Riot Announces June 2023 Production and Operations Updates

CASTLE ROCK, Colo., July 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) (“Riot” or “the Company”), an industry leader in Bitcoin (“BTC”) mining and data center hosting, announces unaudited production and operations updates for June 2023.

Bitcoin Production and Operations Updates for June 2023

				Comparison (%)
Metric	June 2023	May 2023	June 2022	Month/Month	Year/Year
Bitcoin Produced	460	676	421	-32%	9%
Average Bitcoin Produced per Day	15.3	21.8	14.0	-30%	9%
Bitcoin Held1	7,250	7,190	6,654	1%	9%
Bitcoin Sold	400	600	300	-33%	33%
Bitcoin Sales - Net Proceeds	$10.6 million	$16.5 million	$6.2 million	-36%	71%
Average Net Price per Bitcoin Sold	$26,456	$27,568	$20,627	-4%	28%
Deployed Hash Rate1	10.7 EH/s 2	10.5 EH/s 2	4.4 EH/s	2%	143%
Deployed Miners1	95,904 2	94,176 2	42,455	2%	126%
Power Sales3,5	$8.4 million	$0.5 million	$1.9 million	1,452%	338%
Demand Response Revenue4,5	$1.6 million	$2.3 million	$0.7 million	-29%	137%
1.   As of end of month.
2.   Exahash per second (“EH/s”). Excludes 17,040 miners that are offline as a result of damage to Building G from the severe winter weather in late December 2022 in Texas.
3.   Power curtailment credits received from the Company’s ability, under its long-term power contracts, to sell power back to the ERCOT grid at market-driven spot prices.
4.   Proceeds from participation in ERCOT demand response programs.
5.   Going forward, the Company plans to disclose this figure in its monthly updates if it exceeds $1 million for the current month.

“June was a momentous month for Riot, as the results from our mining operations, power strategy and growth plans have all come together,” said Jason Les, CEO of Riot. “We announced an initial order of 33,280 MicroBT miners for our Corsicana Facility, which is expected to add 7.6 EH/s to our self-mining fleet and also provides optionality for future orders at the same terms. This long-term purchase agreement locks in our pricing for the next generation of miners and provides a path to executing on our ambitious growth plans.

“In June, Riot mined 460 Bitcoin while also significantly leveraging our power strategy. As temperatures in Texas reached near record levels during the month and power demand was high, we made dynamic decisions on our power usage based on market signals. Through our participation in various market programs within ERCOT, the Company generated $8.4 million in power sales and $1.6 million in demand response revenue, which when combined, represented the equivalent of an additional approximately 361 Bitcoin based on the average price of Bitcoin during the month.

“Our long-term, fixed-price, power contracts provide Riot the ability to curtail our Bitcoin mining operations and sell large blocks of power back into the grid during periods of peak demand, ensuring power is available to Texans while generating economic benefits to the Company. This power strategy is a key differentiator for Riot as it supports our low cost of production and is made possible by our vertically integrated structure and unmatched balance sheet strength.”

Estimated Hash Rate Growth

Due to the ongoing impact of damage incurred to Building G during the severe winter storm in Texas in December 2022, Riot now anticipates achieving a total self-mining hash rate capacity of 12.5 EH/s at its Rockdale Facility in the second half of 2023.

The Company has entered into a long-term purchase agreement with MicroBT, which includes an initial order of 7.6 EH/s of next-generation Bitcoin miners for its Corsicana Facility. Upon full deployment by mid-2024, Riot’s total self-mining hash rate capacity is expected to be 20.1 EH/s.

Riot’s Power Strategy Helps to Stabilize Texas Energy Grid During June Heat Wave

In June 2023, Texas experienced extreme heat, causing demand for electricity to spike, in some cases extremely close to available supply. On certain dates of peak demand, Riot curtailed more than 90% of its power usage, temporarily forgoing revenue from its Bitcoin mining operations and instead providing energy resources to ERCOT. During these times, the Company’s curtailment of operations meaningfully contributed to reducing overall power demand to ensure that consumers did not experience interruptions in service.

Riot’s Dynamic Power Strategy Explained

Riot actively participates in several demand response programs, including ERCOT’s ancillary services and Four Coincident Peak (“4CP”) program.

Through ancillary services, the Company competitively bids to sell ERCOT the ability to control Riot’s electrical load on demand, and to power down when needed in order to stabilize the grid. The Company receives compensation for its participation in ancillary services directly from ERCOT whether or not Riot is actually called to power down.

Riot also participates in ERCOT’s 4CP program, which refers to the highest-load settlement intervals in each of the four summer months of June, July, August and September, during which demand for power is at its highest. Market participants can voluntarily power down operations during these times and in doing so, make more electrical load available to the grid. Participants that reduce their load in these peak periods receive credits to transmission costs on future power bills during the subsequent year, reducing overall power costs. As a result of Riot’s participation in 4CP in 2022, the Company’s transmission charges in its ongoing 2023 monthly power bills are substantially reduced.

Riot’s participation in ERCOT’s ancillary services is made possible due to the fixed-price power contracts within the Company’s long-term Power Purchase Agreement. These fixed-price power contracts also allow Riot to sell power back into the market when spot power prices in ERCOT exceed Bitcoin mining economics. Spot power prices can fluctuate significantly between peak and off-peak times, and Riot is able to dynamically switch throughout the day by selling power during higher price windows and mining Bitcoin during low price windows.

Human Resources Update

Riot is currently recruiting for positions across the Company. Join our team in building, expanding, and securing the Bitcoin network.

Open positions are available at: https://www.riotplatforms.com/careers.

About Riot Platforms, Inc.

Riot’s (NASDAQ: RIOT) vision is to be the world’s leading Bitcoin-driven infrastructure platform.

Our mission is to positively impact the sectors, networks, and communities that we touch. We believe that the combination of an innovative spirit and strong community partnership allows the Company to achieve best-in-class execution and create successful outcomes.

Riot is a Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company focused on a vertically integrated strategy. The Company has data center hosting operations in central Texas, Bitcoin mining operations in central Texas, and electrical switchgear engineering and fabrication operations in Denver, Colorado.

For more information, visit www.riotplatforms.com.

Safe Harbor

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect management’s current expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements rely on the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “will,” “potential,” “hope,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of acquisitions, including financial and operating results, and the Company’s plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions. Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: unaudited estimates of Bitcoin production; our future hash rate growth (EH/s); the anticipated benefits, construction schedule, and costs associated with the Navarro site expansion; our expected schedule of new miner deliveries; the impact of weather events on our operations and results; our ability to successfully deploy new miners; the variance in our mining pool rewards may negatively impact our results of Bitcoin production; megawatt (“MW”) capacity under development; we may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits from immersion-cooling; the integration of acquired businesses may not be successful, or such integration may take longer or be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than anticipated; failure to otherwise realize anticipated efficiencies and strategic and financial benefits from our acquisitions; and the impact of COVID-19 on us, our customers, or on our suppliers in connection with our estimated timelines. Detailed information regarding the factors identified by the Company’s management which they believe may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements in this press release may be found in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as amended, and the other filings the Company makes with the SEC, copies of which may be obtained from the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur, or of which the Company hereafter becomes aware, except as required by law. Persons reading this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Investor Contact:
Phil McPherson
303-794-2000 ext. 110

IR@Riot.Inc

Media Contact:
Alexis Brock
303-794-2000 ext. 118

PR@Riot.Inc