🛑US Customs Attempt at Killing the Bitcoin Mining Industry but Wall Street is buying Dips; Bitcoin ETF-Boom and Gold-Sweats!

👀 TLDR 🪟

The Wall Street Boys are making waves as Bitcoin outpaces gold; U.S. ETFs top $750B; Jane Street buys 6% of Iris Energy; LN Energy’s permit denied; MARA acquires wind farm; Canaan mines 88 BTC and launches new models; Institutional investors dominate Bitcoin mining.
Metaplanet buys 2,100 BTC; Quantum BioPharma adds $1M, totaling $2M; Semler’s BTC up $28.85M, boosting Q4 income; JPMorgan puts $984K in Bitcoin ETFs; Strategy seeks $2B in notes; 12 states hold $330M in Strategy stock; Bitcoin Pepe raises $2.8M in 10 days.
India seizes $190M in Bitconnect crypto; UAE crypto app downloads rise 41%; Hong Kong unveils crypto roadmap; Nigeria plans crypto tax, sues Binance; Betashares launches Bitcoin ETF;LayerZero integrates Rootstock for Bitcoin; Nasdaq modifies Bitcoin index options; ESMA proposes MiCA guidelines; Binance under French investigation; Binance co-founder denies sale rumors.
Saylor suggests US buy 20% of Bitcoin; SEC creates CETU for fraud; SEC drops appeal on broker-dealer rules;SEC drops case vs Coinbase; US seizes millions over fraud
Microsoft’s chip boosts Bitcoin resistance; Franklin Templeton launches BTC-ETH ETF
Trump vows to end Biden’s crypto war and make the US crypto capital; U.S. task force to focus on Bitcoin reserve; Montana and Utah advance Bitcoin reserve bills; Czech National Bank supports Bitcoin study; Riot’s VP backs Texas reserve.
1 BTC, 93% surge—HK Asia Holdings on fire; Dorsey-Satoshi link?
Amid the surge in customs delays, could the U.S. Bitcoin mining sector hit a wall?”

For this week’s Hash & Cash Index, BTC price increases to $99,172, marking a slight 2.44% up from last week. Market cap stays as above the $1T, settling at $ 1.833B (2.23% WoW). Hashprice sit at $55.18 USD/PH/day, a 2.62% increase. The global hashrate dropped 1.59%, settling at 811.80 EH/s. The current epoch’s difficulty remains at 114.17 T. We’re at block 1709 of 2016 for this epoch. Block rewards average 3.17 BTC per block, reflecting a 0.32% change from the previous block. Fees in blocks settles to 1.34% showing an increase of 15.52%. The average block time has increased to 10 minutes and 14 seconds. Source: Hashrate Index, Mempool, ONMINE.

🪄 Pool Power Tools 🎱

This week’s Pool reward index settles to 97.42%, a decrease from last week 3.73% with 19 active pools chipping away 982 blocks. The total miner reward over the last 144 blocks contracted to 456.05 BTC up 0.18% from last week, the dollar valuation of this rewards increased to $45M (2.47% WoW). Average block fees are equal to 0.0420BTC/block up 15.38% Wow and estimated to be $4,158 per block. Transaction fee per Network transaction equate to 1.11k sats per transaction, costing around $1.09 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 229.51 EH/S, clinching 283 blocks. ANTPOOL continues to challenge, harvesting 192 blocks with 155.71 EH/S. F2Pool and ViaBTC are neck and neck in the hashrate hustle, grabbing 118 and 153 blocks, respectively. Luxor staying in the top ranks, with a hashrate of 24.33 EH/S and manages to secure 30 blocks over the last week. Source: Mempool, ONMINE.

🧰 Hard-Ware & Hosting Index ⚙

💼 Jane Street acquired a 6% stake in Iris Energy, which mined 521 BTC in January with a hashrate of 28.93 EH/s.

🚫 LN Energy’s Bitcoin mining permit was rejected in Pierce County, Georgia, due to resident concerns over noise, energy consumption, and property values.

⚡ MARA Holdings acquired a Texas wind farm to power bitcoin mining and cut costs.

🚀 Canaan mined 88 BTC, reached 6.43 EH/s, and launched Mini 3 & Nano 3S at CES for pre-order.

🛠️ Bitcoin hashrate growth slows as market pressures smaller miners, with revenue steady at $1.4B in January while public firms control 30% of hashrate and top miners like Marathon, CleanSpark, and Riot tighten competition.

