Bitcoin Surges 13.1% in January Amid Market Shifts

Bitcoin closed the month of January with a 13.1% gain, reaching $102,405, marking its third consecutive positive January and the first month to actually close above the threshold of $100,000. However, early February has seen volatility, with Bitcoin dipping below $92,000 amid broader market pressures, contributing to a 7.3% drop in the total crypto market cap to $3.19 trillion.

Bitcoin's network activity remains robust, with hash rates surpassing 800 EH/s for the first time, reaching a peak of 988.8 EH/s on February 1. Despite strong network fundamentals, hash price declined 10.9% to $53.1 per PH/day over the past week.

Hive Digital Expands Bitcoin Mining Capacity with 200MW Paraguay Acquisition

On January 28, 2025 Hive Digital (HIVE) announced it had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire a 200 MW Bitcoin mining site in Paraguay from Bitfarms (BITF) for approximately $56 million. The acquisition, funded through cash and Bitcoin holdings, aims to increase the company's  total mining capacity to 25 EH/s by September 2025, adding 12.5 EH/s. 

The site will be developed in two phases, with the first 6 EH/s operational in Q2 2025 and the remaining 6.5 EH/s by September. The deal includes a substation and a $19 million PPA deposit, with construction costs estimated at $0.4 Million/MW. Hive Digital will pay $25 million at signing and $31 million in equal payments over six months. 

Once fully operational, the expansion will enhance fleet efficiency to approximately 16.5 J/TH and reduce mining costs below $50K per Bitcoin. With strong liquidity, including a growing Bitcoin treasury, the company sees this investment as an accretive and strategic move to strengthen its competitive position in the market.

The Impact of DeepSeek on the AI Landscape and Wall Street

DeepSeek’s advancements triggered a massive tech sector sell-off, with NVIDIA’s stock plunging nearly 17%, wiping out $587 billion in market value in a single session. Alphabet (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) also saw declines of $99 billion and $71 billion, respectively. Bitcoin mining firms like TeraWulf (WULF), Core Scientific (CORZ), and Hut 8 Corp. (HUT) initially fell 23%–30%. 

The technology sector lost an estimated $2 trillion in market capitalization, fueling investor uncertainty. DeepSeek’s disruptive AI model challenges established players, reshaping AI economics and prompting a reassessment of market positions amid heightened volatility.

Cipher Mining Secures $50M Investment from SoftBank

Cipher Mining (NASDAQ: CIFR) has announced a strategic partnership with SoftBank, which includes a $50 million investment in the company. As part of the agreement, SoftBank has secured a one-month exclusivity period for the company’s Barber Lake site, a 300 MW facility in Texas with existing power approvals and a fully built substation. 

Given SoftBank’s involvement in the Stargate initiative—a $500 billion AI infrastructure project—Barber Lake could potentially play a key role in its expansion. This partnership underscores Cipher Mining’s growing position in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven infrastructure development.

Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR)

The crypto community is actively discussing President Trump’s January 23rd executive order, which calls for an evaluation of a national digital asset stockpile. Senator Cynthia Lummis, the first-ever chair of the new Senate panel devoted to digital assets, has strongly advocated for Bitcoin as the sole candidate for a U.S. Government Strategic Reserve, citing its decentralized nature, widespread acceptance, and inherent value appreciation compared to the U.S. dollar. However, she acknowledged that the order’s language leaves room for the inclusion of other digital assets. This development signals a potential shift in U.S. policy toward digital asset reserves, sparking debate over Bitcoin’s role in national financial strategy and the broader implications for cryptocurrency adoption.

The image above highlights how many US States are also in the process of approving a SBR at the state level, with Arizona and Utah already having passed to have a SBR in place, and a further 19 states, pending.  North Dakota is currently the only state to have actually rejected the bill with a second reading also failing by 57 votes to 32. 

Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR)

Bitdeer reported key developments across its mining, infrastructure, and AI operations in January 2025. The company mined 126 Bitcoin, at an average daily rate of 4.1 Bitcoin, a decline from the previous month due to temporary curtailments at its Bhutan site amid higher seasonal electricity prices.

Production of the SEALMINER A1 remains on track, with mass production of 3.7 EH/s expected to be completed by early March. SEALMINER A2 production, initially set for October 2025, experienced a one-month delay due to an earthquake in Taiwan but remains on course, with 7 EH/s allocated for external sales starting in March. Additionally, SEALMINER A3 and A4 developments continue to advance, targeting enhanced chip efficiency.

Bitdeer AI Cloud, powered by NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, experienced a drop in utilization to ~60% due to an increased focus on R&D in model inference and AI agents. Hosting services expanded, with 2,000 additional client-hosted machines and a 0.5 EH/s increase in hashrate as customers upgraded to more efficient rigs.

Progress continued across multiple sites, including a 40 MW expansion in Norway, a 100 MW hydro-cooling conversion in Texas, and ongoing negotiations for a 304 MW project in Ohio. The 500 MW Jigmeling, Bhutan project remains on schedule, while Bitdeer’s 101 MW gas-fired power plant and data center in Alberta is slated for Q4 2026.

Bitdeer secured a $17M supply chain financing facility at a 10.2% interest rate. The company aims to enhance vertical integration with its Alberta acquisition, leveraging its own power generation, proprietary ASICs, and grid participation for improved efficiency and cost control.

At the end of the month, Bitdeer held 724 Bitcoin within its treasury, with a valuation of $74 million, as at January 31, 2025. 

Bit Digital (BTBT)

Bit Digital produced 28.7 Bitcoin in January, at an average daily rate of 0.9 Bitcoin, an 11.4% decline from the prior month due to changes in its hosting portfolio, miner redeployment, and older miner retirements. The active hash rate also fell 11.1% to 1.6 EH/s for similar reasons. The company also received 191 new Bitmain Antminer S21 units at a new hosting site.

As at the end of January, the company’s Enovum Data Center had 14 active revenue-generating customers, contributing approximately USD $522.9K in colocation revenue. Bit Digital also earned $4.4 million from GPU Cloud services, with 268 servers (2,144 GPUs) actively generating revenue. A new agreement with a key customer for 464 Nvidia B200 GPUs, replacing a prior contract for 2,048 H100 GPUs, is expected to generate $15 million in annualized revenue. The deal includes an 18-month term and a two-month prepayment.

Additionally, Bit Digital has maintained 21,568 Ethereum in native staking, earning a 3.6% annualized yield representing 65.8 Ethereum in staking rewards for the month. These strategic shifts in mining, staking, and HPC services position Bit Digital for continued growth in 2025.

Bit Digital reported approximately $4.9 million in unaudited revenue from its HPC services and $2.9 million from its Bitcoin mining in January 2025. The company held 768.7 Bitcoin and 27,689.6 Ethereum, valued at approximately $78.7 million and $91.3 million, respectively, bringing total liquidity to $244.6 million.

Bitfarms

Bitfarms has released its latest monthly production report, highlighting significant operational and strategic advancements, whilst producing 201 Bitcoin at an average daily rate of 6.05 Bitcoin, a reduction of 4.7% on the rate achieved in the previous month.  Operationally, Bitfarms increased its hashrate by 19% in January to 15.2 EH/s, with ongoing miner deployments had expected to reach 21 EH/s across 15 sites in four countries. However, underperformance of certain miners has led to revised guidance of 18 EH/s for H1 2025. The company remains committed to improving efficiency while optimizing grid participation and energy management across its portfolio.

CEO, Ben Gagnon, stated that the company remains on track to finalize the acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining and the sale of its 200 MW Yguazu data center in Paraguay to HIVE Digital. These transactions will rebalance Bitfarms’ portfolio towards North America, enhancing both Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing (HPC) opportunities.

