🚨 “IT’S JUST A DIP” → Bybit hack, tariffs, global chaos: “You sure about that? 😬”

TLDR 🪟

The First BBB of 2025: Bitcoin crashes below $80K, worst February since 2014, market cap down 6.4%. Bitcoin’s hashprice fell below $50/PH/s; transaction fees dropped to 1.63 %. Bitcoin ETFs saw $2B in outflows, led by Fidelity and BlackRock.
Genesis adds 50 MW; MARA warns of halving impact; Core Scientific pays $21.3M; Compass adds 5.5 MW; Riot reports $376.7M; Cipher Mining’s losses rise; Bitdeer targets 40+ EH/s; Argo adds 8,113 miners; 15 miners lose $13B; Bgin faces customs issues; Bitdeer and Bgin face market cap declines.
Ohio blocks extra taxes; South Dakota halts HB 1202; Utah, Arizona, Georgia push Bitcoin bills; Oklahoma, Texas bills advance; China enforces ban; Pakistan considers legalization; Australia hits adoption record; Hong Kong, Japan push regulations.
EU sanctions Garantex; US seizes $31M; Tether faces lawsuit; Sun pauses SEC case; US lawmakers push DeFi repeal. US “debanking” exposes corruption; Pippen urges Bitcoin buys; Brazil’s CBDC faces privacy issues; Dekabank launches services; SEC dropped charges against key crypto firms.
Bybit moves $480M ETH; Metaplanet buys 135 BTC; Strategy adds 20,356 BTC; Bitcoin Depot adds 11.1 BTC; 🇸🇻 El Salvador adds 7 BTC; Bitwise raises $70M; MetaMask adds Bitcoin, Solana; PayPal expands PYUSD; Bitfinex margin longs jump 13K+ BTC.
Bybit lost $1.5B in a Lazarus hack, shaking up the crypto world!
With Bitcoin plummeting and ETFs seeing billions in outflows, is the bull run officially over?

For this week’s Hash & Cash Index, BTC price plunges to 81,923, a sharp 17.39% drop from last week signals a major market downturn. Market cap stays as above the $1T, settling at $ 1.515B (-17.35% WoW). Hashprice sit at $46.44 USD/PH/day, a -15.84% decrease. The global hashrate dropped 1.94%, settling at 796.06 EH/s. The current epoch’s difficulty decreases to 110.57 T. We’re at block 704 of 2016 for this epoch. Rewards remain at 3.17 BTC per block. Fees in blocks settles to 1.36% showing an increase of 1.46%. The average block time has increased to 9 minutes and 41 seconds. Source: Hashrate Index, Mempool, ONMINE.

🪄 Pool Power Tools 🎱

This week’s Pool reward index settles to 99.60%, an increase from last week 2.24% with 19 active pools chipping away 1004 blocks. The total miner reward over the last 144 blocks contracted to 455.77 BTC drops 0.06% from last week, the dollar valuation of this rewards dips to $37M (-17.55% WoW). Average block fees are equal to 0.0401BTC/block down 4.52% Wow and estimated to be $3,274 per block. Transaction fee per Network transaction equate to 1.75k sats per transaction, costing around $1.43 per transaction on the Bitcoin network over the last 144 block. Source: Mempool, ONMINE

In this week’s 1008 block mining pool race, Foundry USA remains at the forefront, with a total reported hashrate of 247.03 EH/S, clinching 311 blocks. ANTPOOL continues to challenge, harvesting 193 blocks with 153.30 EH/S. F2Pool and ViaBTC are neck and neck in the hashrate hustle, grabbing 104 and 149 blocks, respectively. Luxor staying in the top ranks, with a hashrate of 19.06 EH/S and manages to secure 24 blocks over the last week. Source: Mempool, ONMINE.

📉 Bitcoin’s mining difficulty dropped 3.15% on Sunday to 110T at block height 885,024, down from 114T, raising hashprice to $56/PH/s. This is the first decline after eight increases in late 2024, returning difficulty to early 2025 levels.

