Riot Blockchain buys 5,100 S19 Pro Antminers, aims for 1.66% of hashrate

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Riot Blockchain has announced a new purchase of 5,100 Bitmain S19 Pro Antminers, that are slated for deployment in February 2021.

The new miners will be purchased for $11.2 million, and comes hot on the heels of a $17.5 million deal for 8,000 S19 Pros that was inked with Bitmain on August 24. 

Riot expects to achieve positive cash flow during late 2020 and reach an operational hash rate of 0.55 EX/s before the end of the year. Riot currently represents more than 0.35 EX/s in hash power, or nearly 0.3% of the global hash rate.

Riot aims to have deployed more than 20,000 ASICs by June 2021, targeting a total operational hashrate of 2 exahashes per second (EX/s). Riot currently operates 4,000 Antminer S17 Pros and 2,000 S19 Pros at a facility operated by Coinmint in Massena, New York.

The 5,100 new miners will bolster Riot’s hashing power by roughly 0.55 EX/s. Riot Blockchain is also still yet to deploy 1,000 S19s it purchased earlier this year.

If the hash rate were to remain steady at its current level of roughly 120 EX/s, Riot would command 1.66% of the Bitcoin network’s total hash power at full deployment. Miners based in the United States currently represent 6% of the global Bitcoin hash rate combined.

Remo Mancini, Riot Blockchain’s independent chairman, said:

"We are believers in Bitcoin's opportunity to be a disruptive force in the traditional finance and currency systems. Riot is making strides in positioning itself to be a part of that future, and this purchase is a hallmark of those efforts."

Riot Blockchain’s share price is currently at $3.40 after establishing 15-month highs above $4 earlier this month.