To accelerate its HPC strategy, Bitfarms has engaged expert consultants to assess its data centers for potential HPC/AI conversions and develop a targeted sales strategy. The company aims to monetize its North American energy assets with long-term, stable revenue streams.

Bitfarms reported selling 42% of its monthly production, generating $4.1 million as part of its treasury management strategy. The company added 218 Bitcoin to its holdings, increasing its treasury to 1,152 Bitcoin, valued at $121 million based on Bitcoin’s $105,000 price at month-end. 

This growth includes the repurchase of 88 Bitcoin from Bitmain for $8.3 million ($94,500 per Bitcoin) under a previously announced miner upgrade agreement and the transfer of 30 Bitcoin as collateral for active derivatives contracts. These strategic moves reflect Bitfarms’ ongoing efforts to optimize its financial position and strengthen its Bitcoin reserves.

Core Scientific (CORZ)

In January Core Scientific produced 256 Bitcoin at an average daily rate of 8.3 Bitcoin, a reduction of 12% on the rate achieved in the month of December, in part due to the removal of 3,000 miner machines, with 161,000 remaining supporting an operational hash rate of 18.5 EH/s.  The company has also reduced its hosting business in recent months, currently providing facilities for 7,000 miner machines, delivering 1.0 EH/s and 17 Bitcoin during the month of January.  

It should also be noted that Core Scientific reduced the consumption of power at its data centers on multiple occasions, delivering 48,236 MW hours to local electrical grids.

Although the company has not included the amount of Bitcoin Hodl in its monthly operational update, it is believed that the company currently has 530 Bitcoin held in their treasury with a value of nearly $51 million as at February 10, 2025. 

DMG Blockchain (DMGI)

DMG Blockchain announced its mining results for January 2025, reporting the production of 31 Bitcoin,  at an average daily rate of 1.0 Bitcoin, a reduction of 3.1% on the rate achieved during December 2024. The company’s hashrate increased to 1.75 EH/s, up from 1.68 EH/s the previous month. 

CEO Sheldon Bennett highlighted the company’s continued progress in expanding its mining capacity, stating that DMG Blockchain remains focused on reaching 2.1 EH/s in the current quarter through the deployment of cutting-edge hydro direct liquid cooling (DLC) technology. The company deployed its first megawatt of hydro miners, exiting January at 1.8 EH/s, and plans to energize the remaining five megawatts within the quarter. This expansion aligns with DMG’s strategy to enhance operational efficiency and optimize Bitcoin production.

The company added 25 Bitcoin from its production to its treasury, taking Bitcoin holdings to 431 Bitcoin with a value of $44 million as at January 31, 2025.

On January 28, 2025, DMG Blockchain announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Systemic Trust Company, has received registration to operate as a special purpose trust company in Alberta under the Loan and Trust Corporations Act. Lawrence Truong, CEO of Systemic Trust emphasized the milestone’s significance in enhancing blockchain adoption and providing secure, independent custody solutions for digital assets. Alberta’s Finance Minister, Nate Horner, highlighted the province’s commitment to financial innovation. Sheldon Bennett also noted that Systemic Trust is the only Canadian Qualified Custodian leveraging Fireblocks' industry-leading wallet infrastructure, positioning it as a trusted digital asset custody provider for Canadian institutions.

Gryphon Mining (GRYP)

On January 13, 2025, Gryphon Mining announced a non-brokered offering, raising approximately $2.85 million. The offering saw full participation from the management team and a majority of board members, signaling strong internal confidence in the company's strategy. Gryphon issued around 6.3 million shares at $0.40 per share, with warrants exercisable at $1.50 per share. Management and board members purchased about 629,000 shares at $0.516 per share, with similar warrants. This offering marks the initial phase of funding Gryphon's expansion projects, particularly in HPC/AI and Bitcoin mining, with a focus on balancing growth and shareholder value.

