U3S21EXPH to be first ASIC miner mass-commercialized by BITMAIN with direct liquid-to-chip cooling within U form factor

Hut 8 plans to deploy model in Q2 2025 through ~15 EH/s hosting deployment with potential transition to self-mining through purchase option

MIAMI, Sept. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hut 8 Corp. (Nasdaq | TSX: HUT) (“Hut 8” or the “Company”), a leading, vertically integrated operator of large-scale energy infrastructure and one of North America’s largest Bitcoin miners, today announced the expansion of its partnership with BITMAIN Technologies Ltd. (“BITMAIN”), the world’s largest manufacturer of digital currency mining servers, with the launch of the U3S21EXPH, a next-generation ASIC miner. Hut 8 plans to deploy the model in Q2 2025 through a ~15 exahash per second (“EH/s”) hosting agreement leveraging custom data center infrastructure developed in-house by Hut 8.

As part of its long-term, power-first strategy, Hut 8 continues to scale its compute layer across energy-intensive technologies, including both Bitcoin mining and AI compute, with the aim of maximizing returns on its portfolio of power assets and digital infrastructure. The launch and commercialization of the U3S21EXPH is a key milestone in executing this strategy in the Company’s Bitcoin mining segment as it advances scaled opportunities in AI compute.

Revolutionizing ASIC Compute: U3S21EXPH

The U3S21EXPH will be the first ASIC miner mass-commercialized by BITMAIN to feature direct liquid-to-chip (“DLC”) cooling within a U form factor. Capable of achieving up to 860 terahash at an efficiency of 13 joules per terahash, the model represents the culmination of an extensive miner-manufacturer partnership between Hut 8 and BITMAIN. Under the partnership, which spans technical and commercial innovation, Hut 8 supported BITMAIN in the development of the miner.

Key advancements:

• Technology: Introduces DLC cooling technology used in high-performance computing (“HPC”) data centers to a rack-ready form factor for Bitcoin mining
• Engineering: Evolution from “shoebox” ASIC form factor incompatible with traditional data center rack architecture to “U” form factor compatible with HPC-style architecture that can be deployed at densities of up to ~180 kilowatts (“kW”) per rack
• Procurement: Strong overlap in secondary components with HPC data centers, including racks and cooling systems required for DLC technology, driving the opportunity for greater supply chain synchronization across Bitcoin mining and HPC data centers
• Construction: Opportunity to apply construction expertise and capabilities across Bitcoin mining and HPC data centers

To fully harness the potential of the U3S21EXPH, Hut 8 has developed a custom design for Bitcoin mining data center infrastructure inspired by traditional rack-based architecture. This design will be leveraged to house the initial ~15 EH/s deployment at a density of up to ~180 kW per rack.

“Our partnership with BITMAIN has allowed us to advance our thinking on ASIC compute and create a more scalable model for data center design as we expand our footprint," said Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8. “The U3S21EXPH will be the first miner from BITMAIN broadly commercialized with DLC cooling within a U form factor, making it rack-ready like traditional data center hardware. This innovation bridges critical engineering gaps between Bitcoin mining and AI data center infrastructure in both form factor and cooling technology, and we believe this convergence will enable us to unlock significant synergies and flexibility going forward.”

“Asher and Mike have been invaluable thought partners to BITMAIN since the early days of US Bitcoin Corp, where they demonstrated a unique focus on cost-efficient procurement and operations,” said Irene Gao, Vice President of Mining of BITMAIN. “Hut 8’s technical expertise, operating strength, and track record of innovation made this partnership a natural evolution of our relationship as we began the journey of developing next-generation ASIC technology. We are excited to deepen our relationship as we continue to define the future of mining.”

Commercializing the U3S21EXPH

The U3S21EXPH will be commercialized through a creatively structured hosting agreement between Hut 8 and BITMAIN. The agreement features a favorable fixed hosting fee with an option for Hut 8 to purchase all or a portion of the hosted machines in up to three tranches at a fixed price within six months of energization of the relevant tranches.

The structure is designed to drive a superior risk-return profile for the acquisition of new machines for Hut 8’s self-mining fleet by reducing upfront capital requirements, offering a lower cost of capital, and de-risking a potential purchase by allowing the Company to assess future market conditions before committing additional capital.

