Hut 8 (HUT) said itâs purchased $30 million of Nvidiaâs new crypto mining-specific graphics processing units (GPU) to help the company expand into mining for other cryptocurrencies besides bitcoin.
Called a Cryptocurrency Mining Processor (CMP), the new GPU was launched earlier this year to target professional cryptocurrency miners. Nvidia introduced the GPU, in part, to steer those miners away from its other GPUs following complaints by the companyâs core gaming customers frustrated by shortages caused by miner demand.
In the companyâs Q4 earnings call, Nvidia CEO Colette Kress said she expected about $50 million in total CMP sales during the new productâs first quarter this year, per CoinDeskâs prior reporting. Hut 8 filled 60% of that target in one order.
The machines âopen up new opportunitiesâ for Hut 8âs plans for diversified revenue streams, said CEO Jamie Leverton in a statement. The new CMPs will add roughly 1,600 GH of power to the firmâs mining capacity, which it will use to mine alternate blockchains. Hut 8 expects full delivery and deployment of the CMPs this summer.
Allocating mining capacity to alternate blockchains like Ethereum âhas been rewarded handsomely by public market investors as seen by the stock price of Hive compared to their Canadian-traded counterparts who have focused on Bitcoin to date,â said Ethan Vera, co-founder of Seattle-based mining company Luxor Technology, in a direct message with CoinDesk. Now Hut 8 wants some of the profit.
Shares of the Toronto-based company have gained 130% year to date to just above $7. Bitcoin has climbed 77% over the same period.