China dominates Bitcoin mining, but U.S companies are catching up. Today, Riot Blockchain Inc has announced its acquisition of Whinstone US Inc’s in order to create one of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the U.S.
In a press release issued today, RIOT stated that its purchase of Whinstone Inc cost it $651 million, paying $80 million of it in cash while the balance was paid in 11.8 million of its common stock.
This is huge considering how extensive Whinstone’s mining operations are in the U.S. Whinstone operates a 300 MW mining facility in the U.S. and has long-term power purchase agreements.
Through this acquisition, RIOT hopes to have a more diversified revenue stream while also raising its importance in the Bitcoin mining space. The buyout will also give the company financial leverage to grow in the long run. It also expects this buyout to help it de-risk while expanding Whinstone’s facility by an extra 450 MW.
Commenting on the deal, RIOT CEO Jason Lee stated that this is a big deal that would make his company industry leader in the U.S Bitcoin mining industry. He added that once the deal is finalized, they will have a path to major growth going into the future.
Lee mentioned that the new partnership allows the company to mine Bitcoin at lower costs while leveraging on one of the best developer teams in the crypto space. On his part, Whinstone Co-founder Chad Harris stated that they were happy to join the RIOT team while adding that the two crypto companies had a lot in common.
