Miners ‘not impacted by volatility’ in Bitcoin market
Despite steadily declining prices of Bitcoin and turmoil on the markets today, some of the largest mining companies are unfazed and insist their operations will not be affected by negative price volatility.
Some even see it as an opportunity to gain market share as smaller competitors collapse.
Bitcoin (BTC) prices have been on a steady decline all year up to the past 24 hours, when the crash accelerated to reach 12-month lows. However, miners have not been deterred amid that tremendous pressure. Some may even have more fervor for mining if the downtrend in Bitcoin continues through 2022.
Each of three different mining operations — two large public companies and one private mining company — that Cointelegraph reached out to shared cool emotions about the prospect of a bear market. They believe it will have little to no effect on their business plans.
Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) said that its “asset-light strategy” will keep it insulated from nearly all the effects of a bear market. VP of Corporate Communications Charlie Schumacher told Cointelegraph that it maintained a cost basis of about $6,200 per BTC mined in Q1 by “outsourcing the muscle of our operations and keeping the intellectual power within the firm.”
Marathon is the third-largest holder of Bitcoin (BTC) among public companies according to BitcoinTreasuries. It has the capacity to generate 3.9 exahashes (EH/s) of hash power. MARA is down 15.42% and is trading at $9.97 in after hours trading. It is down 92.6% from its Dec. 2014 high of $134.72.
Schumacher added that the exit of other miners due to capital constraints during bear markets creates an opportunity for larger operations like Marathon’s which can take advantage of lower mining difficulty from a decrease in hashpower and competition on the Bitcoin network.
“As the hash rate declines, there’s a downward difficulty adjustment, which decreases the energy expense for miners who remain hashing. Those who are left standing can therefore benefit by potentially earning more Bitcoin.”
Cointelegraph also received responses from Riot Blockchain (RIOT) CEO Jason Les, another large mining company. It currently holds the eighth-most BTC among public companies according to Bitcoin Treasuries. It controls 3.9 EH/s of hash power as of March 4 but did not disclose its cost per coin mined.
RIOT is down 9.16% and is trading at $6.83 in after hours trading. It is down 90.5% from its Feb. 2021 high of $71.33.
Les also appeared nonchalant about current and future Bitcoin market volatility. Like Marathon and Redivider, Les pointed to his company’s “strong balance sheet with no long-term debt” as key strengths it can rely on from a business perspective. He added, “changes in Bitcoin market conditions do not impact our miner deployment plans, so we continue to grow our hash rate monthly.”
“Riot’s miner deployment plans are not impacted by volatility in Bitcoin, we are focused on building a sustainable business that operates in array Bitcoin market conditions.”
Redivider CEO Tom Frazier is also untroubled by the prospect of a further prolonged downturn. Redivider is a privately-run data center provider for Bitcoin mining operations specializing in Opportunity Zones designed to benefit workers in underprivileged regions of the U.S.
The core of Redivider’s 1.5-year-old business is in managing data centers whose Bitcoin hash power can be rented by mining companies for a fee. Frazier told Cointelegraph in a May 11 call that if its data centers have no renters at a particular time, Redivider can maintain a revenue stream for all of its facilities at any given time by assuming the hash power and block rewards for themselves.
He did not disclose what Redivider’s basis price per Bitcoin mined was nor how big its operation is, but he assured “our BTC production price won’t be impacted.”
Frazier said that downturns in the Bitcoin market “have little impact on what we do due to our 10-year plan.”
“Corrections in the market are happening because BTC is very volatile, which is in line with any other volatile asset class. That volatility will not impede our strategy. These moments present opportunities.”
Related: Bitcoin fights to hold $29K as fear of regulation and Terra’s UST implosion hit crypto hard
Considering the present turmoil in the crypto markets following the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) project and Bitcoin currently trading at $28,931, its lowest level since Jan. 1, 2021, according to CoinGecko data, it may become rapidly apparent whether miners can pounce on the opportunity at their doorsteps as they claim.