CleanSpark produced 529 Bitcoin in September, while BitFuFu mined 167 BTC and Canaan maintained its monthly output at 44 BTC, according to the companies’ latest operational updates.
The three mining companies also reported different changes in their Bitcoin holdings. CleanSpark’s reserves fell to 13,530 BTC at the end of September from 13,703 BTC in August. BitFuFu’s holdings increased to 1,388 BTC from 1,373 BTC, while Canaan’s balance rose to 1,875 BTC from 1,868 BTC.
Their reports show how mining production, Bitcoin sales and other treasury decisions continue to shape the companies’ holdings as they expand their operations.
CleanSpark sells more Bitcoin than it mines
CleanSpark produced 529 BTC in September, down from 593 BTC in August, a decline of nearly 11%.
The company reported selling two Bitcoin on spot markets and delivering another 700 BTC through call option exercises. It recorded an average sale price of $72,928 per Bitcoin for these transactions.
In total, CleanSpark sold or delivered 702 BTC against production of 529 BTC, meaning its disclosed transactions exceeded new production by 173 BTC. Its Bitcoin holdings fell by the same amount, from 13,703 BTC to 13,530 BTC.
CleanSpark also announced that it would stop publishing monthly mining updates and move to quarterly reporting. The change comes as the company expands its data center business, including construction at its Sandersville campus in Georgia.
The new reporting schedule means investors will receive mining production and treasury updates less frequently.
CleanSpark has been raising capital to support its data center expansion. The company recently closed a senior secured notes offering worth approximately $2.276 billion to help finance construction at Sandersville.
The financing followed an earlier proposal for a $2.227 billion debt offering announced on September 17. The proceeds were intended to support construction, reimburse certain earlier equity investments and establish reserves for debt payments. The proposed notes were not convertible into CleanSpark common shares.
The company’s data center plans are backed by a 20-year lease covering 175 megawatts of capacity with an investment-grade technology customer whose identity has not been disclosed. CleanSpark has estimated that the agreement could generate $6.6 billion in contracted revenue over its initial term.
BitFuFu’s cloud mining output declines
BitFuFu mined 167 BTC in September, down about 4% from 174 BTC in August. Average daily production remained unchanged at 5.6 BTC.
The figures show a difference between the company’s two main mining activities. Self-mining production increased to 98 BTC from 88 BTC in August, a rise of more than 11%.
Cloud mining production, however, dropped to 69 BTC from 86 BTC, a decline of nearly 20%. The reduction in cloud mining output outweighed the increase in self-mining production, bringing total monthly output lower.
BitFuFu’s Bitcoin holdings nevertheless increased to 1,388 BTC from 1,373 BTC.
The company also reported uncertainty surrounding its proposed acquisition of a majority stake in an Ethiopian business operating an 80-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility.
BitFuFu said it had paid the sellers $4.1 million and deployed approximately 13,700 Bitmain Antminer S19-series machines. However, the acquisition had not closed because certain required conditions remained unmet.
According to the company, the target business’s electricity supplier issued a notice on September 28 threatening to take possession of equipment and other assets used as collateral unless a disputed payment was made within 10 days.
BitFuFu said it was considering its options, including terminating the agreement, pursuing arbitration, recovering its payments and retrieving its mining machines. The company warned that the acquisition might not be completed.
The situation comes as Ethiopia’s electricity supply to Bitcoin miners has faced pressure. In September, Ethiopian Electric Power CEO Ashebir Balcha said electricity deliveries to miners had fallen to 23% of contracted levels following reductions linked to strained hydropower supplies.
Canaan keeps production steady at 44 BTC
Canaan mined 44 BTC in September, matching its August output and ending three consecutive months of declining production.
The company also reported progress on projects designed to recover heat generated by Bitcoin mining equipment and use it for local heating.
Canaan chairman and CEO Nangeng Zhang said the company’s 8-megawatt Nordic district heating project was fully operational, supplying recovered computing heat to approximately 2,800 homes.
In Canada, a separate greenhouse heat-recovery project was approaching its planned deployment, subject to site inspections.
These projects aim to make productive use of heat generated during mining rather than allowing it to go to waste.
Canaan’s Bitcoin holdings increased slightly to 1,875 BTC at the end of September from 1,868 BTC a month earlier.
The company also disclosed that it had converted 3,952 ETH and 54.5 BTC into approximately $13.9 million in cash by October 15 as part of a treasury-funded share repurchase initiative.
Canaan said it spent $5.4 million buying back 13.6 million American depositary shares in late August. The purchases brought its total share repurchases for the year to approximately 16.4 million ADSs.
Mining companies follow different treasury strategies
September’s results show different approaches among the three publicly traded mining companies.
CleanSpark’s production fell while its Bitcoin reserves declined after sales and option-related deliveries exceeded newly mined coins. BitFuFu also recorded lower overall production, largely because of weaker cloud mining output, but increased its Bitcoin holdings slightly.
Canaan maintained steady production and added to its treasury while advancing projects that use mining heat for residential and agricultural purposes.
The companies are also dealing with different business priorities, from CleanSpark’s large-scale data center expansion to BitFuFu’s uncertainty over its Ethiopian acquisition and Canaan’s efforts to recover heat from mining operations.
Their September reports highlight why mining output alone does not determine a company’s Bitcoin reserves: sales, acquisitions, asset conversions and other treasury decisions can also change the amount of cryptocurrency held.