Gryphon Digital Mining has acquired 1,900 S19JPro machines with an extended warranty from RepairBit LLC at a 20% discount, increasing its Bitcoin mining fleet by 22% from 8,500 to 10,400 machines. This acquisition reinforces Gryphon’s position in the Bitcoin mining sector.  CEO Steve Gutterman highlighted the company’s strategic approach, securing below-market prices through its relationship with RepairBit. 

On January 31, 2025, the company authorized the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve as part of its capital strategy. This initiative follows key agreements, including the restructuring of $18 million in Bitcoin debt, with Anchorage Digital becoming the largest shareholder. Additionally, Gryphon Mining has secured an agreement for a scalable HPC/AI asset in Alberta. CEO Steve Gutterman emphasized the reserve’s role in strengthening the balance sheet and supporting the company’s growth, especially amid market valuation discrepancies.

Hive Digital Technologies Ltd. (HIVE)

Hive Digital released its unaudited production results for January 2025, highlighting continued growth in Bitcoin mining operations and strategic investments.  The company mined 102 Bitcoin during the month, at an average daily rate of 3.3 Bitcoin, a reduction of 1% on the previous month.  The company maintained an average mining capacity of 5.7 EH/s with fleet efficiency at 22 J/TH and achieved a peak Bitcoin-equivalent hashrate of 6.4 EH/s. The company continues to optimize operational efficiency, targeting a blended fleet efficiency of 16.5 J/TH through equipment upgrades.

Hive Digital sold 250 Bitcoin in the month, bringing its total holdings to 2,657 Bitcoin, valued at $271 million, to invest in capital assets, including a 200 MW hydro-powered mining facility in Paraguay acquired from Bitfarms Ltd. This expansion is expected to drive HIVE’s mining capacity to 25 EH/s by September 2025, a 317% increase from its current 6 EH/s.

Additionally, the company has recently appointed Lieutenant General (Ret.) John R. Evans Jr. to its Global Strategy Advisory Committee, reinforcing its commitment to responsible expansion. Executive Chairman Frank Holmes emphasized the acquisition’s transformative impact, while CEO Aydin Kilic highlighted the company's focus on capital efficiency and industry-leading operational performance.

IREN (IREN) 

In the month of January, IREN produced 521 Bitcoin at an average rate of 16.8 Bitcoin, a reduction of 1.5% on the rate achieved in December. Operating hashrate averaged 29 EH/s, impacted by voluntary price curtailments and miner upgrades at the Childress facility. Power costs at Childress averaged 3.6 c/kWh, dropping to 3.0 c/kWh with the transition to spot pricing. Meanwhile, AI cloud services revenue grew by 6%, with new NVIDIA H200 contracts secured post-month-end.

IREN’s Bitcoin mining business continued to deliver strong hardware profits in January, supported by a robust 75% hardware profit margin and an average revenue per Bitcoin of $99,789. 

Co-Founder and Co-CEO Daniel Roberts highlighted growing demand for IREN’s 2,310 MW grid-connected power portfolio, particularly for cloud and colocation services. He emphasized the company’s strategic priorities ahead of its Q2 FY25 earnings report, where it plans to provide further insights into financial performance and growth initiatives.  

The company is also on track to deliver its target of 52 EH/s during 2025, the 50 EH/s expected to be energized by the end of June. To enable the progress of growth in Bitcoin mining hash rate and HPC Data Center sites, the company announced a new $1 Billion at-the-market (ATM) facility, providing financial flexibility for accretive investments and alternative funding options to accelerate growth.

Riot Platforms (RIOT)

In the month of January, Riot Platforms mined 527 Bitcoin, at an average daily rate of 17 Bitcoin, an increase of 2.1% on the previous month, and marking the second consecutive month of increased production despite continued rising network difficulty. CEO Jason Les attributed this growth to the completion and full operational status of the Corsicana Facility, which reached a deployed hash rate of 15.7 EH/s. Improved miner performance and immersion systems further enhanced operational efficiency.

