Bitdeer Technologies Group, a Singapore-based blockchain company, reported a net loss of $531.9 million in Q4 2024 due to heavy investment in the development of proprietary mining hardware. A large part of this expense included a $243.4 million payment to chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Bitdeer also aims to reach a self-mining hashrate of 40 exahashes per second (EH/s) by the end of 2025.

ASIC Push Hits Profits

Bitdeer's Q4 revenue fell 40% year-on-year to $69.0 million, mainly due to a decline in revenue from its cloud, hosting, and self-mining segments. Gross profit fell sharply from $27.0 million in Q4 2023 to $5.1 million, due to the impact of the Bitcoin halving event in April 2024 and the company's focus on application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) technology. Operating expenses increased to $42.5 million, of which $22.9 million was spent on research and development (R&D) of the Sealminer mining chip. Bitdeer spent $190.6 million on TSMC for mass production of the SEAL02 chip and $52.8 million on SEAL03 production in Q4, as part of its vertical integration strategy to control the entire value chain of its mining operations. The company expects to deploy 40 EH/s of self-mining capacity by Q4 2025 using proprietary hardware, up sharply from the current 8.7 EH/s. Chief Business Officer Matt Kong stressed that owning and deploying mining ASICs is an integral part of Bitdeer’s long-term strategy.

Mining and Financials

Data shows that Bitdeer’s self-mined Bitcoin volume fell 64% to 469 BTC from 1,299 BTC in Q4 2023, reflecting the impact of the halving event. Storage revenue also dropped sharply from $25.2 million to $8.5 million as customers scaled back their old mining rigs. However, Bitdeer still held 594 BTC, or $77.5 million, as of December 31, 2024. The company also increased its cash reserves to $476.3 million through the issuance of convertible bonds.

Bitdeer’s global power capacity now exceeds 2.6 gigawatts (GW), with more than 1 GW expected to be activated by 2025. Projects in Norway, Ohio, and Bhutan are underway to support mining and high-performance computing. The company is also ramping up production of its third and fourth generation ASIC chips, aiming for higher mining performance and energy efficiency.

Review and Outlook

Bitdeer’s net loss of $531.9 million included a $479.8 million non-cash charge from fair value adjustments to convertible notes and purchase orders. Adjusted EBITDA (excluding one-time items) was negative $3.8 million. Management has emphasized long-term returns from ASIC investments, although analysts may be concerned about the near-term cash burn rate.

With a vertically integrated strategy and a target of 40 EH/s by the end of 2025, Bitdeer is betting big on leading the Bitcoin mining market with proprietary hardware. The development of the Sealminer chip along with power capacity expansion projects could be a deciding factor for the company's future success.