Bitcoin Miner Iris Energy Inks $100M Deal as it Contemplates M&A

Bitcoin mining company Iris Energy has agreed on a deal to sell up to $100 million in shares to investment bank B. Riley, as the company contemplates mergers and acquisitions following a recent capital increase. 

Back in September, the firm finalized a contract with B. Riley investment banking that gives it the choice to sell the company for up to $100 million in common shares over the following two years.

Interestingly there has been a significant amount of speculation about the bitcoin mining sector consolidating, and enterprises like CleanSpark have already taken advantage of market conditions to acquire mining sites and thousands of mining machines at reduced prices.

Iris Energy raised its monthly average operating hash rate

Notably, back in September, Iris Energy raised its monthly average operating hash rate by 24% reaching a total of 2.729 exahashes per second (EH/s). It mined 325 BTC simultaneously, an increase of 8%.

According to a statement, the difference between the two happened due to an increase in the average difficulty-implied global hash rate during the period, which was also the primary driver behind the increase in the Company’s electricity costs per Bitcoin mined during the month.

Notably, the biggest rise since January occurred in mining difficulty at the end of August, up 9.26%. Meanwhile, according to current projections, a significant rise will occur in the following week.

In addition to the 795 megawatts that were previously disclosed, Iris claimed that its development projects in Canada, the USA, and Asia-Pacific had the potential to support over 1 gigawatt of electricity capacity.

The firm operates in three locations in Canada and one in Texas that is now under construction with a 600-megawatt capacity after a 40-megawatt initial build-out. According to the firm, they are all "powered by 100% renewable energy."

Iris Energy was one of the largest donors of Mackenzie Seniors Week, which acknowledged seniors for their accomplishments and the positive effects they have had on their community.