Core Scientific Announces March 2024 Production and Operations Updates

Rhea-AI Summary

Core Scientific, Inc. (CORZ) reported impressive results for March 2024, earning 906 self-mined bitcoin and an estimated 309 customer-earned bitcoin. They deployed 2,500 S21 miners, expanded infrastructure to 745 megawatts, and operated 224,000 owned and hosted bitcoin miners. The total energized hash rate reached 25.6 exahash, with 16 megawatts delivered ahead of schedule for a high-performance computing client.

Insights

Financial Analyst

The recent update from Core Scientific provides several key financial metrics that are pertinent to investors and stakeholders in the cryptocurrency mining industry. The reported increase in self-mined bitcoin to 2,825 for the first quarter, coupled with the 970 bitcoins earned by customers, reflects a substantial operational output. This performance is particularly notable given the anticipated bitcoin 'halving' event, which traditionally impacts mining profitability due to the reward for mining new blocks being cut in half.

Furthermore, the sale of 2,888 bitcoins resulting in approximately $160.8 million in sales proceeds indicates a robust revenue stream. However, one must consider the volatility of bitcoin prices and the potential impact on future revenue. The deployment of 2,500 S21 miners and the expansion of operational infrastructure to 745 megawatts signify an aggressive capital expenditure strategy aimed at increasing the company's mining capabilities. This expansion is a strategic move to bolster hash rate capacity ahead of the halving event.

Investors should monitor the company's ability to manage operational costs associated with such expansions, particularly electricity consumption, which is a significant expense in bitcoin mining. The reported average self-mining fleet efficiency of 26.85 J/TH is an important metric, as it indicates the energy efficiency of the mining equipment. More efficient mining can lead to lower operational costs and potentially higher profit margins.

Energy Market Analyst

Core Scientific's operational update has implications beyond the cryptocurrency market, particularly in the energy sector. The company's ability to reduce power consumption and deliver 6,063 megawatt hours back to local grids is a critical aspect of its operations. This grid support highlights the symbiotic relationship between large-scale mining operations and local energy providers, especially during periods of peak demand.

By engaging in such demand response programs, Core Scientific not only contributes to grid stability but may also benefit from financial incentives offered by utility companies for reducing power usage during peak times. This can be a secondary revenue stream or a cost-saving measure, depending on the structure of the agreements with the utility companies.

The expansion to 745 megawatts of owned operational infrastructure suggests that Core Scientific is becoming a significant power consumer in its operational regions. This level of consumption gives the company a substantial role in the local energy markets, potentially influencing energy prices and availability. It is essential for investors to consider the long-term sustainability of such energy demands, especially in light of increasing scrutiny on the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining operations.

Cryptocurrency Market Analyst

From a cryptocurrency market perspective, Core Scientific's operational achievements indicate a bullish stance on the future of bitcoin mining, despite the forthcoming halving event. Achieving an energized self-mining hash rate of 19.3 exahash and aiming for 21.8 exahash by the end of 2024 demonstrates confidence in the scalability and profitability of their mining operations.

The deployment of new S21 miners is also a strategic move to maintain competitiveness in the network's increasing difficulty. As the hash rate increases, so does the difficulty of mining new bitcoins, which can impact the number of bitcoins mined if the company's hash rate does not keep pace. By upgrading to more efficient mining hardware, Core Scientific is positioning itself to maintain or improve its mining output post-halving.

However, investors should be aware of the inherent risks associated with the cryptocurrency market, such as regulatory changes, market volatility and technological advancements that could render current mining equipment obsolete. These factors can significantly affect the company's future performance and should be taken into account when evaluating its business prospects.

• Earned 906 self-mined bitcoin and our customers earned an estimated 309 bitcoin at our data centers in March for a first quarter total of 2,825 self-mined bitcoin and an estimated 970 customer-earned bitcoin
• Deployed first shipment of approximately 2,500 S21 miners from previously announced order
• Expanded owned operational infrastructure to 745 megawatts
• Operated approximately 224,000 owned and hosted bitcoin miners for a total energized hash rate of 25.6 exahash as of March 31, 2024
• Delivered 16 megawatts of infrastructure for high-performance computing client more than 30 days ahead of schedule

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Core Scientific, Inc. (Nasdaq: CORZ) ("Core Scientific" or “the Company”), a leader in bitcoin mining and application-specific digital infrastructure for emerging high-value compute, today released unaudited production and operations updates for March 2024.

