TeraWulf increases self-mined BTC in Q2, while Hut 8 looks to USBTC merger

U.S. miner TeraWulf expanded its Bitcoin mining capacity in 2023, resulting in 70% more BTC mined in Q2.

Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm TeraWulf has seen a drastic increase in BTC rewards since increasing its mining capacity in the first half of 2023.

According to the company’s latest quarterly filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, TeraWulf mined a total of 1,441 BTC through the first half of the year. 508 BTC was mined in Q1, while the firm added another 375 self-mined BTC to its balance sheet in Q2.

The increase in hash rate and mined BTC also led to an uptick in quarterly revenue for the company, up from $11.5 million to $15.5 million in Q2. The company pointed to its increased hash rate and the recovering market value of Bitcoin as primary reasons for its improved quarterly financials.

Related: TeraWulf goes nuclear: 8,000 rigs spool up in Nautilus mining facility

The firm now has over 50,000 new-generation Bitcoin miners, which it operates across its Lake Mariner site in New York and its Pennsylvania nuclear-powered Nautilus operation. TeraWulf’s operational hash rate sits at 5.5 exahashes per second (EH/s), while it has 160 megawatts (MW) of capacity for miners at the two sites.

TeraWulf’s nuclear-powered Nautilus mining location.

The company also confirmed that it plans to expand its operation at Lake Mariner by another 43 MW by the end of 2023. The new building in New York is set to host 18,500 new generation S19j XP miners from Chinese manufacturer Bitmain.

TeraWulf estimated that its additional capacity at Lake Mariner will increase its self-mining hash rate by a further 58%, from 5.0 EH/s to 7.9 EH/s.

Meanwhile, Hut8 announced that it had seen a decrease in hash rate and self-mined Bitcoin in Q2 of 2023, as reflected in its mid-year results. The company mined 399 BTC in Q2, noting a 58% decrease compared with Q2 2022.

Hut 8 attributed the drop in mined BTC to three factors: the overall increase in Bitcoin mining difficulty, the suspension of operations at the firm’s North Bay Facility and ongoing electrical issues at its Drumheller site.

Related: Bitcoin hash rate spikes as analysts say miners coming back online

Hut 8 is also diversifying the use of its infrastructure away from solely mining Bitcoin. Its high-performance computing operation continues to generate an average of $4 million per quarter, with this number expected to grow once its five-year deal as a computing infrastructure provider to Interior Health begins toward the end of 2023.

Hut 8 added that its Drumheller site had been hamstrung by high energy input levels that had led some of its mining equipment to fail. The firm said 20% of its installed hash rate had been affected as a result.

The firm’s self-mined Bitcoin balance sits at 9,136 BTC, currently valued at $368.7 million. The company sold 396 of the 399 BTC it mined through Q2, resulting in $14.7 million in revenue. Hut 8 expects to increase its hash rate capacity once a planned merger with US Bitcoin is complete.

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