U.S.-based contract mining company Core Scientific has struck a deal with Chinese bitcoin miner manufacturer Bitmain to acquire 17,600 units of its latest Antminer S19 series, the company announced on June 29, 2020. This massive purchase underscores Core Scientific’s aggressive expansion in the bitcoin mining sector amid the post-halving landscape.
Deal Size and Financials
While the exact financial terms were not disclosed, market estimates place the total value between $30 million and $42 million, based on Bitmain’s current retail prices: $1,785 per Antminer S19 and $2,407 per S19 Pro. Core Scientific stated that the acquisition is the largest single purchase of S19 miners by a blockchain hosting company. The rigs will serve both institutional clients and the firm’s own mining operations.
Hardware Performance and Profitability
The Antminer S19 employs Bitmain’s latest generation of SHA256 ASICs, offering significant energy efficiency gains over previous models. The standard S19 delivers a hashrate of 95 TH/s with power efficiency of 37.5 J/TH, while the S19 Pro achieves 110 TH/s (with ±3% tolerance) at a superior efficiency of 29.5 J/TH. According to mining pool F2pool, at an average electricity cost of $0.05/kWh, the S19 can generate daily profits of approximately $3.03, and the S19 Pro up to $4.12. Core Scientific President and CEO Kevin Turner noted that initial units have been tested and have materially increased existing hashrate.
Strategic Context After Bitcoin Halving
This major procurement comes just weeks after Bitcoin’s third halving on May 11, 2020, which slashed block rewards from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC, cutting miner revenues by 50%. The event forced miners worldwide to upgrade to more efficient hardware to maintain margins. Core Scientific’s vote of confidence in next-generation ASICs reflects a broader trend among U.S.-based miners to scale operations and capture market share. Bitmain confirmed the deal in a blog post, highlighting the Antminer 19 series’ breakthrough in energy efficiency.
Core Scientific expects to fully deploy all 17,600 miners at its U.S. data centers over the next four months. The company has already begun receiving and testing the first batch. “We have seen material success in increasing existing hashrate to achieve a 110 TH/s ± 3%,” Turner stated. The acquisition not only expands Core Scientific’s own mining capacity but also strengthens its offering for institutional clients seeking reliable, high-efficiency hosting services.
As the U.S. mining ecosystem matures, Core Scientific is positioning itself as a leading blockchain infrastructure provider, leveraging top-tier hardware and operational expertise to navigate the post-halving environment.