🚀 Institutional investors dominate Bitcoin mining, with Blackrock, Vanguard, and Fidelity holding major stakes in 15 firms. Core Scientific (CORZ) leads with 90% institutional ownership, followed by Applied Digital (APLD), Marathon Digital (MARA), and Riot Platforms (RIOT). Tether owns 39.29% of Northern Data AG (NB2), highlighting corporate influence. Cleanspark (CLSK), Terawulf (WULF), Bitfarms (BITF), Galaxy Digital (GLXY), Iris Energy (IREN), and Cipher Mining (CIFR) see rising Wall Street control. Bitdeer (BTDR), Hut 8 (HUT), Bitfufu (FUFU), and Cango (CANG) complete the list, raising concerns about decentralization.

🇺🇸 The Bitcoin mining industry has created over 31,000 jobs in the US, generating $4.1 billion annually and supporting local energy infrastructure.

The annual economic benefits of Bitcoin mining. Source: Texas Blockchain Council

🚨 Seizure Alert: U.S. CBP has been seizing Bitmain’s Antminer S21 & T21 models—and now even targeting other brands like MicroBT and Canaan—for lacking proper FCC certification.

⚖️ Regulatory Rationale: The seizures stem from violations of 19 U.S.C. §1595a(c)(2)(A), as CBP claims the miners have unauthorized radio-frequency components that could interfere with critical communications.

💡 Action Steps: Miners should double-check their equipment for FCC compliance and explore legal and logistical strategies to secure smooth imports amid this crackdown.

👉 For a deeper dive and additional insights, check out the end notes and for help with US ASIC procurement contact [email protected] and let them know that Ducky from The Paper News sent you!

🌟 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:

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🏦 Bitcoin Products 🔍

📢 Trump says he ended Biden’s war on crypto and vows to make the US the crypto capital.

🇺🇸 U.S. crypto task force will focus on starting up a national Bitcoin reserve, possibly funded by gold sales or debt.

🇺🇸 Montana advances Bitcoin reserve bill, becoming the fourth US state to do so.

🇺🇸 Utah’s H.B. 230 bill moves forward, allowing Bitcoin investment if enacted by May 2025.

🇨🇿 Czech National Bank’s governor says Bitcoin should be studied, not feared, as a test portfolio is considered.

🇮🇳 Indian authorities seized nearly $190 million in crypto and other assets linked to Bitconnect’s $2.4 billion Ponzi scheme.

🇦🇪 UAE crypto app downloads jumped 41% in 2024, hitting 15 million amid growing adoption.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong’s SFC unveils the ASPIRe roadmap to strengthen crypto regulations and innovation.

🇳🇬 Nigeria plans to tax crypto transactions by amending digital asset regulations.

🇳🇬 Nigeria sues Binance for $81.5 billion over economic losses and unpaid taxes.

🇦🇺 AUSTRAC cracked down on 13 crypto firms, denying six renewals and warning 50 others over compliance failures.

🇦🇺 Betashares launches QBTC, Australia’s first spot Bitcoin ETF, linked to Bitwise’s BITB.

⭐ Bitcoin Pepe (BPEP) raises $2.8M in 10 days, exceeding expectations.

🗣️ Saylor says the US should buy 20% of Bitcoin to strengthen the dollar and pay off debt.

🚨 The SEC created a new unit, CETU, to tackle fraud in crypto and AI.

🚨 SEC dropped its appeal on crypto broker-dealer rules, marking a win for the industry.

💥 SEC drops lawsuit against Coinbase, a big win for the exchange.

🏦 JPMorgan ups its Bitcoin ETF stake to $984,000.

💰 Millennium Management disclosed $2.6B in Bitcoin ETFs.

💼 PlanB moved all his Bitcoin from self-custody into spot Bitcoin ETFs.

🇯🇵 Metaplanet made its first 2025 purchase,later adding 68.59 BTC on Thursday, totaling 2,100 BTC (0.01% of supply).

🇨🇦 Quantum BioPharma has purchased an additional $1M in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, bringing its total to $2M.

📈 Semler Scientific’s BTC value rose by $28.85M under fair value accounting, boosting Q4 net income to $29.2M or $3.64 per share.

📈 Strategy seeks $2B in 0% senior convertible notes to buy more Bitcoin.

🚀 Robinhood plans to launch crypto products in Singapore after completing its $200M Bitstamp acquisition.

💳 Mastercard advances crypto adoption with secure transfers, stablecoins, and tokenization focus for 2025.