⚡ Bitcoin’s transaction volume was so low in early February that miners included nearly every transaction, but by Sunday, with MASK minting underway, the mempool expanded to nearly 80 blocks or ~100k unconfirmed transactions.

Source : Mempoll.space

The majority of these transactions were new BRC20 mints. While BRC20 transfers do happen on-chain, most trading occurs off-chain on exchanges like OKX for better UX, meaning secondary market volume isn’t reflected on-chain. Over the weekend, MASK dominated the token minting activity, surpassing other protocols like Runes and BRC20.

Source: GeniiData | Shows 24-hour token minting activity from 11:30 AM February 22 to 11:30 AM February 23.

🧰 Hard-Ware & Hosting Index ⚙

💡 Bitcoin’s transaction fees reached 163 BTC in the first 26.5 days of February, representing just 1.33% of the total block rewards.

⚡Genesis Digital Assets adds 50 megawatts to its West Texas mining sites.

⚠️ MARA warns that miners relying on grid power will face challenges after the 2028 halving.

💵 Core Scientific made a $21.3 million payment to Block, Inc. for 15 EH/s of Bitcoin ASIC miners, with delivery scheduled for 2025.

🇺🇸 Compass Mining added 5.5 MW to its North Dakota facility using Antminer S21 Hydro, increasing its total U.S. capacity to 96 MW.

⛏️ Riot Platforms reports $376.7M revenue in 2024, with $1.65B in BTC holdings, a 31.5 EH/s hash rate, and a 141% rise in BTC reserves.

📉 Cipher Mining’s 2024 revenues rose 19% to $151M, but operating losses more than doubled to $43.7M due to increased expenses, including a rise in self-mining hashrate to 13.5 EH/s and site expansions.

Cipher Mining’s shares dropped 17.4% on Feb. 25, closing at $4.10, following its 2024 full-year results, which showed operating losses more than doubling. The stock saw a slight 2.2% rebound in after-hours trading, reaching $4.19.

⚒️ Bitdeer paid TSMC $240M in Q4 as it targets 40+ EH/s in 2025 with SEALMINER hardware, planning to deploy 32 EH/s while potential wafer allocations could further expand capacity.

Bitdeer reported $69M in Q4 2024 revenue, with $43.8M from proprietary hashrate, a $26.7M cost of revenue, $53,769 per BTC mined, and a fleet hashcost of $35.1/PH/s, excluding corporate expenses.

📈 Argo Blockchain increased its Merkle Standard hosting to 8,113 S19j Pro miners, aiming to have 46% of its 23,000 Helios miners online by March, while managing ongoing financial hurdles despite a £4.2M raise.

🔻15 major Bitcoin miners lost $13B in market cap over the past month, dropping to $23.2B on Feb. 25 from $36.6B on Jan. 24, as Bitcoin fell below $90K amid market turbulence and a $1.5B

Bitdeer led the decline, with its market cap dropping from nearly $4B to $1.78B in a month, while its stock fell 29% on Tuesday after its Q4 report revealed CEO Jihan Wu may sell up to 4M shares between March and June. Other miners, including Cipher, Canaan, Iris Energy, Applied Digital, MARA, and Hut 8, saw double-digit losses, while Core Scientific slipped just 1%.

🚨 Bgin disclosed that over 2,400 IceRiver miners imported for proprietary mining in the US have been detained by Customs since September 2024.

Bgin Blockchain reported $257M in 2023 revenue and $144M in the first half of 2024 as it filed for a $50M US IPO. The company initially focused on Kaspa mining, reaching 44.51% of the network’s hashrate in 2022 before dropping to 1.56% by mid-2024. In 2023, it shifted to selling proprietary ASIC miners, driving most of its revenue, with 67,998 units sold in 2023 and 47,252 in early 2024. Gross margins were 35% and 57% for mining and 88% and 81% for miner sales in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Bgin also operates mining pools, contributing $35.7M in 2024, though with negligible margins. Excluding pools, its revenue for 2023 and early 2024 was $233M and $109M.

