Bitcoin Miner Bitdeer Aims to Expand US Rig Manufacturing Amid Trump Tariff Headwinds
Bitcoin mining has faced challenging times as costs rise, rewards fall and the macroeconomic environment grows more uncertain, but Nasdaq-listed Bitdeer (BTDR) told Decrypt that it will focus on expansion in the months ahead.
The firm plans to build rigs and invest in U.S. resources, Bitdeer CFA Jeff LaBerge told Decrypt, even as its profits have slimmed. LaBerge said that U.S. President Donald Trump's favorable cryptocurrency policies may help the firm even as his trade policies hurt its ability to acquire mining equipment.
"It's created more things to think about," LaBerge said of President Trump's approach, but added that "the policies have been supportive of crypto and energy" on the whole.
"On the tariffs side, we're confident that we'll come to a Bitcoin-friendly resolution that will allow companies like ours to grow," he said.
LaBerge's comments followed the release of the Singapore-based company's second quarter earnings reflecting at least some of the same impact faced by miners throughout the industry, even as Bitcoin’s price has jumped.
Bitdeer increased revenue to $155.6 million, beating analysts' estimates by more than 90% and higher than the $70.1 million for its 2024 first quarter. But it posted a net loss of $147.7 million compared to a net profit of $409.5 million for its first quarter.
Bitdeer's (BTDR) stock closed down by 0.3% on Wednesday to trade at $12.87. BTDR shares are off more than 43% year-to-date.
Bitdeer's now hoping manufacturing mining rigs—due to start this year for U.S. customers—will help the firm, along with its self-mining business. Many of its competitors are similarly planning to shift production to the U.S.
In a statement, Matt Kong, chief business officer at Bitdeer, said he expected the firm's financial results would "improve sequentially."
Bitcoin was recently trading at $114,581, up 1.2% over the past 24 hours, but well off its most recently high of $124,128, set earlier this month.
Miners, which are typically large industrial operations of specialized computers processing transactions and minting new coins for the cryptocurrency's network, have faced increasing headwinds over the past year. Bitcoin network difficulty now stands at a record high of 129 trillion. That's a 6.4% increase over the past 90 days, according to mining data provider CoinWarz.
Meanwhile, transaction fees have slipped below 1% of block rewards for the first time ever. The revenue earned by miners comes from the static block reward, which is currently 3.125 BTC per block mined, and transaction fees paid by users. Before last year’s halving the payoff for miners stood at 6.25 Bitcoin.
Amid these trends, a number of miners have moved resources to capture surging interest in artificial intelligence technology or refocused entirely to become cryptocurrency treasuries. BitMine Immersion now holds about $6.6 billion in Ethereum, while Bit Digital's treasury totals more than $520 million.
Bitdeer said that it did not have plans to reposition itself, even as its own Bitcoin holdings have grown.
"We're more practical than idealistic about holding Bitcoin on our balance sheet—it's not part of our identity, we're not looking to be seen as a Bitcoin treasury necessarily," LaBerge said.
