It may be hard to imagine, but the creation of Bitcoin in 2009 actually laid the foundation for an entire new industry -- Bitcoin mining. In the 14 years that Bitcoin has been in existence, a slew of companies have decided to base their entire business model on the cryptocurrency, and some have even decided to go public.
Today, there are around 17 different companies that investors can choose from, but deciding which company is worthy of your investment requires a little more research. However, when we do some digging, there is one clear-cut Bitcoin miner deserving of an investment today -- Riot Platforms (RIOT +1.02%).
1. Production
Simply put, Riot is one of the top-producing Bitcoin miners. Since the beginning of 2022, the company has mined the second most Bitcoins in the industry with more than 8,200. This production is likely a reflection of its massive facilities in West Texas that are continuing to grow and bring miners online by the year.
There's also the efficiency and power with which Riot miners operate. Riot boasts the third-highest hash rate of all public mining companies. Measured in exahashes per second (EH/s), hash rate is essentially a statistic that helps quantify mining power. The higher the hash rate, the greater the ability to mine Bitcoin.
2. Extremely efficient with low costs
You may have noticed that Riot was consistently in the top three of the statistics previously discussed, but it wasn't No. 1.
However, CoreScientific (OTC: CORZ), the company with the most bitcoins produced since 2022 and the highest hash rate, sold just about all of its bitcoins to stay afloat. In fact, the majority of mining companies in 2022 not only sold off the majority of Bitcoins mined, but even dipped into reserves just to keep operations going.
However, unlike the rest of the crowd, Riot was able to actually add bitcoins to its reserves while also keeping costs low. Riot is extremely efficient at mining, and its ability to continue to add bitcoins to its reserves in a tough market deserves recognition.
Expanding on those low costs, the company spent on average around $17,900 per bitcoin mined -- the second lowest of all mining companies. Along with the benefits of efficiency and low costs, Riot also has a debt-free balance sheet, a feat the majority of its competitors fail to accomplish.
Furthermore, Riot has a competitive advantage over some of its peers. Because its operations are based in Texas, Riot can benefit from a flexible energy grid.
It can be a little complex to understand, but essentially, when demand for energy is high, like it is during a heat wave, Riot can sell energy back to the grid for a higher profit than would have come out of dedicating resources to mining Bitcoin. When the same situation occurs in other states, miners are left with no option but to keep on mining while energy costs skyrocket, thus making it more difficult to realize profits.
Thanks to this unique business model, Riot was able to generate more than $27 million in power credits through voluntary power curtailments throughout the year.
3. A promising future
While the crypto winter of 2022 presented challenges for Riot, there were still some significant accomplishments made. Thanks to expansion of its Rockdale facility, Riot actually notched a new all-time high hash rate. Surprisingly, it was able to accomplish this while two of its buildings had to shut down due to severe winter storms.
Now that 2022 and the woes of the Bitcoin bear market look to be in the rear-view mirror, Riot is gearing up for a potentially lucrative future. The company's Rockdale facility is still expanding, with an additional building set to be brought online soon. Progress continues to be made at the recently purchased Corsicana facility, which is expected to be energized by the end of the year.
Once fully operational, Riot expects to reach a hash rate of more than 12.5 EH/s, a significant jump from its current 7.9 EH/s.
NASDAQ: RIOT
Key Data Points
The opportunity at hand
While Riot may not be a leader in any one specific metric, it's difficult to ignore the company's well-rounded resume. It consistently has one of the highest rates of bitcoin production, on an extremely low-cost basis. When taking into account that the company is still expanding operations, it seems that Riot is in a position to gain even more market share by the end of the year.
It might be difficult to buy a stock after it has climbed more than 200% in the last five months, but Riot has the credentials to provide profits for the long haul. With its price still down more than 85% from its all-time high and the prospects of a Bitcoin bull market looming, consider me a buyer today.