🚔 On January 23, Bgin also received Notices of Seizure from the CBP’s Fines and Penalties Department, stating that its IceRiver rigs did not comply with FCC import regulations. As a result, 828 rigs were seized and are now subject to forfeiture under the following legal provisions:

19 USC 1595a(c)(2)(A), 47 CFR 2.935, 47 USC 510, 47 USC 302a (Communication Interference Devices)
19 USC 1595a(c)(2)(A), 47 CFR 2.935, 47 CFR 15.19, 47 CFR 2.1204 (Other FCC Violations)
19 USC 1595a(c)(2)(B), 47 USC 302a (Failure to Have License, Permit, or Authorization).

🌟 If you are interested in hosting or purchasing ASICs please use this link to see how much more BTC you can mine and less USD to spend. Fill out this survey so we can beat the halving together or email [email protected].

🔆 Join more than 1,000 miners and upgrade your Bitcoin Mining Game here:

GET ONMINE

🏦 Bitcoin Products 🔍

🇺🇸 Ohio introduces HB 116 to block extra crypto taxes, protect self-custody and mining, and assess crypto ETFs for state pensions.

🇺🇸 South Dakota halts HB 1202, stopping state Bitcoin investments.

🇺🇸 State Bitcoin reserve bills failed in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, but Utah and Arizona are pushing ahead with proposals to allocate public funds to Bitcoin.

🇺🇸 Georgia introduces SB 228, a Democrat-backed Bitcoin Reserve bill with no investment limit, challenging the 5% cap in Republican-led SB 178.

🇺🇸 Oklahoma’s House Bill 1203, allowing Bitcoin investments, passed the committee.

🇺🇸 Texas Senate Bill 21 passed the Senate Banking Committee.

🇨🇳 China’s judiciary is ramping up research on crypto cases while enforcing its ban on trading and mining.

🇵🇰 Pakistan’s Finance Ministry is considering a “National Crypto Council” to explore legalizing cryptocurrencies.

🇦🇺 Crypto adoption in Australia hits a record 31% despite challenges.

🇭🇰 HashKey Exchange supports Hong Kong’s “A-S-P-I-Re” roadmap, aiming to boost virtual asset trading and liquidity.

🇯🇵 Japan plans to reclassify digital assets as financial products by mid-2025, increasing regulatory oversight to combat investment scams.

🇸🇻 El Salvador acquired 7 more BTC, bringing its total holdings to 6,088 BTC, valued at around $541M.

The Bitcoin Treasury Index for this week steady reflecting a stable grip on holdings, with 75 companies increasing their trove to precisely 2,983,233.31 BTC. Government also join the bitcoin standard with 7 countries holding 527,259.0 BTC. The value locked in these treasuries for Companies and Government tells a different story swelling to a robust $252.52B and $44.63B, respectively. A total of 14.206% all Bitcoins are held in corporate treasuries, while government holds 2.511 % of all Bitcoins, reinforcing the sentiment of a consolidating market among institutional & Government participants. Source: NewHedge, ONMINE.

💰 Bybit hackers moved 209K+ ETH ($480M) to Bitcoin via ThorChain.

🚀 Bitflow launches automated DCA on Stacks for Bitcoin and Runes tokens.

🎮 Strive CEO Matt Cole urged GameStop to convert its $5B cash into Bitcoin as a new capital strategy.

🛑 The EU sanctioned Moscow-based crypto exchange Garantex for ties to Russian banks and facilitating illicit transactions, following similar actions by the US and UK.

🪙 Metaplanet bought 135 more BTC for $13M, bringing its total holdings to 2,235 BTC and making it a top-15 publicly traded Bitcoin holder.

🇯🇵 Metaplanet issues $13.6M in bonds to buy more Bitcoin, continuing its growing BTC treasury strategy.

💰 Strategy acquires 20,356 BTC for $1.99B, nearing 500K BTC holdings.

🏧 Bitcoin Depot adds 11.1 BTC, raising its treasury to 82.6 BTC.

💵 Bitwise raised $70M from investors like Electric Capital and MassMutual.

🐋 Bitfinex margin longs have surged past 60,000 BTC, up over 13,000 BTC.

🔒 US authorities seized $31M in crypto linked to the 2021 Uranium Finance hack.

