Bitdeer Targets 40 EH/s in 2025, Pays $240M to TSMC for SEALMINER

Bitdeer (NASDAQ: BTDR) reported a $240 million payment to chip fabrication giant TSMC in Q4 as it aims for a 40 EH/s hashrate target in 2025, driven by its proprietary SEALMINER Bitcoin mining hardware.

The company released its fourth-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, providing rare insights into the chip fabrication costs associated with Bitcoin mining ASICs.

Bitdeer disclosed $325 million in net cash used in operating activities last quarter, including $190.6 million in working capital payments to TSMC for its SEAL02 ASIC chip and $52.8 million for the tapeout of SEAL03, including risk wafers.

Additionally, Bitdeer reported $310 million in prepayments as of Dec. 31, a significant increase from $97 million the previous year. The company attributed this rise to advanced payments to TSMC for SEAL02 mass production.

The increase in SEALMINER investment comes as Bitdeer targets a 32 EH/s expansion in 2025 for its proprietary hashrate. The company plans to energize mass-produced SEALMINER A1 and 28 EH/s of the A2 models.

“This target does not factor in additional wafer allocation anticipated from TSMC for SEAL02 or SEAL03, which could increase the Q4 2025 target beyond 40 EH/s, depending on the manufacturing schedule,” claimed Bitdeer Chief Business Officer Matt Kong.

Kong also stated that 7 EH/s of A2 units have been allocated for external customers with oversubscribed orders. The company has received 20% of the full down payment, and volume shipments are set to begin in March 2025.

Bitdeer showcased real-time operational statistics for the SEALMINERs in terms of hashrate and efficiency during several roadshows last year, although no independent third parties have released performance reviews of mass-produced SEALMINERs to date.

In other notable news, Bitdeer CEO Jihan Wu has entered into a 10b5-1 trading plan, under which he may sell up to 4 million Bitdeer shares at pre-determined dates from March to June 2025, provided a minimum price threshold is met.

A 10b5-1 trading plan is an SEC-compliant mechanism that allows corporate insiders, such as executives and directors, to buy or sell company stock at predetermined times, reducing the risk of insider trading accusations.

Bitdeer reported $69 million in total revenue for Q4 2024, with $43.8 million coming from its proprietary hashrate business, which includes both proprietary mining and cloud mining. The company recorded a cost of revenue of $26.7 million for its proprietary hashrate business, translating to a direct cost of $53,769 per BTC mined and a fleet hashcost of $35.1 per PH/s. These figures do not yet account for other cash-based corporate and financial expenses.

Bitdeer’s R&D spending on hardware development and rising debt levels have notably increased its corporate and financial hashcosts when calculated using a fair-share revenue approach.