Title sponsored by Bitdeer, a NASDAQ-listed mining company.

1.

MARA Holdings, a publicly traded mining company, has announced a proposed private placement of $700 million in zero-coupon convertible senior notes due 2031 and $105 million in options. MARA expects to use up to $50 million of the net proceeds from the sale of the notes to repurchase its existing 2026 convertible notes, with the remainder of the net proceeds to purchase more bitcoin.

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2.

U.S.-listed miner Core Scientific has announced a private placement of $500 million of convertible senior notes due 2031 to qualified institutional buyers. Core Scientific also expects to grant the initial purchasers of the notes an option to purchase, for settlement within a period of 13 days from, and including, the date the notes are first issued, up to an additional $75 million principal amount of notes. Core Scientific intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions of complementary businesses, or repurchases of its securities.

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3.

Argo Blockchain secured £4.2 million through a share subscription to back its expansion initiatives. An undisclosed institutional investor acquired the £4.2 million worth of shares. The raised capital will also support the company’s diversification into high-performance computing (HPC), a promising avenue that aligns with the growing demand for computational power in the AI sector.

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4.

Foundry has announced a 27 percent layoff, reducing its workforce from 274 to 200 employees across multiple lines of business. The company said the move was made to consolidate its core business, focusing on operating the world’s largest bitcoin mining pool and expanding its website operations. The layoffs and business restructuring affect about 40–60 percent of the workforce, while some employees have been transferred to a newly formed subsidiary, Yuma. Foundry also plans to de-prioritize its hardware offerings, while continuing its ASIC repair business. The reorganization is part of DCG’s efforts to restructure its cryptocurrency footprint.

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5.

Bitcoin miner Hut 8 has announced three capital markets initiatives: 1. the launch of an At-The-Market (ATM) program under which up to $500 million worth of common stock may be issued under an agreement; 2. the launch of a $250 million common stock repurchase program; and 3. Coatue has agreed to launch a stock repurchase program and will not be required to register shares of common stock for its convertible notes. Asher Genoot, chief executive officer of Hut 8, said these programs will enhance the company’s ability to respond to market volatility and support its integrated capital strategy and money management.

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6.

Ethiopia is emerging as a significant player in Bitcoin mining, with local operations now accounting for 2.5% of the global hash rate. According to the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), the percentage could double to 7% in the coming year if current trends continue. The EEP reports local operations already consuming 600 MW of power. By year-end, that number could rise to 1 GW. Meanwhile, the African country’s rise as a mining hub follows China’s 2021 ban on Bitcoin mining, which prompted many Chinese miners to relocate. Companies like Bitmain-backed BitFuFu have acquired large mining operations in Ethiopia. Bitmain itself has also supported infrastructure development in the region. The government has actively worked to position the country as a Bitcoin mining hub, with the state-owned EEP generating over $55 million in revenue over the past 10 months from agreements with 25 Bitcoin mining companies.（CryptoSlate）

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7.

European AI cloud firm Nscale has raised $155 million in a new funding round to finance its expansion plans. The Series A funding round was led by Sandton Capital Partners with participation from Kestrel, Bluesky Asset Management, and Florence Capital and will fuel its growth plans across Europe and North America. Nscale officially launched in May 2024. The company offers a GPU cloud based on AMD hardware, specifically AMD’s Instinct M1300X accelerators as well as AMD MI250 GPUs and Nvidia’s A100, H100, and V100 GPUs.（DCD）

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8.

ETF issuer YieldMax announced the launch of the YieldMax™ MARA Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSE: MARO), an exchange-traded fund on the NYSE with an option-based income strategy based on the bitcoin miner MARA, which seeks to generate income by implementing an option-based strategy on MARA without investing directly in MARA. Its first distribution is expected to be announced on January 2, 2025, and it is expected to be distributed to the public by the end of the year.

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9.

Foundry Digital’s parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), is splitting Foundry’s mining business into two separate entities, according to a private DCG shareholder letter shared with Blockspace. The new entity, Fortitude Mining, will oversee self-mining operations and infrastructure, while Foundry retains its pool operations and other bitcoin mining services. The captive mining unit is projected to generate $80 million in 2024, according to DCG’s third-quarter shareholder letter.

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10.

