Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf experienced a significant increase in BTC rewards after expanding its mining capacity in the first half of 2023. While TeraWulf’s operations are thriving, another mining company, Hut8, has seen a decline in income due to various issues. Hut8 is now planning to increase its hash rate with USBTC.
Everything is Going Well for TeraWulf
According to the latest quarterly report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, TeraWulf mined a total of 1441 BTC in the first half of the year. The company mined 508 BTC in the first quarter and added another 375 BTC to its balance sheet in the second quarter. The increase in hashrate, mining, and BTC value has led to an increase in the company’s quarterly revenue from $11.5 million to $15.5 million in the second quarter. TeraWulf attributed the improvement in its financial situation to the increased hashrate and the improved market value of Bitcoin.
Currently, TeraWulf operates over 50,000 next-generation Bitcoin miners at its Lake Mariner facility in New York and its Nautilus operation powered by nuclear energy in Pennsylvania. The company has an operational hashrate of 5.5 EH/s and a capacity of 160 MW for the miners in these two locations.
The company has confirmed its plans to expand its Lake Mariner operation by an additional 43 MW by the end of 2023. The new facility in New York will host 18,500 new generation S19j XP miners from Chinese manufacturer Bitmain.
TeraWulf estimates that its additional capacity at Lake Mariner will increase its mining hashrate by 58%, from 5.0 EH/s to 7.9 EH/s.
HUT8 Aiming for USBTC
Hut8 reported a decline in hashrate and self-mined Bitcoin in the second quarter of 2023. The company mined 399 BTC in the second quarter, marking a 58% decrease compared to the second quarter of 2022.
Hut8 attributed the decline in BTC mining to three factors, including the overall increase in mining difficulty, the suspension of operations at the North Bay facility, and ongoing electrical issues at the Drumheller facility.
Hut8 is also moving away from Bitcoin mining with its infrastructure. While the company’s high-performance computing operations continue to generate an average revenue of $4 million per quarter, it is expected to increase with the commencement of a five-year agreement with Interior Health as the provider of its computing infrastructure towards the end of 2023.
Hut8 also mentioned that the high energy input levels at the Drumheller facility have caused some mining equipment to malfunction, resulting in a 20% decrease in its installed hashrate.
Hut8 currently holds 9,136 BTC worth $368.7 million. In the second quarter, the company generated $14.7 million in revenue by selling 396 out of the 399 BTC it mined. Hut8 aims to increase its hash rate capacity with the completion of the planned merger with USBTC.
