Cipher Secures 8.7 EH/s of S21XP Bitcoin Hashrate with Q2 Delivery

Texas-based Bitcoin mining firm Cipher has exercised an option with Bitmain to purchase 8.7 EH/s of the Antminer S21 XP equipment for $186 million.

Cipher disclosed in its 2024 annual report, filed on Tuesday, that it exercised the option last month, which equates to a price of $21 per TH/s for Bitmain’s latest generation of mining rigs. As of February, Cipher had $139 million payable for the 32,164 S21 XPs.

This option was initially offered as part of Cipher’s purchase of 7.1 EH/s of Antminer S21 Pros from Bitmain in late 2023. Originally, the option allowed for the purchase of an additional 8.7 EH/s of the Antminer T21 model but was later revised to include the S21 XP.

In the annual filing, Cipher said that it exercised the option on January 31, securing Antminer S21 XP miners for delivery between May and June 2025.

Cipher’s fleet expansion comes despite recent reports of U.S. Customs and Border Protection detaining and seizing Antminers and other Chinese ASIC miner brands for unspecified reasons. Additionally, Iris Energy mentioned in its quarterly filing earlier this month that it had exercised an option for 19.3 EH/s of Bitmain’s S21 Pro and S21 XP miners, with phased deliveries scheduled between January and May.

Cipher also noted plans to deploy the S21 XPs at its Black Pearl facility in Winkler County, Texas. The company expects to energize a 300 MW substation at Black Pearl during the second quarter.

“We plan to conduct Bitcoin mining in the first phase of the Black Pearl Facility with up to 150 MW. The remaining 150 MW of the site is suitable for either HPC hosting or Bitcoin mining,” the company stated in its filing.