Here's what happened in the world of mining this week:

• TeraWulf mined BTC increased 33% MoM 🐺 

• RIOT mined 676 BTC in May 🔥 

• Iris Energy’s May generated 508 BTC 👁️ 

• El Salvador’s Volcano secured 1 BUSD for Bitcoin mining 🌋 

• A reality check before the halving by CoinDesk 🕰️ 

First Public Trade for Block Green in Partnership With Merkle Standard

Block Green formed a partnership with Merkle Standard to access liquidity on the Block Green platform.

The collaboration between our two companies marks a significant milestone for Block Green, as it marks our emergence from stealth mode and showcases the first public trade conducted on our platform.

Sebastien on the Mining Pod 🎤 

Sebastien visited Will Foxley on the Mining Pod in their satellite office in Miami.

They discussed hashrate derivatives, our buy side, EU vs US customers, and the future of Block Green. (Only audio)

TeraWulf Mined 323 BTC a 35% Increase MoM Thanks to TX Fees 🐺 

• Self-mined 323 BTC in May with an average production rate of 10.4 BTC per day.

• Power cost averaged 6.2 KUSD per bitcoin produced or approximately 0.028 USD/kWh in May.

  

• Deployed fleet of 36,000 miners, with 20,000 at Lake Mariner facility in New York and 16,000 self-miners at the Nautilus facility in Pennsylvania.

• Increased hash rate and temporary spike in transaction fees resulted in a 35% month-over-month increase in BTC produced.

• Realized average power cost of less than 0.03 USD/kWh and average availability in excess of 98% in May, leading to increased profit margins.

• Completion of miner installation in Building 2 at Lake Mariner will add another 50 MW of self-mining capacity, bringing total operational mining capacity to 160 MW and 5.5 EH/s.

• Operational miner fleet of approximately 36,000 miners, with 20,000 at Lake Mariner and 16,000 self-miners at the Nautilus facility. Lake Mariner's operational capacity to increase to over 110 MW in the coming weeks. Total operational capacity of 50,000 miners (5.5 EH/s) expected in Q2 2023, representing approximately 160 MW of power demand.

RIOT Mined 676 BTC in May and Generated 2.4 MUSD in DR ⚡️ 

• Riot achieved steady and consistent production in May, mining 676 Bitcoin during the month, a 6% increase MoM.

• The company participated in ERCOT's Demand Response programs, generating 2.4 MUSD in revenue through its unique power strategy and long-term fixed-rate power contracts.

  

• Riot has approximately 800 miners staged for deployment, which, when deployed, will bring the total deployed miners to 94,976.

• The hash rate capacity of the deployed miners is expected to reach approximately 10.6 EH/s (excluding 17,040 miners currently offline in Building G).

• Riot holds an impressive 6536 BTC, however less than in April after selling off 850 BTC.

• Due to damage incurred during severe winter storms in Texas in December 2022, Riot now anticipates achieving a total self-mining hash rate capacity of 12.5 EH/s in the second half of 2023.

Iris Energy Mined 508 BTC in May 🤠 

• A robust balance sheet with 54.8 MUSD cash.

• Monthly operating revenue of 13.5 MUSD (+50% vs. April), Mined 508 BTC (+59% vs. April).

• Increased average operating hashrate by 39% to 5.5 EH/s in May.

• Expansion from 1.7 EH/s to 5.5 EH/s completed in 12 weeks. Fully-funded expansion to 6.5 EH/s is underway.

• Automated power cost optimization initiatives implemented at Childress – allowing transition between Bitcoin mining and energy trading to optimize profitability

• Childress (40MW – Texas, USA): First 20MW datacenter complete, second 20MW datacenter underway for expansion to 6.5 EH/s.

El Salvador’s Volcano Energy Secured 1 BUSD in Commitments for Bitcoin Mining 🌋 

• Volcano Energy has secured 1 BUSD in commitments to build a 241 MW Bitcoin mining site in El Salvador. Tether, the issuer of stablecoin USDT, is among the investors in the project, as reported last week.

• The mining site will be powered by 169 MW of solar energy and 72 MW of wind energy.

• The computing power of the mining site will exceed 1.3 EH/s. The government of El Salvador will have a "preferred participation" equivalent to 23% of revenues.

• Outside investors will own 27% of the venture, and the remaining 50% will be reinvested to expand energy production and mining capacities.

• The connection between the solar and wind energy park and volcanic activity in El Salvador is not explicitly clarified in the press release.

• Tether is diversifying its strategic ecosystem, and the investment in Volcano Energy is considered one of its most groundbreaking initiatives.

• Tether has been actively investing in Bitcoin mining and expanding its reserves backing USDT.

• Mining firms and others are exploring investment opportunities in regions like Latin America and the Middle East due to limited new developments in North America.

Bitcoin Halving Is Coming and Only the Most Efficient Miners Will Survive 🥧 

• A new article by Eliza Gritski at Coindesk discusses the current situation of miners with the halving coming up.

• After the halving, there will be a large drop-off in hashrate, followed by slow growth as efficient machines replace older ones. New investments in mining machines have been measured due to uncertainty in mining economics.

• The mining industry has a high cost of capital compared to other industries, double that of the precious metals sector, and the lack of investment is notable.

• Hashrate and difficulty, key metrics for miners' profitability, have been consistently increasing and setting new all-time highs in 2023.

• However, the rising hashrate reflects investments made in previous periods and may not fully represent current economic conditions.

• Discussions for new mining developments have increased in 2023, indicating improved industry conditions compared to 2022.

• A rally in the price of Bitcoin or a significant drop in energy prices could boost miners' profitability after the halving.

• Bloomberg Intelligence and Matrixport suggest that the halving could potentially increase the price of Bitcoin by up to 81%.

• The impact of the halving on Bitcoin's price historically has been outweighed by price rises, but the outcome in this cycle remains uncertain.