Riot Blockchain Announces June 2022 Production and Operations Updates

Castle Rock, CO, July 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) (“Riot,” “Riot Blockchain” or “the Company”), an industry leader in Bitcoin (“BTC”) mining and hosting, announces production and operations update for June 2022.

Bitcoin Production and Operations Updates

·    In June 2022, Riot produced 421 BTC, an increase of approximately 73%, as compared to June 2021 production of 243 BTC.
·    As of June 30, 2022, Riot held approximately 6,654 BTC, all produced by the Company’s self-mining operations.
·    In June 2022, Riot sold 300 Bitcoin, generating net proceeds of approximately $6.2 million.
·    Riot currently has a deployed fleet of 42,455 miners, with a hash rate capacity of 4.4 exahash per second (“EH/s”).

"We are pleased to report that during the month of June, we achieved full operation of all 23,000 S19 series miners in the first immersion-cooled building at our Whinstone Facility, Building F,” said Jason Les, CEO of Riot. “We initially conceived of plans for this immersion-cooled building just twelve months ago, and we are proud of our demonstrated ability to fully execute on our plans on such a rapid timeline. Our Whinstone Facility expansion project now continues on to our second immersion-cooled building, Building G, where the initial miners are deployed and hashing.

“Additionally in June, we began our annual participation in ERCOT’s Four Coincident Peak (“4CP”) program in which we curtail our energy consumption when called on by ERCOT during the four summer months of peak energy demand in Texas. As part of our participation in the 4CP program, in June we curtailed our energy consumption for a total of 8,648 megawatt hours. 

“While participation in grid programs like 4CP impacts our Bitcoin production, we view this as an important part of our partnership-driven approach with ERCOT and our commitment to being a good corporate citizen in our communities. Participation in the 4CP program also reduces Riot’s energy costs in the proceeding year.”

Mining Deployment and Shipment Update

As part of its vertical-integration strategy and to lower its operating expenses, Riot announces that it has begun transitioning all of its miners hosted at Coinmint LLC’s (“Coinmint”) Massena, NY facility.  The transition will consist of both a relocation of miners to the Company’s Whinstone Facility and by way of a miner swap agreement which Riot has entered into with another Bitcoin mining counterparty. This initiative is underway and approximately 5,700 miners are currently offline, and temporarily not counted in the deployed fleet figure, as they are in the process of being redeployed. It is expected that the Company will ship the balance of its S19 miner fleet presently at Coinmint to Riot’s Whinstone Facility in July.

As a result of this relocation of miners, the Company expects to further reduce its cost of production through lower power costs and by eliminating all third-party hosting fees on its hosted mining fleet.

Since its last monthly update, Riot received an additional 1,273 new S19j Pros, deployed 4,676 S19j Pros in its immersion-cooled buildings with an additional 6,324 miners staged for deployment. Additionally, shipments of 6,333 S19j Pros have been initiated out of Bitmain and are expected to be received during July 2022. Upon deployment of the staged miners, the Company expects to have a total of 48,779 miners deployed with a hash rate capacity of approximately 5.0 EH/s. 

Infrastructure Update

Throughout June, progress continued on Riot’s 400 megawatt (“MW”) infrastructure expansion project at the Whinstone Facility in Rockdale, Texas. Air-cooled Buildings D and E are advancing towards completion, with electrical work continuing in Building D and installation of its intake louvres underway. The installation of the roof on Building E is now complete and progress has been made on its indoor switchboards.

As previously reported, Riot’s first immersion-cooled building, Building F, is now complete and operational. In the Company’s second immersion-cooled building, Building G, electrical work is advancing on medium and low voltage switch gear, and initial miner deployments have begun.

Estimated Hash Rate Growth

By January 2023, Riot anticipates a total self-mining hash rate capacity of 12.5 EH/s, assuming full deployment of approximately 115,450 Antminer ASICs, but excluding any potential incremental productivity gains from the Company’s utilization of 200 MW of immersion-cooling infrastructure. Substantially all of Company’s self-mining fleet will consist of the latest generation S19 series miner model. In addition to the Company’s self-mining operations, Riot hosts approximately 200 MW of institutional Bitcoin mining clients.

Human Resources

The Company is pleased to announce that William Jackman has been promoted to Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Chad Harris has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer of Riot.

Mr. Jackman serves as the Company’s General Counsel and leads its legal team. As a member of the executive leadership team, Mr. Jackman is a part of driving high-level strategy and decision-making for Riot.

Mr. Harris, co-founder of Whinstone US, will continue to lead the Whinstone team and the development of the Company’s Bitcoin mining data center operations. In his new role, he will also be responsible for high-level strategy, business development and value creation for Riot.

Investor Relations

Riot’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders is scheduled for July 27th, 2022, at 8:00 AM Central Time/9:00 AM Eastern Time. The Company reminds stockholders that their support of each proposal included in its Proxy Statement is critical in giving Riot the ability to capitalize on opportunities to grow and enhance shareholder value.

To vote your shares for our upcoming Annual General Meeting, please visit www.proxyvote.com or vote by phone at 1-800-690-6903.

About Riot Blockchain, Inc.

Riot Blockchain’s (NASDAQ: RIOT) vision is to be the world’s leading Bitcoin-driven infrastructure platform.

Our mission is to positively impact the sectors, networks and communities that we touch.  We believe that the combination of an innovative spirit and strong community partnership allows the Company to achieve best-in-class execution and create successful outcomes.

Riot is a Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company focused on a vertically integrated strategy. The Company has Bitcoin mining data center operations in central Texas, Bitcoin mining operations in central Texas and for the near-term in upstate New York, and electrical switchgear engineering and fabrication operations in Denver, Colorado.

For more information, visit www.RiotBlockchain.com.

Safe Harbor

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect management’s current expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements rely on the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “will,” “potential,” “hope,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of acquisitions, including financial and operating results, and the Company’s plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions. Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: unaudited estimates of Bitcoin production; our future hash rate growth (EH/s); the anticipated benefits, construction schedule, and costs associated with the Navarro site expansion; our expected schedule of new miner deliveries; our ability to successfully deploy new miners; M.W. capacity under development; we may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits from immersion-cooling; the integration of acquired businesses may not be successful, or such integration may take longer or be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than anticipated; failure to otherwise realize anticipated efficiencies and strategic and financial benefits from our acquisitions; and the impact of COVID-19 on us, our customers, or on our suppliers in connection with our estimated timelines. Detailed information regarding the factors identified by the Company’s management which they believe may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements in this press release may be found in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, as amended, and the other filings the Company makes with the SEC, copies of which may be obtained from the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur, or of which the Company hereafter becomes aware, except as required by law. Persons reading this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Attachments

• Riot's Whinstone Facility
• Riot Blockchain Hash Rate Capacity Growth Updated June 2022

Alexis Brock
Riot Blockchain, Inc.
512-940-6014
PR@riotblockchain.com

Phil McPherson
Riot Blockchain, Inc.
303-794-2000 ext. 110
IR@riotblockchain.com