Proactive Investors - Toronto-listed bitcoin minerBitfarms Ltd (TSX:BITF) (TSX-V:BITF) has seen an impressive surge in mining output in recent months, but even more aggressive growth is earmarked for the year ahead.
In December 2023 alone, Bitfarms (TSX-V:BITF) earned 446 Bitcoin BTC, a 13.8% increase from the previous month, culminating in a total of 4,928 BTC for the year.
On average, 14.4 BTC were earned daily, equating to approximately $612,000 per day, based on the BTC price of $42,500 on December 31, 2023.
Bitfarms’ hashrate saw a substantial year-over-year increase of 44%, reaching 6.5 exahashes per second (EH/s) at the end of December.
The company also expanded its total contracted capacity to 593 megawatts, demonstrating its commitment to growth and efficiency.
In terms of mining efficiency, there was an 8% increase to 71.7 BTC per average EH/s from 66.4 in November 2023.
Bitfarms noted operational highlights in its mining facilities.
In Paso Pe, Paraguay, an amended contract was finalised, adding 20 MW of energy to expand the air-cooled warehouse's operating capacity from 30 MW to 50 MW, for a total capacity of 70 MW.
Meanwhile, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, the site has been cleared for the planned 11 MW expansion. The concrete footings for the building have been poured, significantly ahead of schedule.
“In 2023, we executed our growth plan and laid the groundwork for aggressive growth in 2024,” stated chief executive Geoff Morphy. “We finished the year with $118 million in liquidity, low-cost power contracts for up to 593 MW and a miner purchase agreement for up to 63,888 new Bitmain miners in 2024.”
Morphy noted that nearly 70% of new miners will be deployed in Bitfarms; existing US and Canadian farms with the remaining miners earmarked for the Paso Pe, Paraguay expansion.
Ben Gagnon, chief mining officer, added: “Strong operations and uptime in December drove our average EH/s online up 5% to 6.2 EH/s, crystalizing another solid year of performance for Bitfarms.
“Our mining operations largely kept pace with network hashrate growth in 2023 generating a similar number of Bitcoins year on year, while successfully executing on our core focus and strategy to improve balance sheet strength and prepare for the 2024 halving.”
Chief financial officer Jeff Lucas said the group maintained a strong balance sheet during the fourth quarter, “and we increased total liquidity by $52 million to $118 million, ending the year with $84 million in cash, $34 million in BTC in treasury, and only $4 million in debt”.
He added: “Furthermore, in December, we increased our overall BTC exposure by expanding our Synthetic HODL portfolio by a total of 100 long-dated calls while maintaining BTC held in treasury relatively constant at 804.”