Bitdeer receives $60 million loan to increase ASIC chip production capacity as Bitcoin hashrate hits new high

Bitdeer received a $60 million loan to expand ASIC chip production capacity and self-operated mining operations at a time when Bitcoin computing power hits a record high and miners' profits are under pressure.

Bitcoin mining company Bitdeer received a $60 million loan to expand the production of Bitcoin ASIC chips at a time when the global Bitcoin network computing power hits a record high and mining competition intensifies.

According to its annual report, Bitdeer reached a loan agreement with its affiliate Matrixport in April. Matrixport is a cryptocurrency financial services company founded by Bitdeer Chairman Wu Jihan.

The loan amount is up to $200 million, with Bitdeer's Sealminer hardware as collateral, and the floating interest rate is 9% plus the market benchmark rate. As of April 21, Bitdeer has drawn $43 million from the credit line.

This latest financing is in addition to the $17 million unsecured loan obtained in January this year. In addition, the company raised a total of $572.5 million in convertible bonds in 2024. Bitdeer also issued more than 6 million shares this year, raising nearly $119 million in the stock market.

Bitdeer acquires 101 MW power project in Alberta

According to the annual report, in February 2025, Bitdeer acquired a fully licensed 101 megawatt (MW) gas-fired power project near Fox Creek, Alberta, for $21.7 million in cash.

The project site has the potential to expand to 1 GW, has obtained all necessary construction permits, and has 99 MW of grid access capacity. The power plant will be developed in conjunction with an EPC partner and is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2026.

In March, the company also purchased 40 MW worth of liquid-cooled mining containers from Saiheat.

Recently, there have been reports that Bitdeer is expanding its self-operated mining business and investing in domestic production in the United States. This shift is a response to the cooling demand for mining hardware from other miners.

Jeff LaBerge, Bitdeer's head of capital markets and strategic initiatives, reportedly said: "Our future plan is to prioritize the development of self-operated mining business."

In addition, on February 28, 2025, Bitdeer launched a $20 million stock repurchase program, which will be valid until February 2026. So far, the program has repurchased 1.0565 million Class A shares worth about $12 million.

Bitcoin computing power surges while miners' income shrinks

According to BitInfoCharts data, the Bitcoin (BTC) network computing power hit a record of 1 zettabyte hash per second in early April as Bitdeer expanded.

Higher computing power indicates that more miners (or more powerful machines) are competing to solve Bitcoin blocks. As competition intensifies, each miner's chance of receiving a block reward decreases, which means lower profitability.

Further hitting miners' income is low transaction fees. According to YCharts data, the average Bitcoin transaction fee currently hovers around $1, a sharp drop from the level of more than $16 in April last year.

Low transaction fees and rising hashrate forced listed miners to sell more than 40% of their BTC output in March — the highest level since late 2024.

Companies such as Hive, Bitfarms and Ionic Digital reportedly sold more than 100% of their monthly output.