Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Riot Platforms announced a net loss for the second quarter of the year. The company’s loss is largely a result of the fourth Bitcoin block reward halving event that occurred in April.
Announced a Net Loss of $84.4 Million
Riot Platforms reported a net loss of $84.4 million for the second quarter of this year. This loss was $27.4 million in the same period last year. According to the company’s latest quarterly report, total revenue fell to $70 million, down from $76.7 million in the same period last year. The company stated that the primary reason for this decline in revenue was a $9.7 million decrease in engineering revenues, partially offset by a $6 million increase in Bitcoin mining revenues.
Moreover, Riot Platforms also saw a decrease in the amount of BTC produced in the second quarter. The company produced 844 BTC in the second quarter of this year, a 52% decrease compared to the same period last year. The primary reasons for the decline in Bitcoin production were the block reward halving in April and increases in network difficulty levels.
Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les stated that the company “nearly doubled its installed hash rate” in the second quarter, with a total capacity of 22 EH/s as of the end of June. Riot aims to increase its total self-mining hash rate capacity to 36 EH/s by the end of the year.
Continued Efforts to Acquire Bitfarms
Meanwhile, Riot Platforms continues its efforts to acquire its competitor Bitfarms. The company purchased approximately 10.2 million more Bitfarms shares in July. In May, the company attempted to acquire Bitfarms for approximately $950 million, and subsequently, Riot Platforms CEO criticized Bitfarms’ plans to thwart the acquisition attempt.
In June, Bitfarms adopted its first “poison pill” strategy to prevent a potential takeover and continued this approach in July. Riot Platforms’ shares on Nasdaq fell by 1.74% on Wednesday, while Bitfarms shares rose by 4.03%. Riot Platforms’ shares have fallen by 33.87% since the beginning of the year.
