Marathon Digital, a major Bitcoin miner in the U.S., had to halt three-fourths of its mining operations in Montana due to power outages caused by a storm, reinforcing an earlier decision to move out of the region.
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Fast facts
- The Nasdaq-listed company on Tuesday said that its rigs may only have sufficient power to come back online at a reduced capacity only as early as the first week of July.
- Before the storm hit on June 11, Marathon had deployed 30,000 mining rigs in Montana, or a little over 75% of its active infrastructure.
- The miner’s Bitcoin production is expected to be significantly hit as a result. Marathon produced 268 self-mined Bitcoin in May, increasing its holdings of the crypto to 9,941 as of June 1.
- Marathon announced in April that it was getting ready to move its mining operations in the third-quarter from Montana to other regions that come with more sustainable sources of power.
- U.S. power companies are facing supply crunches due to extreme weather events, while consumer power use is expected to hit a record high this summer, according to Reuters.
- Marathon shares fell 9.8% to close at US$5.80 in overnight trading on Wednesday.
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