Nano Labs announced the closing of its previously announced private placement of 5,611,459 Class A ordinary shares at a purchase price of US$6.46 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$36.25 million. As previously disclosed, the aggregate purchase price was satisfied in U.S. dollars, Bitcoin and USDT.

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11.

BitFuFu announced it has entered into 10-year exclusive lease agreements for two Bitcoin mining facilities with a combined capacity of 33 megawatts (MW) in the U.S. The lease agreements grant BitFuFu the option to acquire a majority stake in both mining facilities. The lease of both mining facilities marks the next step in BitFuFu’s transition from an asset-light strategy to one that manages a diverse and robust portfolio of Bitcoin mining infrastructure. The two mining facilities, with hosting capacity of 22 MW and 11 MW, respectively, will provide BitFuFu with the potential to add 2EH/s of mining capacity.

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12.

Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms has successfully completed a $525 million offering of senior notes, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 11th. The notes, which mature in 2030, carry an interest rate of 0.75 percent and were issued privately to institutional investors. The proceeds will be used primarily to advance the company’s bitcoin acquisition strategy and further expand its holdings.（Cryptoslate）

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13.

Luxor Technology Corporation‘s deal includes a confirmed purchase of Microbt’s Whatsminer application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bitcoin mining rigs worth $93.2 million and an option for an additional $38.2 million. These ASIC models will feature a combination of immersion, air-cooled, and hydro-cooled systems, aiming for efficiency.

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Bitdeer’s new Bitcoin miner brand SEALMINER A1, is now open for reservation. For every $0.99 you pay, you can unlock priority purchase rights and $100 credit towards your miner purchase. Bitdeer Sponsored.

14.

Bitcoin miner Hut 8 is going all-in on high-performance computing (HPC), according to documents for a proposed $12 billion build in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.Per the Planning & Zoning Department, Hut 8 seeks to build an initial 300 MW Tier III data center, with the potential to expand to 1,000 MW to house a “hyperscale tenant” using state-of-the-art liquid-cooled GPU servers for AI and ML training activities. The first building, with approximately 250 MW, operational by the end of 2025. The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. Local reporting from WBRZ states that the project could create up to 2,000 local jobs.

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15.

CleanSpark announced plans to offer $550 million in convertible senior notes due 2030, depending on market conditions. CleanSpark also expects to grant the initial purchasers of the Convertible Notes an option to purchase, within a 13-day period beginning on, and including the date on which the Convertible Notes are first issued, up to an additional $100 million aggregate principal amount of the Convertible Notes.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to pay the cost of the capped call transactions (as described below), to use up to $125 million of the net proceeds to repurchase shares of the Company’s common stock (the “common stock”) from investors in the Convertible Notes, and the remaining net proceeds for the repayment in full of amounts outstanding under Company’s line of credit with Coinbase, capital expenditures, acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

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16.

Canaan announced that Canaan Creative Global Pte. Ltd. (CCG), a wholly owned Singapore subsidiary of the Company, has entered into a purchase agreement with AGM Group Holdings Inc. (AGMH), an integrated technology company specializing in fintech software services and production of high-performance hardware and computing equipment, for its Avalon A15 HydU 370T (A15 Hydro) mining machines.

As part of the agreement, Canaan will initially provide 2,000 Bitcoin mining machines to AGMH. The Company has also agreed to provide its customer with an option to acquire approximately 30,000 additional BTC mining units, potentially providing AGMH with a combined power capacity not exceeding 300 MW.

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17.

Riot Platforms announced that, during the period between December 10, 2024 and December 12, 2024, the Company acquired approximately 5,117 Bitcoin for approximately $510 million at an average price of approximately $99,669 per Bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses. As of December 12, 2024, the Company increased its total Bitcoin holdings to 16,728. The Bitcoin purchases were made using a portion of the net proceeds from the offering of its 0.75% convertible senior notes due 2030 as well as cash on hand.

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18.

Prosper, a decentralized protocol democratizing access to Bitcoin mining , announced the acquisition of over 7,000 ASIC miners from BITMAIN along with the successful closing of its strategic funding round. In addition, Prosper closed a strategic financing round with participation from Metalpha, Waterdrip Capital, BIT Mining, Animoca Brands and others.

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19.

