Cleanspark Purchases 60,000 Miners, Solana Developer Retention Increases

• After receiving comments on their S-1 statements late yesterday, multiple Bitcoin ETF applicants filed amendments this morning in what appears to be the final steps in the process. Valkyrie cofounder Steve McClurg stated in an interview that he believes approvals should be effective tomorrow, with ETF trading beginning on Thursday. BTC (-0.26%) is showing modest declines ahead of the decision while ETH (-2.76%) has declined sharply, causing ETHBTC (-2.50%) to fall to 0.048, the lowest level since April 2021. Select altcoins within the Solana ecosystem have shown strength this week. Helium (HNT) has risen 27.82%, while BONK is showing signs of life after cooling from its precipitous rise, increasing 26.03%. Equity indices are relatively flat today, with the SPY down 0.13% and the QQQ up 0.14% as investors await Thursday’s CPI data release.
• Bitcoin miner Cleanspark Inc (CLSK) has entered into an agreement to purchase 60,000 Bitmain S21 miners with a strategic call option to buy another 100,000 with an expiration date at the end of 2024. The initial 60,000 miners were purchased at a price of $16.10 per terahash, totaling $193.2 million, while the call option enables them to purchase up to 100k additional miners at a cost of $16 per terahash. If Cleanspark chooses to purchase the total 160k miners, it can expect to increase its mining power by 400% to 50 exahashes per second. The first 60,000 miners are expected to be deployed between April and June as Cleanspark prepares for a potential crypto bull market. CEO Zachary Bradford stated, “This strategic agreement enhances our operational efficiency, provides massive optionality, and positions us to maximize opportunities that we expect on the horizon.” During the last bull market, ASIC prices appreciated over three times, and Cleanspark expects a similar occurrence this time around. The ability to buy additional miners at a fixed cost should help them deftly navigate 2024.
• A report published by the Solana Foundation showed the Solana developer ecosystem continuing to grow throughout 2023. Solana has accumulated a monthly active developer base of over 2500 developers, while the 3-month developer retention rate rose from 31% at the beginning of 2023 to over 50% in December. The increase in retention has been attributed to improvements in the onboarding process combined with a general increase in ecosystem interest, as SOL was one of the top performers in 2023, with daily active addresses surpassing that of Ethereum. The report also acknowledges the success of Solana developer boot camps in which 400-500 senior developers are graduating every six months with the intention of building on Solana. Strong development communities are essential to the growth of blockchain ecosystems, and Solana appears to be attracting and retaining developer talent.

Source: Artemis