🚨 Tether failed to block Swan Bitcoin’s lawsuit in the UK, escalating their mining dispute.

🇧🇷 The Central Bank of Brazil admits its CBDC pilot, Drex, still lacks a suitable privacy solution after testing multiple options.

🇩🇪 Dekabank launches crypto trading and custody services for institutions after securing BaFin approval.

⚖️ Justin Sun and the SEC have paused their lawsuit over Tron for settlement talks, focusing on unregistered securities and alleged wash trading.

🔗 MetaMask to support Bitcoin & Solana with a new UI.

💳 PayPal plans to expand PYUSD stablecoin use for merchant payments, cross-border transactions, and global payouts.

🏦 US crypto “debanking” exposed deep corruption, says Custodia CEO.

📜 US lawmakers push to repeal the DeFi broker rule, calling it burdensome.

🏀 Former NBA Star Pippen urges Bitcoin accumulation, comparing it to scoring early in a game amid BTC’s sharp decline.

🎬 End Notes 🎤

🚨Bitcoin started near $96,384 but tumbled below $90K by Feb. 25, driven by a $1.5B Bybit hack and U.S. tariff concerns. It hit a low of $82,200 before briefly rebounding, only to dip below $80K late on Feb. 27.

Source: Coingecko

🩸 The cryptocurrency market is bleeding on Feb. 28, with the total market capitalization dropping by 6.4% to about $2.65 trillion.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell to $79,752 on February 27, marking a 2.65% drop in the past hour. This decline resulted in $100.01 million in long positions being liquidated, according to CoinGlass data.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index dropped to its lowest level since 2022, signaling widespread extreme fear in the market.

😢 Adding to the turbulence, this February stands as Bitcoin’s worst in nearly 11 years. The last time BTC had such a rough February was in 2014, when it plunged 33.7%. Since then, no other February has been this brutal—until now.

Bitcoin Price History by CryptoRank

What Drove the Crash?

🛡️ Bybit Hack Fallout: Last week’s massive $1.5 billion theft from the Bybit exchange sent shockwaves through the crypto world. The stolen funds, approximately 400,000 ether (ETH), were siphoned off in what’s being called one of the largest crypto heists of 2025. Reports indicate the hack exploited vulnerabilities in Bybit’s hot wallet system, with the stolen ETH quickly moved to decentralized exchanges and mixers. The FBI and blockchain analysts, including Elliptic and Arkham Intelligence, have identified the North Korean Lazarus Group as the culprits. This state-sponsored hacking collective, notorious for stealing over $6 billion in crypto since 2017 to fund North Korea’s ballistic missile program, used sophisticated techniques—masking transaction interfaces and altering smart contract logic—to execute the theft, rattling investor confidence and sparking a broader sell-off.

📉 Macro Pressures: U.S. tariff concerns under the Trump administration, a tech stock sell-off (despite Nvidia’s strong earnings), and fears of tighter Fed policies fueled a risk-off mood.

Nasdaq 100 Chart at 10:10 a.m. ET on Monday, February 24, 2025. Source: Yahoo Finance

Nasdaq 100 chart after the market close on Thursday, February 27, 2025. Source : Yahoo Finance

📊 ETF Outflows: Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US saw their largest single-day outflows since January 2024, with $937.7 million pulled on February 25. This surpassed the previous record of $671 million in December and continued a trend of over $2 billion in outflows during the last six trading days. Fidelity’s FBTC had the biggest redemptions, with $344.7 million, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT with $164.4 million in outflows. Other major funds like Bitwise’s BITB, Grayscale’s Mini Bitcoin Trust, and Franklin Templeton’s EZBC also faced significant withdrawals.

Bitcoin ETF Flows (Source: Farside Investors)

⚖️ In a stunning turn of events, the SEC has begun dropping charges against major crypto players, signaling a potential thaw in its regulatory war on the industry. This week, reports confirmed that Coinbase’s case has been officially dismissed, with actions also dropped for Uniswap, Gemini, Consensys, Robinhood, and OpenSea. The crypto community remains cautiously optimistic—could this be a turning point?