The initial agreement comprises ~15 EH/s and is expected to increase Hut 8’s hashrate under management from 18.5 EH/s¹ to ~33.5 EH/s. If Hut 8 were to execute the purchase option for the entirety of the ~15 EH/s hosting deployment, the Company’s self-mining hashrate is expected to increase from 5.6 EH/s^1,2 to ~20.6 EH/s.

“Our team worked closely with BITMAIN to implement an innovative structure to commercialize the U3S21EXPH before it became available to the broader market,” said Genoot. “For Hut 8, the benefit of the structure is twofold: it protects our downside with a fixed-price hosting revenue stream, and it creates significant option value with a fixed-price purchase option. We believe this model represents a more thoughtful approach to capturing the lucrative economics offered by next-generation machines, reducing upfront capital requirements while we continue to pursue growth initiatives in AI infrastructure.”

Notes:

1. Based on the Company’s capacity as of August 31, 2024.
2. Includes 100% of deployed hashrate at the King Mountain site, which is owned by the King Mountain JV in which the Company has a 50% membership interested and a Fortune 200 renewable energy producer has the remaining 50% membership interest.

About Hut 8 

Hut 8 Corp. is an energy infrastructure operator and Bitcoin miner with self-mining, hosting, managed services, and traditional data center operations across North America. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Hut 8 Corp. has a portfolio comprising twenty sites: ten Bitcoin mining, hosting, and Managed Services sites in Alberta, New York, and Texas, five high performance computing data centers in British Columbia and Ontario, four power generation assets in Ontario, and one newly announced site in the Texas Panhandle. For more information, visit www.hut8.com and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @Hut8Corp.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward–Looking Information

This press release includes “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and United States securities laws, respectively (collectively, “forward-looking information”). All information, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that Hut 8 expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including such things as future business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, expansion and growth of the business, operations, plans and other such matters is forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words “may”, “would”, “could”, “should”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “allow”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “predict”, “can”, “might”, “potential”, “predict”, “is designed to”, “likely” or similar expressions. Specifically, such forward-looking information included in this press release includes statements relating to the commercialization of the U3S21EXPH machine, the Company’s plans to deploy the U3S21EXPH model in Q2 2025, the Company continuing to scale its compute layer across energy-intensive technologies, maximizing returns on the Company’s portfolio of power assets and digital infrastructure, advancing scaled opportunities in AI compute, the opportunity for greater supply chain synchronization across Bitcoin mining and HPC data centers, the opportunity to apply construction expertise and capabilities across Bitcoin mining and HPC data centers, leveraging the Company’s design to house the initial ~15-EH/s deployment at a density of up to ~180 kW per rack, unlocking significant synergies and flexibility going forward as a result of the convergence of Bitcoin mining and AI data center infrastructure in both form factor and cooling technology, an increase in the Company’s hashrate under management and a potential increase in the Company’s deployed self-mining hashrate.

Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts, but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events based on certain material factors and assumptions at the time the statement was made. While considered reasonable by Hut 8 as of the date of this press release, such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to, security and cybersecurity threats and hacks; malicious actors or botnet obtaining control of processing power on the Bitcoin network; further development and acceptance of the Bitcoin network; changes to Bitcoin mining difficulty; loss or destruction of private keys; increases in fees for recording transactions in the Blockchain; erroneous transactions; reliance on a limited number of key employees; reliance on third party mining pool service providers; regulatory changes; classification and tax changes; momentum pricing risk; fraud and failure related to digital asset exchanges; difficulty in obtaining banking services and financing; difficulty in obtaining insurance, permits and licenses; internet and power disruptions; geopolitical events; uncertainty in the development of cryptographic and algorithmic protocols; uncertainty about the acceptance or widespread use of digital assets; failure to anticipate technology innovations; the COVID19 pandemic, climate change; currency risk; lending risk and recovery of potential losses; litigation risk; business integration risk; changes in market demand; changes in network and infrastructure; system interruption; changes in leasing arrangements; failure to achieve intended benefits of power purchase agreements; potential for interrupted delivery, or suspension of the delivery, of energy to mining sites and other risks related to the digital asset mining and data center business. For a complete list of the factors that could affect Hut 8, please see the “Risk Factors” section of Hut 8’s Transition Report on Form 10-K, available under the Company’s EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov, and Hut 8’s other continuous disclosure documents which are available under the Company’s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov.

Hut 8 Corp. Investor Relations
Sue Ennis
ir@hut8.com

Hut 8 Corp. Media Relations
media@hut8.com