📝 Nasdaq files to modify listing rules for Bitcoin index options.

💰 Bitwise donates $150K, 10% of BITB ETF profits, to Bitcoin developers via Brink, OpenSats, and HRF.

⚠️ Muneeb Ali warns most Bitcoin L2s will fade within three years as Bitcoin gains dominance.

📈 BitGo CEO says crypto firms must go public to gain Wall Street’s trust, hinting at an IPO.

🇪🇺 ESMA proposes MiCA guidelines on crypto staff competence.

🚫 Binance’s co-founder denied sale rumors as France investigates and the US SEC pauses its case.

The Bitcoin Treasury Index for this week steady reflecting a stable grip on holdings, with 75 companies increasing their trove to precisely 2,962,867.31 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 $29131B and $51.84B, respectively. A total of 14.109% 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.

🚔 US seizes millions in crypto from Binance, linking it to a global fraud scheme.

🇦🇪 Mantra Finance secured a Dubai VASP license, expanding its DeFi and RWA services for institutional investors in the UAE and MENA region.

🌆 Wintermute is opening a New York office to expand its OTC and derivatives trading.

💼 BitGo launches global OTC trading desk for 250+ digital assets.

🏦 Onramp and Arch launch bitcoin-backed loans for BTC holders.

🔗 LayerZero integrates with Rootstock to connect Bitcoin cross-chain.

🤠 Riot’s VP backed a Texas Bitcoin reserve as a hedge against downturns.

🧑‍💻 Microsoft’s quantum chip fuels Bitcoin’s push for quantum resistance with BIP-360.

🚀 Franklin Templeton’s BTC-ETH ETF (EZPZ) debuts on Cboe with an 82/18 BTC-ETH split.

🔥 Acre secures $4M at a $90M valuation to boost Bitcoin staking.

🎬 End Notes 🎤

🇭🇰 One Bitcoin, a 93% stock surge! HK Asia Holdings bought just 1 BTC for $96,150—and their shares nearly doubled overnight. Talk about high returns!

Shares in HK Asia started trading around 40 cents on Monday before nearly doubling by the end of the trading day. Source: Google Finance

📈 Whales are making moves! Bitcoin long positions on Bitfinex skyrocketed to $5.1B, fueling excitement for a potential bull run.

🕵️ A wild new theory ties Jack Dorsey to Satoshi, pointing to Bitcoin’s first and last mined blocks landing on his parents’ birthdays. Coincidence or crypto destiny?

Source: Seán Murray

Chapters of Murray’s claims to tie Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity to Jack Dorsey. Source: deCashed

🏛️12 US states hold $330M in Strategy stock, with California leading at $150M in state retirement funds.

California’s teacher retirement fund holds 285,785 shares of Michael Saylor’s firm, worth around $83 million as of Feb. 14. Source: SEC

Florida’s retirement fund holds 160,470 Strategy shares worth $46 million, while Wisconsin’s investment board holds 100,957 shares worth $29 million. North Carolina’s treasurer has $22 million in MSTR, and New Jersey’s pension funds hold $26 million combined. Source: Julian Fahrer

📉 Bitcoin’s four-year CAGR just hit a record low of 14.45%—the slowest ride in BTC history!

Bitcoin CAGR (Source: X/Mark Harvey)

Despite the drop, Bitcoin still outperforms gold, stocks, and the dollar, which range from 4% to 13%. Source: Checkonchain

Despite outperforming traditional assets, Bitcoin’s CAGR lags behind Solana (118%), XRP (49%), and even Ethereum (8%). Source: Checkonchain

⚠️ Bitcoin (BTC) rebounds to $93K after Tuesday’s dip, but downside pressure remains, risking a pullback to $86K. Demand has plunged from 279K BTC in December to 70K, while ETF inflows have flipped from 18K daily buys to net outflows.

The latest data showed that U.S. Bitcoin ETFs, which saw purchases of over 18,000 BTC in early November, were now recording net outflows, with a drop of -1,000 BTC. Source: CryptoQuant

🟡 Bitcoin ETFs are stealing the spotlight while gold, despite soaring 45% in the past year, struggles to attract any inflows.

🏦 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have soared past $750B in trading volume within a year, challenging giants like VOO and QQQ!

BlackRock’s IBIT remains the leader in the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market by trading volume. Since its launch, IBIT has increased its market share from approximately 25% to over 75% as of February 20, surpassing Grayscale’s GBTC, which initially held an advantage.

