Sphere 3D Bitcoin production remains flat in July amid US customs woes, crypto winter
Carbon-free mining company Sphere 3D’s July 2022 report showed that it managed to keep up with its usual performance in July, even though the 4,000 new mining rigs were held back at US customs during the winter market, where mining companies have taken significant hits. .
The company has been waiting for 4,000 S19J Pro miners to be delivered and put into operation in early August. However, they never reached their destinations.
According to the report, US Customs temporarily confiscated the equipment in mid-June, saying it was awaiting receipt of documentation from the supplier. Also, the report raised a red flag about US Customs, saying:
“Based on conversations with industry leaders, other mining companies are challenged with similar frustrating US customs clearance issues.”
Regardless, Sphere 3D managed to increase its Bitcoin holdings up to 62.3. The company has maintained its 0.41 daily Bitcoin production volume since June and managed to produce 12.78 Bitcoin during July as well.
Mining companies in the winter market
Cryptosphere is experiencing its coldest winter. As soon as winter started, a selling trend among crypto miners also emerged. At the time, Bitcoin was trading at around $30,000, and the trend suggested that miners expected it to drop more.
They were proved right. A month later, Bitcoin fell as low as $22,600, causing all mining rigs produced before 2019 to lose profitability. The amount these machines extracted did not compensate for the electricity they consumed.
Soon after, major mining companies showed signs of financial problems because they could not pay their bills. Most were forced to continue the sales trend to cover operating costs, while some lost entire facilities because they could not pay their electricity bills.
The difference in renewable energy
While the mining sphere is taking significant hits due to Bitcoin’s energy prices and winter prices, Sphere 3D seems intact, thanks primarily to its renewable energy sources. The company defines itself as a “net carbon neutral cryptocurrency miner.” Based on their monthly report, they are running Antminer S19 Pro, which would be profitable by consuming power as low as $16,411 BTCUSD.
Cryptomining causes less ecological damage compared to the gold and banking sectors. However, renewable mining also provides security in harsh winter conditions. To prevent the mining sector from losing profitability, tech giants have been working with new technology to create energy-efficient mining rigs.
The latest update came from Samsung when the company announced that it is about to launch 45% more energy efficient 3-nanometer mining chips. The new chips are expected to have 23% higher performance. Moreover, the company also announced that a new 2-nanometer mining chip will be released by 2025, with even higher energy efficiency and performance.
