Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Leverages New ASICs to Enhance Mining Efficiency

Hut 8 Corp., a major Bitcoin mining operator in North America, announced an upgrade to its mining fleet on November 6 by acquiring 31,145 BITMAIN Antminer S21+ ASIC machines.

This acquisition, set for delivery in early Q1 2025, is part of Hut 8’s broader push to enhance mining efficiency and expand its self-mining capacity.

Hut 8 Purchases 31,145 BITMAIN Antminers to Expand Bitcoin Mining Efficiency

Under the purchase agreement, Hut 8 will acquire the miners at $15 per terahash, a move expected to significantly enhance its self-mining hashrate by approximately 3.7 exahashes per second (EH/s).

With this upgrade, Hut 8 aims to optimize its mining efficiency across 111 megawatts (MW) of self-mining capacity.

Today we announced a fleet upgrade that is expected to increase our total self-mining hashrate to ~9.3 EH/s and improve our fleet efficiency to 19.9 J/TH.

Alongside our previously announced purchase option for ~15 EH/s of hosted U3S21EXPH ASIC miners at our Vega site, this… pic.twitter.com/jp9PzQRcWo

— Hut 8 (@Hut8Corp) November 6, 2024

Once operational, the new equipment is set to boost Hut 8’s hashrate by 3.7 exahashes per second (EH/s), bringing its total self-mining hashrate to 9.3 EH/s—a 66% increase.

The upgrade will also reduce the fleet’s energy consumption from 31.7 to 19.9 joules per terahash (J/TH), improving efficiency by approximately 37%.

The acquisition will complement Hut 8’s existing agreement to host up to 15 EH/s of U3S21EXPH ASIC miners at its Vega site, paving the way for a potential total hashrate of 24 EH/s with an average efficiency of 15.7 J/TH by Q2 2025.

Hut 8’s CEO, Asher Genoot, highlighted the decision behind choosing the BITMAIN Antminer S21+ model, emphasizing its high return on investment compared to pricier, more efficient models.

This upgrade complements Hut 8’s previously announced option to purchase additionally hosted U3S21EXPH ASIC miners, which could expand the company’s total self-mining hashrate to nearly 24 EH/s by Q2 2025.

As part of its long-term growth strategy, Hut 8 claimed it is committed to scaling its compute infrastructure across power-intensive operations, focusing on Bitcoin mining and AI computation.

From Bitcoin to AI: Is Hut 8’s Diversification Key to Future-Proofing Profits?

On September 19, Hut 8 announced an expanded partnership with mining rig manufacturer Bitmain. The collaboration led to the development of the U3S21EXPH.

Additionally, Hut 8 integrates AI into its data center operations to further optimize efficiency.

Hut 8 expects the new miner to increase its managed hash rate and massively support their profitability amid rising Bitcoin network difficulty.

To navigate industry pressures, including reduced block rewards and energy costs, Hut 8 diversifies into high-performance computing (HPC) and AI to secure stable revenue streams.

This expansion was made possible with a $150 million investment from Coatue Management in June 2024 to fund Hut 8’s energy and AI infrastructure, further supporting the company’s growth strategy.