🔮 Despite the chaos, CoinCodex analysts predict a bullish March for Bitcoin, forecasting a 45.66% surge to a potential high of $136,086. With a possible ROI of 54.06%, traders might cash in big as the king coin eyes a new all-time high!

Disclaimer: The forecasts and ROI estimates provided are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always conduct your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. OnMine is not responsible for any losses incurred from using this information.

🤔 Will Bitcoin find its footing or dive further? What’s your strategy—buying, holding, or waiting it out? With market volatility on the rise, many investors are reassessing their positions. Some are capitalizing on the dip, while others are holding off for more clarity. How are you navigating these uncertain times?

🔥 Stay tuned for next week’s update—will Bitcoin make a legendary comeback or take us on another wild ride? Don’t blink!

🤑 Top Tea 🫖

Bybit Wages ‘War’ on North Korean Hackers After $1.4 Billion Ethereum Theft – Decrypt
Bitcoin Miner Bitdeer Stock Drops 20% as ASIC Development Leads to Half a Billion Loss – Decrpyt
SEC Drops Investigation Into Uniswap, Will Not File Enforcement Action – Coindesk
BlackRock’s $2B Mining Holdings, BitFuFu’s $20.4M Buy, BTC Mining’s Economic Impact, and Milei’s Scamcoin – The Mining Pod
Crisis Over? U.S. CBP & Bitcoin ASIC Importation – The Mining Pod
Voltage Aims To Bring Bitcoin’s Lightning Network To Every Business In The World – Bitcoin Magazine
All-in-one crypto wallet simplifies BNB buying, staking and crosschain management –
Cointelegraph
Analysts eye Bitcoin miners’ AI, chip sales ahead of Q4 earnings – Cointelegraph
Crypto sentiment sinks to ‘extreme fear’ as Trump says tariffs still on – Cointelegraph
Bitcoin, crypto ‘dip buy hype’ is now at its highest level in 7 months – Cointelegraph
Bitcoin’s correction may extend to April: Matrixport research – Cointelegraph
From Sony to Bybit: How Lazarus Group became crypto’s supervillain – Cointelegraph
Crypto ETPs see $508M outflow as Bitcoin sell-off continues — CoinShares – Cointelegraph
NYDIG Weekly Research Memecoin Mayhem – NYDIG
Bybit restores Ethereum reserves following $1.4B breach, launches $140M bounty program – CryptoSlate
How Bybit didn’t waste a good crisis – CryptoSlate
US Congressman pushes MEME Act to ban officials potentially profiting from memecoins – CryptoSlate
Since Trump took office, stocks are down and bitcoin has plunged. What’s going on? – CNN
Trump threatens to double tariffs on China and says punishing Mexico and Canada tariffs will go into effect March 4 – CNN
Bitcoin at $84K: Ten Global Events That Could Make or Break Crypto Markets – Bitcoin News
Crypto Fear and Greed Index hits three-year low as sell-off from recent buyers weighs on Bitcoin – FXStreet
Bitcoin Crash: How Low Can BTC Fall In The Current Market Scenario? – Watcher Guru
Bitcoin Struggles to Find Footing After Massive $540 Million Whale Dump – BeinCrypto
Which states are considering ‘Crypto Reserves’?- Protos
Vitalik Buterin Issues Major Reminder Amid $862 Million Crypto Bloodbath – UToday

💉 Dopamine Hit 🕺🏻

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The Download: how people fall for pig butchering schemes, and saving glaciers