The company is actively evaluating AI and high-performance computing (HPC) opportunities for the remaining 600 MW of power capacity at Corsicana. Riot has engaged Altman Solon, a leading data center consultant, to conduct a feasibility assessment. As a result, the company has halted its planned 600 MW Phase II Bitcoin mining expansion at Corsicana, leading to a reduction in its projected total self-mining hash rate capacity for 2025 from 46.7 EH/s to 38.4 EH/s.

Despite this shift, Riot Platforms continues to develop its substation to support future power capacity. The company remains committed to optimizing operations and exploring strategic growth opportunities in both Bitcoin mining and AI/HPC infrastructure. Further updates on the evaluation process are expected as the company progresses with its feasibility study.

The company achieved a total of $3.6 million in ‘Power’ and ‘Demand Response’ credits, equivalent to approximately 35 Bitcoin.  They sold 28 Bitcoin, adding 499 Bitcoin to their Hodl, which now stands at an impressive 18,221 Bitcoin with a value of $1.87 Billion, as at January 31, 2025. 

Soluna Holdings (SLNH)

Soluna Holdings mined 10 Bitcoin during January, at an average daily rate of 0.3 Bitcoin, a 16.7% reduction on the average rate achieved in the month of December. 

Project Dorothy continues advancing across multiple phases. Dorothy 1A & 1B (50 MW, Bitcoin Hosting/Mining) completed a planned outage for the Dorothy 2 substation interconnection, upgrading core network switches and performing critical maintenance. Both sites have resumed full operations, benefiting from minimal curtailments. Meanwhile, Dorothy 2 (48 MW, Bitcoin Hosting) completed its substation interconnection, with initial energization expected in late February and commissioning in early April.

In AI hosting, Project Grace (2 MW) is progressing with behind-the-meter architecture, while Project Ada (1 MW, AI Cloud with HPE) launched a 128-GPU Atlas Cloud cluster. Project Sophie (25 MW, Bitcoin/AI Hosting) is at 65% capacity due to a substation failure, with repairs expected in March. Project Kati (166 MW, Bitcoin/AI) is finalizing infrastructure negotiations, with an EPC bid process in February. 

On the customer success front, expansion efforts are ongoing. A third expansion request for Bit Digital is underway, while the deployment of next-generation S21 units at Project Dorothy continues. Additionally, a second expansion for Bitmine Immersion Technologies has been completed, and proposals for Dorothy 2 Bitcoin Hosting are under review.

Monthly and year-to-date (YTD) metrics

With a new calendar year commencing, January witnessed a few new names appearing at the top in terms of production by EH/s, with CleanSpark (18.01), Riot Platforms (17.99) and IREN (17.97), Bitfarms (17.95) and Bit Digital (17.94) making up the top 5 and less than 2% separating the top 7 Bitcoin miners. 

In terms of utilization, Bit Digital achieved 95% followed by DMG Blockchain (91%) Hive Digital (90%), IREN (89%) and RIOT (86%), highlighting the impact of weather conditions in January and the necessity for miners to act as good stewards of power and curtail their energy, when the domestic demand increases. 

The Bitcoin mined per MW is a metric used for assessing operational efficiency and resource utilization.  IREN achieved 1.02 Bitcoin per MW, followed by HIve Digital (0.80) CleanSpark (0.72) Marathon Digital (0.67) and Core Scientific (0.64).

Fleet Efficiency

Fleet efficiency is crucial for Bitcoin miners to maximize profitability, reduce energy costs, and optimize hardware performance. Efficient fleets extend equipment lifespan, minimize downtime, and improve hash rate consistency. By reducing power consumption and maintenance needs, miners enhance operational sustainability, stay competitive, and adapt to evolving network difficulty and market conditions.

The chart above highlights the order of efficiency, with IREN achieving status as having the most efficient Bitcoin mining fleet of all the public miners in North America at 15 j/TH.  CleanSpark increased their operational hash rate in January, adding more efficient miners and bringing their total fleet efficiency down to 16.15 j/TH.  Cipher Mining will continue to increase their efficiency, as the Black Pearl site starts energizing, currently at 18.9 j/TH.