revenues – Earlybirds Invest

Bitcoin production climbs

Riot produced 1,530 BTC in the first quarter, compared to 1,364 BTC during the same period last year. However, the cost to mine 1 Bitcoin, excluding depreciation, surged 90% year-over-year to $43,808.

The increase was driven primarily by the April 2024 halving of the Bitcoin block subsidy and a 41% increase in the global network hash rate. Meanwhile, Riot’s total cost to mine each Bitcoin, including depreciation, reached $81,109, nearly 87% of the production value.

Bitcoin mining revenue totaled $142.9 million in the first quarter, compared to $71.4 million in the prior-year period. Riot’s average production value per Bitcoin was approximately $93,385, a sharp rise from $52,343 in the first quarter of 2024.

Engineering revenue also showed strong growth, rising to $13.9 million from $4.7 million in the prior year. The increase was driven in part by the acquisition of E4A Solutions, an engineering and fabrication firm brought into Riot’s ecosystem in December 2024.

At the end of the quarter, the company held 19,223 unencumbered Bitcoin, valued at $1.6 billion based on a market price of $82,534 per coin as of March 31. The firm also held $163.7 million in unrestricted cash and a total of $310.3 million in working capital.

Rhodium settlement

In April, Riot acquired Rhodium Enterprises’ hosted mining operations and physical infrastructure at the Rockdale Facility, resolving ongoing litigation and reclaiming 125 megawatts of contracted power for its own use.

The company said the settlement eliminates about $15 million in annual losses associated with Rhodium’s legacy hosting contract and related legal expenses.

Riot CEO Jason Les said:

“This settlement allows us to fully control the Rockdale site’s capacity and immediately improves the financial efficiency of our operations.”

Riot said it is also making significant headway in transitioning the Corsicana Facility into a future AI and high-performance computing (HPC) hub. A feasibility study conducted in March by consultancy Altman Solon concluded that the site’s size, location, and infrastructure make it well-suited for data center tenants.

To that end, Riot is expanding utility connectivity with new fiber lines, increasing water access, and continuing construction on a new substation that will support up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of total power capacity by early 2026.

Riot operates mining facilities in Texas and Kentucky and maintains electrical engineering and fabrication operations in Denver and Houston. The company said it remains focused on becoming the world’s leading Bitcoin-driven infrastructure platform.

Mentioned in this article

Bitcoin miner revenues have compressed sharply since the April 2024 halving.

Transaction fees currently contribute around 1.48% of block rewards, near the lowest share since 2023.

The decline highlights a growing reliance on subsidy income, which dropped to 3.125 BTC per block following the halving.

Bitcoin fees as percentage of block subsidy (Source: Bitbo)

Hashprice has also remained stagnant.

At $48.9 per PH/s/day in late April, miner revenue failed to track Bitcoin’s spot price near $95,000. This dynamic has left power-hungry mining rigs operating at a loss. Units running between 25-38 J/TH earned about $0.06 per kWh, falling short of grid costs estimated at $0.08.

Fee spikes from Ordinals and Runes activity proved temporary. Despite surging to $127 per transaction during Runes’ April 2024 launch, average fees have since collapsed below $2.

The fading blockspace demand raises concerns about the sustainability of transaction-driven miner income. While 650 million users now have indirect access to Lightning Network channels, off-chain transactions have not materially boosted block rewards.

Developers are watching OP_CAT and CTV soft-fork proposals as potential catalysts. Galaxy Research expects consensus by 2025, though activation timelines remain uncertain.

Stress scenarios highlight miner vulnerability. With Bitcoin priced at $96,000 and fee income at 1%, nearly 35% of the network could face negative cash flow at standard electricity rates.

CryptoSlate modeling using Luxor hashprice and Coin Metrics ASIC-mix data shows that at an $85k BTC price and fees stuck at 1 % of the block reward, roughly a third of installed hashpower would operate below cash-flow breakeven at $0.08 /kWh.

At $96k, Bitcoin’s price rally shaves the pain, but one in five hashes is still unprofitable if the fee share stays pinned at 1 %. The subsidy alone can’t keep mid-gen rigs humming on $0.08 power for long, highlighting just how fee-sensitive post-halving miner margins have become.

Older ASICs could pause first, driving fleet upgrades and testing Bitcoin’s decentralization. Without stronger fee markets or new demand cycles, the post-halving environment is tightening margins industry-wide.