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Inside a romance scam compound—and how people get tricked into being there Gavesh’s journey had started, seemingly innocently, with a job ad on Facebook promising work he desperately needed.Instead, he found himself trafficked into a business commonly known as “pig butchering”—a form of fraud in which scammers form romantic or other close relationships with targets online and extract money from them. The Chinese crime syndicates behind the scams have netted billions of dollars, and they have used violence and coercion to force their workers, many of them people trafficked like Gavesh, to carry out the frauds from large compounds, several of which operate openly in the quasi-lawless borderlands of Myanmar. We spoke to Gavesh and five other workers from inside the scam industry, as well as anti-trafficking experts and technology specialists. Their testimony reveals how global companies, including American social media and dating apps and international cryptocurrency and messaging platforms, have given the fraud business the means to become industrialized.
By the same token, it is Big Tech that may hold the key to breaking up the scam syndicates—if only these companies can be persuaded or compelled to act. Read the full story. —Peter Guest & Emily Fishbein
How to save a glacier There’s a lot we don’t understand about how glaciers move and how soon some of the most significant ones could collapse into the sea. That could be a problem, since melting glaciers could lead to multiple feet of sea-level rise this century, potentially displacing millions of people who live and work along the coasts. A new group is aiming not only to further our understanding of glaciers but also to look into options to save them if things move toward a worst-case scenario, as my colleague James Temple outlined in his latest story. One idea: refreezing glaciers in place. The whole thing can sound like science fiction. But once you consider how huge the stakes are, I think it gets easier to understand why some scientists say we should at least be exploring these radical interventions. Read the full story. —Casey Crownhart This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.

MIT Technology Review Narrated: How tracking animal movement may save the planet Researchers have long dreamed of creating an Internet of Animals. And they’re getting closer to monitoring 100,000 creatures—and revealing hidden facets of our shared world. This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Donald Trump has announced 25% tariffs on imported cars and partsThe measures are likely to make new cars significantly more expensive for Americans. (NYT $)+ Moving car manufacturing operations to the US won’t be easy. (WP $)+ It’s not just big businesses that will suffer, either. (The Atlantic $)+ How Trump’s tariffs could drive up the cost of batteries, EVs, and more. (MIT Technology Review) 2 China is developing an AI system to increase its online censorship A leaked dataset demonstrates how LLMs could rapidly filter undesirable material. (TechCrunch)
3 Trump may reduce tariffs on China to encourage a TikTok dealThe Chinese-owned company has until April 5 to find a new US owner. (Insider $)+ The national security concerns surrounding it haven’t gone away, though. (NYT $) 4 OpenAI’s new image generator can ape Studio Ghibli’s distinctive styleWhich raises the question of whether the model was trained on Ghibli’s images. (TechCrunch)+ The tool’s popularity means its rollout to non-paying users has been delayed. (The Verge)+ The AI lab waging a guerrilla war over exploitative AI. (MIT Technology Review)
5 DOGE planned to dismantle USAID from the beginningNew court filings reveal the department’s ambitions to infiltrate the system. (Wired $)+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. (MIT Technology Review) 6 Wildfires are getting worse in the southwest of the USWhile federal fire spending is concentrated mainly in the west, the risk is rising in South Carolina and Texas too. (WP $)+ North and South Carolina were recovering from Hurricane Helene when the fires struck. (The Guardian)+ How AI can help spot wildfires. (MIT Technology Review) 7 A quantum computer has generated—and verified—truly random numbersWhich is good news for cryptographers. (Bloomberg $)+ Cybersecurity analysts are increasingly worried about the so-called Q-Day. (Wired $)+ Amazon’s first quantum computing chip makes its debut. (MIT Technology Review) 8 What’s next for weight-loss drugs 💉Competition is heating up, but will patients be the ones to benefit? (New Scientist $)+ Drugs like Ozempic now make up 5% of prescriptions in the US. (MIT Technology Review) 9 At least we’ve still got memesPoking fun at the Trump administration’s decisions is a form of online resistance. (New Yorker $) 10 Can you truly be friends with a chatbot?People are starting to find out. (Vox)+ The AI relationship revolution is already here. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day “I can’t imagine any professional I know committing this egregious a lapse in judgement.” —A government technology leader tells Fast Company why top Trump officials’ decision to use unclassified messaging app Signal to discuss war plans is so surprising.
The big story Why one developer won’t quit fighting to connect the US’s grids September 2024 Michael Skelly hasn’t learned to take no for an answer. For much of the last 15 years, the energy entrepreneur has worked to develop long-haul transmission lines to carry wind power across the Great Plains, Midwest, and Southwest. But so far, he has little to show for the effort. Skelly has long argued that building such lines and linking together the nation’s grids would accelerate the shift from coal- and natural-gas-fueled power plants to the renewables needed to cut the pollution driving climate change. But his previous business shut down in 2019, after halting two of its projects and selling off interests in three more. Skelly contends he was early, not wrong, and that the market and policymakers are increasingly coming around to his perspective. After all, the US Department of Energy just blessed his latest company’s proposed line with hundreds of millions in grants. Read the full story. —James Temple We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.) + Severance’s Adam Scott sure has interesting taste in music. + While we’re not 100% sure if Millie is definitely the world’s oldest cat, one thing we know for sure is that she lives a life of luxury.+ Hiking trails are covered in beautiful wildflowers right now; just make sure you tread carefully.+ This is a really charming look at how girls live in America right now.