Core Scientific is a leader in bitcoin mining and application-specific digital infrastructure for emerging high-value compute (Graphic: Business Wire)

“In the last full month before the halving, Core Scientific set the pace once again, earning more bitcoin than any other publicly listed miner in North America, and expanding our owned infrastructure to 745 megawatts,” said Adam Sullivan, Core Scientific’s Chief Executive Officer. “We expanded our energized self-mining hash rate in March to 19.3 exahash on our way to achieving our goal of 21.8 exahash by the end of 2024. This hash rate expansion resulted from deploying our first shipment of S21 bitcoin miners while relocating the prior generation miners they replaced to sites where they can operate more efficiently.”

“In support of our high-performance computing client, our Austin team has made outstanding progress by delivering the initial 16MW phase of infrastructure more than 30 days ahead of schedule, paving the way for our client to begin deploying their GPUs,” Mr. Sullivan added. “Across our business, Core Scientific is delivering results as we continue to execute on our plans and create shareholder value.”

Key Metrics Summary (unaudited)

Metric			March 2024			February 2024			January 2024			First Qtr. 2024
Self-Mining Bitcoin Earned1			906			893			1,027			2,825
Hosting Bitcoin Earned by Customers2			309			307			354			970
Average Self-Mined Bitcoin Earned/Day			29.2			30.8			33.1			31.7
Self-Mining Energized Hash rate3			19.3			18.9			18.6			-
Hosting Energized Hash rate4			6.2			6.2			6.2			-
Total Energized Hash rate			25.6			25.1			24.8			-
Bitcoin Sold			981			952			1,114			2,888
Bitcoin Sales Proceeds ($USD)			Appx. $66.3 million			Appx. $46.7 million			Appx. $47.8 million			Appx. $160.8 million
Average Self-Mining Fleet Efficiency (J/TH)5			26.85			26.79			26.44			-

^{___________________________
1} Self-Mining Bitcoin Earned represents bitcoin rewards earned by bitcoin miners owned and operated by Core Scientific
² Hosting Bitcoin Earned represents estimated bitcoin rewards earned by customer-owned miners installed and operated by Core Scientific in our data centers, including bitcoin rewards earned by customers and paid to the Company pursuant to proceeds sharing agreements
³ Self-Mining Energized Hash Rate represents the total rated capacity of all Company-owned bitcoin miners installed and operating in Core Scientific’s data centers
⁴ Hosting Energized Hash Rate represents the total rated capacity of all hosted bitcoin miners owned by customers, installed and operated by Core Scientific in our data centers
⁵ Average Self-Mining Fleet Efficiency (J/TH) represents the weighted average power consumption in Joules per terahash based on the actual efficiency of each model of miner operating in Core Scientific’s owned self-mining fleet

Data Centers

As of month-end, the Company operated approximately 224,000 bitcoin miners in our data centers for both self-mining and hosting, representing a total energized hash rate of 25.6 EH/s at its data centers in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, North Dakota and Texas.

Self-Mining

Core Scientific earned 906 bitcoin in March from its owned fleet of miners. As of month end, the Company operated approximately 173,000 owned bitcoin miners, representing approximately 77% of the bitcoin miners operating in its data centers and a total energized hash rate of 19.3 EH/s.

Hosting Services

In addition to its self-mining fleet, Core Scientific provided data center hosting services, technology and operating support for approximately 51,000 hosted, customer-owned bitcoin miners, representing approximately 23% of the bitcoin miners operating in the Company’s data centers as of March 31, 2024. Customer-owned bitcoin miners earned an estimated 309 bitcoin in March, including bitcoin rewards paid to the Company pursuant to proceeds sharing agreements.

Grid Support

The Company reduced the consumption of power at its data centers on several occasions in March, delivering 6,063 megawatt hours to local grid partners. By supporting the grid in such a fashion, Core Scientific helps grid operators keep power flowing to their customers when temperatures rise and air conditioning use increases, and when temperatures drop and heating use increases. Core Scientific works with utility companies and the communities in which it operates to enhance electrical grid stability.

