year’s halving, we took proactive measures to strengthen our financial position during the quarter. The $417 million note exchange completed in September reduced our long-term debt by 56% and captured a total of approximately $101 million in cash savings for our shareholders. For the first time in two years, our combined cash and Bitcoin holding exceeded our debt at the quarter’s end.”
Thiel also projects that Marathon Digital expects to hit 26 exhashes by the end of 2023, and hopes to grow its hash rate by 30% in 2024.
According to MarketWatch data, Marathon Digital’s shares are at $9.24 in premarket trading, after climbing 7.84% from its previous close at $8.55. In the last month, MARA has climbed nearly 10%. Interestingly, the stock has spiked 150% since January.
Last quarter, Marathon Digital missed estimates for earnings and revenue. Analysts polled by FactSet had estimated a loss per share of $0.06 and $83.4 million in revenues. However, the company reported a $0.13 loss per share, and $81.8 million in revenues. Although the revenue did no t meet analysts’ estimates, it was an impressive increase from the $24.9 million recorded for the same quarter last year. In addition, Marathon Digital’s Bitcoin production jumped by 314%, which helped to accommodate the 14% plunge in Bitcoin price at the time.
In response to the company’s report, MARA shares fell about 2.29% in after-hours trading. However, at the time, MARA’s year-to-date figure was a 359% gain.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
As a result of all the challenges faced by Tesla, its long-time partner Panasonic is also bearing losses. It has lowered its full-year operating profit forecast for its battery unit to ¥115 billion ($771 million) from ¥135 billion, as the demand for Tesla EVs in North America slowed down.
Shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) have dropped by 4.79% on Monday following the news about its major battery supplier Panasonic Holdings Corp (TSE: 6752.T) slashing its domestic electric battery production by as much as 60%. The Japanese electronics giant explained the downgrade by slower than expected sales of some models to Tesla.
As we reported, for the third quarter of 2023, Tesla missed Wall Street revenue expectations, delivering $23.35 billion whereas analysts’ forecast was $24.1 billion. Besides, its deliveries fell to 435,059 in Q3, declining from Q2’s record of 466,140 and missing the consensus of around 455,000. Model 3 and Y deliveries totaled 419,074, with most of that being the Model Y. Model S and X deliveries dropped to 15,985. Tesla’s production tumbled to 430,488 in Q3 from Q2’s 479,700, amid factory upgrades and an effort to slash inventory.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also tempered expectations about the upcoming Cybertruck model, saying that it could take up to 18 months before the Cybertruck begins to contribute a significant positive cash flow.
As a result of all the challenges faced by Tesla, its long-time partner Panasonic is also bearing losses. Firstly, Panasonic cut automotive battery production in Japan as more expensive Tesla models like the Model S and Model X are not that popular among the drivers. The company aims to achieve an “appropriate inventory level, in response to rapidly-reduced demand”. The reduction will likely last at least until March 2024. Secondly, Panasonic has lowered its full-year operating profit forecast for its battery unit to ¥115 billion ($771 million) from ¥135 billion, as the demand for Tesla EVs in North America slowed down.
Despite some shortcomings in production, Panasonic is expecting a recovery.
Panasonic’s CFO Hirokazu Umeda commented:
“I think we can expect some recovery going forward. Still we did not expect big growth like what we see in the US plant. So we’ll be running the Japan factory based on that assumption.”
Currently, Panasonic is considering setting up a potential third factory in the US, the decision will be made by March 2024. In addition, the company is planning to quadruple its global EV battery production capacity by 2031.
In the US, the production levels remain the same as Tesla will push its more affordable Model 3 and Model Y cars. One of the reasons is that higher-priced EVs may not qualify for tax breaks or other incentives from government programs. Last year, EV manufacturing was impacted by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed by President Joe Biden on August 16. The IRA laid the foundation for a more sustainable, equitable, and secure transportation future. As investing in a more diverse global EV supply chain can lower battery costs and help people worldwide plug into clean transportation, IRA brought more stability that the US EV market lacked.
Darya is a crypto enthusiast who strongly believes in the future of blockchain. Being a hospitality professional, she is interested in finding the ways blockchain can change different industries and bring our life to a different level.
Although Saudi Arabia and other OPEC players have likely decided to extend their oil production cuts by the end of the year, analysts believe that this won’t last long.
Oil prices experienced a significant surge to their highest level in more than a year during the Asian trading session on Thursday, September 28. This uptick was due to a substantial decline in crude stocks at a crucial storage hub, reaching their lowest point since July of the previous year.
Specifically, crude inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, dwindled to 22 million barrels in the fourth week of September. This quantity is perilously close to the operational minimum threshold and represents a decline of 943,000 barrels in comparison to the prior week.
In response to these developments, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures reached $95.03 per barrel during the Asian trading hours, marking the highest price level observed since August 2022. As of the latest trading data, WTI was at $94.61 per barrel. Meanwhile, the global benchmark Brent crude increased by 1.05% to reach $97.56 per barrel.
Speaking to CNBC, Bart Melek, managing director of TD Securities, said:
“Today’s price action seems to be Cushing driven, as it reaches a 22 million bbl low, the lowest level since July 2022.”
Should these inventory levels persist below the current threshold, the process of distributing crude into the market could become significantly challenging, said Malek.
His projection anticipates that oil prices will persist at elevated levels throughout the remainder of the year. Furthermore, there exists an upside risk in the scenario where the global oil consortium OPEC+ continues to maintain stringent supply controls.
Malek said:
“We do think that prices could keep up near these levels for quite some time. But I don’t think it’s too permanent. And we might have seen the end of this rally.”
Furthermore, Russia has committed to prolong its export reduction by 300,000 barrels per day until the conclusion of December.
Malek also emphasized that refinery throughputs are expected to decrease in the upcoming months as the refinery maintenance season approaches. Refinery crude throughput signifies the quantity of crude oil that a refinery can process within a specified timeframe.
“We do think that prices could keep up near these levels for quite some time. But I don’t think it’s too permanent. And we might have seen the end of this rally,” said Malek. It would not align with OPEC’s interests if prices were to surge significantly into the triple-digit. This could potentially lead to long-term demand reduction, as Malek emphasized.
There have been predictions of oil reaching $100 per barrel in recent days. Goldman Sachs, for instance, increased its 12-month Brent forecast from $93 per barrel to $100 due to “modestly sharper inventory draws”, as stated in a note dated September 20.
The Goldman report further suggested that OPEC could likely maintain Brent within a range of $80 to $105 in 2024, citing robust demand growth in the Asian region.
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
Subscribe to our telegram channel.
Join
✓ Share: