Hut 8 Corp. (Nasdaq | TSX: HUT), a leading Bitcoin mining company, has extended its partnership with BITMAIN Technologies Ltd., the world’s largest Bitcoin mining server manufacturer, to launch the U3S21EXPH, a next-generation ASIC miner. This model will be the first mass-market miner to feature direct liquid-to-chip (DLC) cooling within a U-form factor.
Hut 8 plans to deploy the new miner in Q2 2025, with an initial hosting agreement processing approximately 15 exahash per second (EH/s). This hosting deployment, facilitated by custom data center infrastructure developed in-house by Hut 8, is a key part of the company’s strategy to expand its computing power into the Bitcoin mining and AI compute sectors.
“Our partnership with BITMAIN has enabled us to advance our thinking around ASIC computing and create a more scalable model for data center design as we expand our footprint,” said Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8. “The U3S21EXPH is BITMAIN’s first miner to be broadly commercialized with DLC cooling in a U form factor, making it rack-ready like traditional data center hardware. This innovation bridges critical technical gaps between Bitcoin mining and AI data center infrastructure in both form factor and cooling technology, and we believe this convergence will enable us to unlock significant synergies and flexibility in the future.”
The U3S21EXPH can achieve an efficiency of 13 joules per terahash, yielding up to 860 terahash. It uses DLC cooling, a technology traditionally reserved for high-performance computing (HPC) data centers, to make Bitcoin mining more energy efficient and scalable.
“Asher and Mike have been invaluable thought partners for BITMAIN since the early days of US Bitcoin Corp, where they demonstrated a unique focus on cost-efficient procurement and operations,” said Irene Gao, Vice President of Mining at BITMAIN. “Hut 8’s technical expertise, operational prowess and track record of innovation made this partnership a natural evolution of our relationship as we embarked on the journey of developing next-generation ASIC technology.”
The commercial agreement between Hut 8 and BITMAIN includes a fixed hosting fee and a purchase option for Hut 8 to purchase the hosted machines in up to three tranches. This structure allows Hut 8 to assess market conditions before making further investments, thereby minimizing financial risk. If Hut 8 exercises this purchase option, the self-mining capacity could grow from 5.6 EH/s to 20.6 EH/s.