New Miner Deployments

The Company received and deployed approximately 2,500 new Bitmain S21 miners at the end of March, the first delivery of the 2.5 EH/s order announced previously. The Company expects to receive and deploy the remaining S21s from this order by the end of April 2024. The prior generation miners replaced by the new S21s were relocated to Core Scientific’s Calvert City, KY data center and its Pecos, TX data center, where 21MW of new infrastructure has been energized, increasing the Company’s total owned operational infrastructure to 745 MW.

ABOUT CORE SCIENTIFIC

Core Scientific is one of the largest bitcoin miners and hosting solutions providers for bitcoin mining in North America. Transforming energy into high value compute with superior efficiency at scale, we employ our own large fleet of computers (“miners”) to earn bitcoin for our own account and provide hosting services for large bitcoin mining customers at our seven operational data centers in Georgia (2), Kentucky (1), North Carolina (1), North Dakota (1) and Texas (2). We derive the majority of our revenue from earning bitcoin for our own account (“self-mining”). To learn more, visit www.corescientific.com

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding projections, estimates and forecasts of revenue and other financial and performance metrics, projections of market opportunity and expectations, the Company’s ability to scale and grow its business, source clean and renewable energy, the advantages and expected growth of the Company and the Company’s ability to source and retain talent. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “aim,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. All forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including: our ability to earn digital assets profitably and to attract customers for our hosting capabilities; our ability to maintain our competitive position as digital asset networks experience increases in total network hash rate; our ability to raise additional capital to continue our expansion efforts or other operations; our need for significant electric power and the limited availability of power resources; the potential failure in our critical systems, facilities or services we provide; the physical risks and regulatory changes relating to climate change; potential significant changes to the method of validating blockchain transactions; our vulnerability to physical security breaches, which could disrupt our operations; a potential slowdown in market and economic conditions, particularly those impacting the blockchain industry and the blockchain hosting market; the identification of material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting; price volatility of digital assets and bitcoin in particular; the “halving” of rewards available on the Bitcoin network, or the reduction of rewards on other networks, affecting our ability to generate revenue as our customers may not have an adequate incentive to continue mining and customers may cease mining operations altogether; the potential that insufficient awards from digital asset mining could disincentivize transaction processors from expending processing power on a particular network, which could negatively impact the utility of the network and further reduce the value of its digital assets; the requirements of our existing debt agreements for us to sell our digital assets earned from mining as they are received, preventing us from recognizing any gain from appreciation in the value of the digital assets we hold; potential changes in the interpretive positions of the SEC or its staff with respect to digital asset mining firms; the increasing likelihood that U.S. federal and state legislatures and regulatory agencies will enact laws and regulations to regulate digital assets and digital asset intermediaries; increasing scrutiny and changing expectations with respect to our ESG policies; the effectiveness of our compliance and risk management methods; the adequacy of our sources of recovery if the digital assets held by us are lost, stolen or destroyed due to third-party digital asset services; the effects of our emergence from bankruptcy on our financial results, business and business relationships; and our substantial level of indebtedness and our current liquidity constraints affecting our financial condition and ability to service our indebtedness. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates and beliefs as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.

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Source: Core Scientific, Inc.

FAQ

How many self-mined bitcoin did Core Scientific earn in March 2024?

Core Scientific earned 906 self-mined bitcoin in March 2024.

How many S21 miners did Core Scientific deploy in March 2024?

Core Scientific deployed approximately 2,500 S21 miners in March 2024.

What was the total energized hash rate for Core Scientific's data centers in March 2024?

The total energized hash rate for Core Scientific's data centers in March 2024 was 25.6 exahash.

How many megawatts of infrastructure were delivered ahead of schedule for a high-performance computing client?

Core Scientific delivered 16 megawatts of infrastructure ahead of schedule for a high-performance computing client.

How many owned and hosted bitcoin miners did Core Scientific operate in March 2024?

Core Scientific operated approximately 224,000 owned and hosted bitcoin miners in March 2024.