Scaling Hashrate Simplified: The Mining Model That Delivered for BitMine

IntroductionBitMine Immersion Technologies (OTCQX: BMNR), a growing player in the Bitcoin mining industry, faced a very common industry opportunity & challenge: how to bring hashrate online in the best way possible. The complexities of sourcing energy, power infrastructure, site development, running operations, ASIC procurement, software optimization, and hashrate management require a holistic approach and entail many operational risks.An experienced capital allocator, BitMine was familiar with these risks owing to deep experience in similar markets prior to founding the company. However, they were open to support. Enter Soluna and Luxor, two industry leaders partnering to provide a complementary solution. Soluna provided power, infrastructure, and operational expertise. Luxor delivered financing, hedging, procurement, software optimization via LuxOS, and monetization of hashrate via Luxor Pool. Together, they formed a game-changing partnership that addressed BitMine’s needs, setting a new standard for turnkey mining solutions.This case study explores how the collaboration between BitMine, Soluna, and Luxor streamlined deployment, mitigated risk, and unlocked new growth opportunities.BitMine’s Opportunity: Bringing Hashrate Online With Low Operational RiskBitMine had a clear vision: to scale its mining operations efficiently while minimizing risk. However, they knew the pitfalls associated with deployments. This creates vulnerabilities, especially when deals are structured poorly, for example:Power Pricing Pitfalls: Many miners enter long-term hosting agreements with fluctuating rates, or worse, hidden pass-through costs that explode when energy prices spike. Some hosting providers lock clients into contracts that shift all the risk onto the miner.Overpaying for Equipment: Without direct industry relationships, miners may buy hardware at retail prices or from intermediaries with significant mark ups. This happened during the 2021 bull run when desperate new entrants paid $10,000–$15,000 per ASIC, only to watch prices crash to $3,000 during the next bear market.Inefficient Machine Deployment: Delays, customs, DOAs – there are a lot of things that can go wrong in the procurement phase. After the machines have arrived, firmware adjustments, cooling, and heat can affect downtime, all resulting in significantly less hashrate and associated declines in returns. If uptime and efficiency are poor, larger sites can underperform smaller, well-optimized sites.Cash Flow Mismatches: Mining revenue is volatile, fluctuating with network difficulty and Bitcoin price action. Some miners finance their operations with loans assuming steady returns, only to get caught in a bear market where mining rewards drop, electricity bills stay fixed, and debt payments become unmanageable.This is why partnerships with experienced service providers who understand the nuances of power markets, hardware procurement, optimization, and financial hedging are critical. Those who fail to manage these risks effectively often end up selling distressed assets at the bottom of the cycle, exiting the industry with heavy losses, while more sophisticated players continue to scale.The Solution: A Turnkey Approach with Soluna & LuxorRecognizing BitMine’s needs, Soluna and Luxor combined their strengths to offer a comprehensive and predictable end-to-end solution. Soluna: Reliable Infrastructure & Stable PowerBitMine expanded its relationship with Soluna from ~3 MWs at the Project Sophie data center to adding an additional ~10MW at the new Project Dorothy facility. With Soluna currently providing 13MW hosting capacity, this eliminated uncertainty related to fluctuating energy prices and power interruptions, ensuring BitMine had a dedicated, stable source of power.Luxor: Financial, Operational, and Strategic ExpertiseLuxor played a critical role in enabling BitMine’s expansion by leveraging all aspects of its business:Hashrate Forward Contract: Luxor structured a hedging strategy that secured BitMine’s profitability by locking in a fixed hashprice for a 12-month term.Capital & Equipment Financing: Luxor facilitated financing for ASIC machine procurement through a forward hashrate sale, ensuring BitMine could scale without facing capital constraints.Logistics Support: Luxor managed the entire shipping & logistics process to minimize downtime.Fleet Optimization & Management: Luxor firmware was