Iris Energy to Spend $19.6 Million on Purchase of 7,000 Bitcoin Miners

Australian mining company Iris Energy will increase Bitcoin mining capacity from 5.6 EH/s to 7 EH/s — by 25% — after purchasing new miners from Bitmain.

The firm has entered into an agreement with the Chinese manufacturer to procure 7,000 Antminer S21 units of the latest generation for $19.6 million. Delivery is expected in early 2024.

Before shipment, Iris Energy will pay an upfront of $16.7 million, with the remaining $2.9 million due under a one-year deferment.

The miners will cost the company $14 per TH/s. According to Hashrate Index, market quotes for devices with energy efficiency under 25 J/TH stood at $15.95 per TH/s at the time of writing.

According to the statement, the Antminer S21 delivers an energy efficiency of 17.5 J/TH, the best in the industry.

The company plans to deploy the miners at its own facility in Childress, Texas. The data center is undergoing upgrades aimed at increasing its capacity from the current 20 MW to 80 MW.

In the short term, Iris Energy aims to raise the hash rate of a single site to 9.7 EH/s. In the long term, the figure is expected to reach 30 EH/s.

The batch of Antminer S21 will raise Iris Energy’s hash rate by 1.4 EH/s. The firm also intends to obtain Antminer S19 XP devices from Bitmain.

The purchase will be financed from cash reserves (about $64 million), operating income, and, if necessary, by tapping open credit lines.

Earlier in August, the firm invested $10 million in Nvidia’s latest-generation GPUs for generative AI and mining.