🔻 Massive Miner Seizures – Since late 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been detaining and seizing Bitmain Antminer shipments at ports nationwide. Some reports estimate hundreds to thousands of units, worth millions of dollars, stuck in customs limbo.

⚖️ Regulatory Crackdown – CBP cites FCC violations as the reason, claiming the mining rigs lack proper radio-frequency certification or contain unauthorized communication devices.

🚨 Widening Scope – Initially targeting Bitmain S21 and T21 models, CBP has expanded enforcement to include other ASIC brands like MicroBT and Canaan.

💰 Collateral Damage in the Trade War? – Reports suggest this crackdown is tied to U.S.-China tensions, particularly trade restrictions on Chinese AI chips. Bitmain’s control boards may use Sophgo chips, linked to Huawei and flagged by U.S. authorities.

🛑 Import Blockade Intensifies – Affected miners face warehouse storage fees exceeding $200K due to delays. Some industry leaders claim every major ASIC manufacturer from Asia is now facing import challenges.

🔄 Legal Loopholes & Workarounds – Companies are exploring options like:

✅ FCC Certification – Ensuring all miners have proper compliance documents.

🚢 Alternative Ports & Routes – Shipping to different entry points to avoid flagged locations.

📉 Smaller Batch Shipments – Splitting orders into smaller lots to reduce seizure risk.

🏭 Local Assembly – Companies are considering U.S.-based production lines to bypass import holds entirely.

⚖️ Fighting Back – Lawsuits Incoming? – Some mining firms are now lawyering up and considering legal action against the government, claiming unjustified seizures and regulatory overreach.

🏛 Political Pressure Mounting – Trade groups and lawmakers are being lobbied to intervene, as this disrupts U.S. Bitcoin mining operations and raises broader concerns about government overreach in crypto-related industries.

📉 Impact on U.S. Bitcoin Mining – Delayed hardware deliveries threaten hashrate expansion plans, while miners scramble for alternative sourcing solutions to keep operations running.

🔥 Will this escalate into a full-scale legal battle or will CBP ease restrictions? The Bitcoin mining industry is watching closely.

🤑 Top Tea 🫖

12 US states hold a total of $330M stake in Saylor’s Strategy: Analyst – Cointelegraph

Texas Bitcoin reserve hearing ‘symbolic move’ for crypto — Analyst – Cointelegraph
Timeline: Trump’s first 30 days bring remarkable change for crypto – Cointelegraph
SEC acknowledges slew of crypto ETF filings as reviews, approvals accelerate – Cointelegraph
Ross Ulbricht calls for ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver to be freed next – Cointelegraph
Muted demand for long-dated US Treasurys raises alarm — Is Bitcoin at risk? – Cointelegraph
Libra founder: Memecoin critics only ‘bitch’ when left out of insider deals – Cointelegraph
Trump underscores commitment to make US the ‘crypto capital’ – The Block
Bitcoin edges higher as investors digest Fed’s inflation concerns – The Block
XRP outperforms Bitcoin and Ethereum following news of Brazilian ETF approval – CryptoSlate
Bitcoin must hold $92.5k amid accumulation phase reminiscent of May 2021- CryptoSlate
Bitcoin open interest falls $10 billion with $100 million in leverage supporting $93k – CryptoSlate
US Bitcoin miners pivot to AI and HPC amid fee revenue uncertainty – VanEck – CryptoSlate
Core Scientific Plans to Acquire Alabama Data Center for HPC Expansion – The Miner Mag
The Pure Play Bitcoin Mining Playbook – The Mining Pod
Bitcoin Mining in East Africa – The Mining Pod
Argentina’s opposition threatens impeachment trial after Milei touts crypto coin – Reuters
LIBRA Memecoin Fiasco Destroyed $251M in Investor Wealth, Research Shows – Coindesk
European Central Bank to Work on Settlement System for Distributed-Ledger Transactions – Coindesk
Pro-Bitcoin Howard Lutnick confirmed as US Secretary of Commerce – Crypto Briefing
Kash Patel Takes Over as FBI Director And He’s a Bitcoiner – The Crypto Times
Stock market today: S&P 500 pops to another record while Dow, Nasdaq rise with tariffs, Fed minutes in focus – Yahoo Finance
Binance Teams up With Hong Kong Law Enforcement to Fight Digital Asset Threats – Bitcoin News
Bitcoin Tests $97.5K Even as Market Momentum Stalls – Bitcoin News
Anthony Scaramucci Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach $200,000 in 2025 – Bitcoin News

💉 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.