Hut 8 Shuts Down Bitcoin Mining Site Citing Soaring Energy Prices

• The Drumheller mining plant, which accounts for only 1.4% of Hut 8’s Bitcoin (BTC).
• The corporation will be moving all of its Bitcoin miners to its site in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

In Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, Bitcoin miner Hut 8 has decided to shut down operations owing to power outages and soaring energy prices. The notification made on March 6 states that the Drumheller mining plant, which accounts for only 1.4% of Hut 8’s Bitcoin (BTC) but uses around 11% of its hash power, would be shut down immediately.

The corporation will be moving all of its Bitcoin miners to its site in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, immediately. Hut 8 will reportedly keep its lease and the opportunity to re-energize the location if market circumstances improve, as stated by the firm’s personnel.

Various Factors Cited

The industry has remained stagnant due to a number of issues, including rising energy prices, record-high mining difficulty, and the impending Bitcoin halving, which will cut mining earnings in half. 

Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8 stated:

“Following a comprehensive analysis, we have determined that the profitability of Drumheller has been impacted significantly by various factors, including elevated energy costs and underlying voltage issues.”

Power rates in Alberta, Canada, have surged by 1,000% per kilowatt-hour (kWh) since 2017, according to statistics collected by Energyrates.ca. Because of worries about the energy consumption of new cryptocurrency mining plants, the provincial administration has imposed restrictions on these as well.

Hut 8’s revenue for the first nine months of 2023 was CA$ 55,184 ($40,757), a 57% year-over-year decline. This decline was mostly caused by the declining prices of Bitcoin during that period. Hut 8 is now responsible for 1.3% of the total processing power on the Bitcoin network, measured in hash rate.

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