A class action lawsuit has been filed by a group of investors against the founders of Rhodium Enterprises, a bitcoin mining company based in the US state of Texas, alleging fraud. The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for Iacuone McAllister Potter, alleges that the defendants, including Rhodium executives and Fort Worth-based Imperium Investments Holdings, LLC, intentionally misled the plaintiffs into investing a total of $33 million by withholding key information and engaging in proprietary trading.

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20.

The price of bitcoin miners in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, has risen sharply due to the soaring price of bitcoin. The S21 335T is priced at $5,600 per unit, up 30% from last year. Some high-performance models, such as the S21 XP water-cooled miner, are already sold out on the official website, and demand for miners is outstripping supply. Buyers mainly came from Russia, the United States and Canada, with some of them purchasing hundreds to thousands of miners at a time. Low electricity prices in these regions, such as only RMB 0.37/kWh in Canada and as low as RMB 0.2 /kWh in Russia, allow miners to have a larger profit margin.

21.

Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 has announced the purchase of 990 bitcoins at an average price of $101,710 each, totaling approximately $100 million, bringing its bitcoin holdings to a reserve of 10,096 bitcoins with a market capitalization of approximately $1 billion, placing it among the top 10 global companies in terms of coin holdings. Hut 8 said these bitcoin reserves will be managed flexibly through option strategies, pledges or sales, and it plans to continue to look for opportunities to increase its holdings in the market. As a result of recent industry trends, a number of miners have been purchasing coins on the open market to optimize their asset structure, with miners such as Riot and MARA both increasing their coin purchases this year. (Coindesk）

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22.

Halliburton ($HAL), the second largest oilfield services business in the world, has invested in oilfield bitcoin mining company 360 Energy via its research and development arm. 360 Energy operates 285 PH/s of bitcoin mining infrastructure across wellsites in Texas, utilizing otherwise stranded or flared natural gas to mine bitcoin.（Blockspace）

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23.

Ethiopia has leveraged its enormous hydroelectric power, particularly from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), for Bitcoin mining. Now with 18% of Ethiopian Electric Power’s (EEP) income coming from Bitcoin mining, the nation has turned its idle energy into a profitable digital asset. A stunning $1 billion has been spent on Bitcoin mining activities during the past year, more than the profits from exporting power to surrounding nations. The government has partnered with 25 mining companies to attract international miners to take advantage of low electricity prices of around 3.2 cents/kWh to absorb excess power. The combination of renewable energy and crypto mining is driving energy use and policy change in Africa.

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24.

Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Economy and Finance has released its 2024 budget document, which shows that cryptocurrency mining taxes contributed more than 46.6 million Kyrgyz soms, or about $535,000, to the country’s economy this year, but were down 50% year-on-year, compared to last year’s 93.7 million soms in mining taxes. Kyrgyzstan’s cryptocurrency mining tax rate is 10 percent of the cost of electricity used by cryptocurrency miners in the country, including value-added tax and sales tax.

25.

Foundry USA Pool has refunded an inadvertently paid Bitcoin transaction fee of 8.18 BTC, worth approximately $777,000. On December 19, Foundry USA Pool mined Bitcoin block 875475, which included a transaction where the sender attached a fee of 8.18 BTC — 91,127 times higher than what was necessary. The Foundry said that after careful consideration, it decided to refund the handling fee to the user and emphasized that similar situations would be handled on a case-by-case basis in the future.

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26.

Rhodium Enterprises co-CEO Nathan Nichols has resigned as the Chapter 11 Bitcoin mining firm completed the sale of its Temple site in Texas for $40.6 million in cash. In an email to investors last week, seen by TheMinerMag, Rhodium announced that Nichols had decided to step down from his role, effective after the New Year. His resignation comes just weeks after Rhodium creditors filed a lawsuit against him and other co-founders, accusing them of fraud. Rhodium also informed investors that the company had previously drawn $15 million of the $30 million debtor-in-possession financing from Galaxy Digital. Upon closing the Temple site sale on Dec. 18, it used $16 million of the proceeds to fully repay the Galaxy debt, including fees and interest. Separately, Rhodium said in a release on Friday that it is set to resume miner colocation contracts at Riot’s Rockdale facility following what it described as a legal victory against the host.

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27.

Nano Labs announced that the Company has officially renamed its wholly-owned subsidiary Tsuki HK Limited to Nano bit HK Limited. Following this strategic rebranding, Nano bit HK Limited is expected to develop Bitcoin-related businesses and initiatives within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

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