deployed across BitMine’s fleet, unlocking dynamic mining strategies through LuxOS to maximize revenue and efficiency.Why This Model Stands OutThis partnership redefined the traditional mining setup by integrating infrastructure, software & financial services, and operations management into a turnkey solution. By reducing risk across deployment, price volatility, and operational uncertainty, BitMine was able to scale confidently and predictably while focusing on its core business activities.Results: Unlocking More Hashrate, More ASICs, and More EfficiencyThe collaboration between BitMine, Soluna, and Luxor delivered tangible results:Tripled BitMine’s deployed ASIC capacity, significantly boosting its hashrate.Secured long-term power stability, mitigating energy price fluctuations.Locked in hashprice terms, reducing financial exposure to market volatility.Streamlined deployment process, cutting down hardware lead times and ensuring rapid scaling.Enhanced operational efficiency, leveraging LuxOS firmware and running around 10% more efficiently than other miners, leading to improved profitability and lower downtime.This approach provided BitMine with greater financial stability, operational certainty, and a faster growth trajectory, proving the effectiveness of a fully integrated mining solution.Conclusion: The Future of Integrated Mining SolutionsThis partnership between BitMine, Soluna, and Luxor showcases the value of turnkey mining solutions. Each party benefited:BitMine: Gained a complete, risk-mitigated mining solution with price certainty, reliable power, and operational efficiency.Soluna: Secured a long-term customer for its power capacity, reinforcing its role as a leader in sustainable Bitcoin mining.Luxor: Demonstrated the power of its full-service model, proving that its comprehensive approach can drive long-term success for mining companies.As mining economics continue to evolve, integrated win-win-win solutions like this will become increasingly essential. Soluna and Luxor plan to replicate and scale this model, bringing more miners into a stable, profitable framework.For mining companies looking for a reliable, end-to-end solution, this case study validates the effectiveness of strategic partnerships in an industry where efficiency and risk management are critical.Can We Help You?Given the success of this collaboration, Soluna and Luxor are exploring ways to expand this model. If you’re a miner looking for a scalable, turnkey solution, get in touch to learn how this approach can work for you.About BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc.BitMine is a technology company focused on Bitcoin mining using immersion technology, an advanced cooling technique where computers are submerged in specialized oil circulated to keep units operating at optimal ambient temperature. Immersion technology is more environmentally friendly than conventional mining methodologies while lowering operating expenses and increasing yield. BitMine’s operations are located in low-cost energy regions in Trinidad, Pecos, Texas, and Murray, Kentucky.About Soluna Holdings, Inc. (SLNH)Soluna is on a mission to make renewable energy a global superpower, using computing as a catalyst. The company designs, develops, and operates digital infrastructure that transforms surplus renewable energy into global computing resources. Soluna’s pioneering data centers are strategically co-located with wind, solar, or hydroelectric power plants to support high-performance computing applications, including Bitcoin Mining, Generative AI, and other compute-intensive applications. Soluna’s proprietary software MaestroOS(™) helps energize a greener grid while delivering cost-effective and sustainable computing solutions and superior returns. To learn more, visit solunacomputing.com. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @SolunaHoldings. About Luxor Technology CorporationLuxor Technology Corporation is a Bitcoin mining software and services company that offers a suite of products catered toward the mining and compute power industry. Luxor’s suite of software and services includes an open auction ASIC Marketplace, a Bitcoin mining pool, a Hashrate Derivatives Desk, an Antimer ASIC Firmware, and a Bitcoin mining data platform.If you are interested in contacting the Luxor Derivatives Desk, please email [email protected].DisclaimerThis content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, investment, financial, or other advice.