Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Marathon Digital has recorded a quarterly record of 2,195 BTC mined in the first quarter of 2023, which is currently worth around $62 million.
Marathon reported in an April 3rd update that the 2,195 mined BTC is a 74% increase from Q1 last year and a 41% increase from Q4 2022.
This comes on the back of the miner increasing its operational hash rate by 195% from the first quarter of 2022.
Marathon also recorded a monthly record of 825 BTC mined in March – currently worth around $23.3 million – and recorded a 21% production increase from February.
hit $Here’s the March Production Update:
– increased #bitcoin Production 21% MOM
– Record 825 BTC produced in March ’23
– Record 2,195 BTC produced in Q1 ’23
– Hash rate up 64% in Q1 ’23 (11.5 EH/s)
– Reported Unrestricted Cash and Cash Equiv. of $124.9M
– increased… pic.twitter.com/Jc1ACI2kY2— Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) (@MarathonDH) April 3, 2023
In a statement, CEO Fred Thiel said that Marathon had made “remarkable progress” on executing two of its primary initiatives for 2023 — reaching 23 accesses by the end of the second quarter and mining its first purchases to optimize performance. to activate the rig.
The firm is now exactly on target, having increased its operational hash rate from 7.0 hashes on 1 January to 11.5 hashes on 31 March.
Marathon’s management attributed the increase in efficiency to bringing online 25,900 bitcoin miners located at various facilities in North Dakota, bringing its fleet to 105,200 mining rigs as of April 1.
Marathon explained its operational improvements that cleaned up part of its balance sheet by wiping out $50 billion in debt, in addition to paying back its loan to the now-failed Silvergate Bank:
“We reduced our debt by $50 million and increased our unrestricted bitcoin holdings to 3,132 bitcoin after we paid down our term loan and terminated our credit facilities with Silvergate Bank.”
The firm ended the quarter with approximately $124.9 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and 11,466 BTC, equivalent to more than $450 million.
Marathon noted that the figures have not been audited.
Connected: Bitcoin ASIC Miner Prices Hit Lows Not Seen in Years
Marathon is expected to have purchased a new batch of Antminer S19 XP bitcoin mining rigs, which are about 30% more efficient than the Antminer S19 Pro.
About 66% of Marathon’s hash rate will come from S19 XPs once those miners are installed, it said.
However, the design of the S19 XPs has been criticized by fellow bitcoin mining firm Compass Mining.
In a March report, the firm identified “three flaws” with the new S19 that could result in the mining rig overheating, or in some cases shutting down completely.
magazine: Hodler’s Digest: FTX EU opens withdrawals, Elon Musk calls for AI halt and Binance news