Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les revealed substantial curiosity from “blue-chip” corporations seeking to companion with the Bitcoin miner on AI and high-performance computing (HPC) initiatives.
Talking in the course of the Oct. 30 earnings name, Les defined that the corporate has acquired quite a few inbound provides to safe large-scale energy capability. The inquiries come from extremely credible, financially secure organizations able to committing to long-term agreements.
Les attributed the curiosity to Riot’s status and in depth power capability. He acknowledged:
“Riot’s reputation and our image of having so much power capacity is what’s resulting in us getting these unsolicited offers for really significant amounts of power capacity. The interest that we’re seeing is for hundreds of megawatts, not necessarily smaller amounts.”
The assertion corroborates an earlier interview the place the CEO emphasised Riot’s readiness to think about AI ventures if it sees the fitting partnership and deal construction.
In keeping with Les, Riot’s amenities — such because the 750-megawatt Rockdale facility and the Corsicana mining website with a one-gigawatt capability — supply strategic benefits that might assist advance the corporate’s effort within the sector.
Riot’s curiosity in AI is unsurprising as a result of the sector might present a profitable income stream for Bitcoin miners who allocate a portion of their power capability to it. One instance is how Core Scientific is predicted to earn greater than $8 billion over a 12-year interval in a cope with AI Hyperscaler CoreWeave.
Q3 losses
A possible income enhance from AI can be well timed for Riot, which reported a widening year-over-year web loss for the third quarter regardless of a notable rise in income.
In keeping with a press assertion, Riot posted a web lack of $154.4 million$0.54 per share, in comparison with a $80 million loss throughout the identical interval final yr. This elevated loss occurred alongside a 65% rise in complete income to $80 million, fueled by greater Bitcoin costs and better operational output.
Moreover, Riot’s common Bitcoin mining value, excluding depreciation, was $35,376 per coin for the quarter. This enhance was pushed by a discount in energy credit—down 75% from Q3 2023—and a current Bitcoin halving occasion in April 2024, which minimize block rewards by half.
Additional, the worldwide community hash price noticed a 59% rise, placing further stress on mining prices.