Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining firm Riot Blockchain (RIOT) announced its purchase of 15,000 additional mining ASIC machines from Bitmain, pushing the total number of machines ordered by the mining company to over 31,000 in 2020.
- With its new machines, the Castle Rock, Colo.-based miner expects an expanded hashrate capacity of 3.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) in 2021, a 65% increase from its current 2.3 EH/s capacity.
- Notably, Riot's purchase is a pre-order as Bitmain supplies are sold out until Q3 2021. Per the release, however, Riot expects delivery and deployment of the new machines to start in May and continue through October next year.
- Riot shares ended Tuesday trading at above $14.50, a more than 22% daily gain.
- In December, Riot shares have gained over 78%.
- Bitcoin gained 20% over the same period.
Update (Dec. 22, 21:08 UTC): Article update to reflect Riot shares' price surge through Tuesday trading.