US-based crypto and Bitcoin mining firm Cipher is exploring a potential sale after receiving interest from possible buyers.
First reported in BNN Bloomberg, the increased demand for data centers has made crypto mining firms the target of companies looking to boost computing capabilities via acquisitions.
Cipher is working with advisors to gauge potential interest, according to unnamed people close to the source. A representative from Cipher declined to comment.
Shares in the company rose as much as 18 percent on July 17 and stock was up at 2.8 percent at 10:41am, according to the report. The company currently has a market value of around $2.2 billion.
Crypto mining companies are sitting on all the necessary digital infrastructure to make them desirable acquisition targets.
Cipher currently has 75,000 deployed mining rigs, according to the company’s June 2024 Operational Update. It has listed two sites on its website; in Odessa and Alborz, Texas.
The 40MW Alborz site was a joint venture in 2022 between Cipher and renewable energy firm WindHQ. The JV received a two-year $46.9 million secured credit facility from crypto lender BlockFi Lending to buy the crypto rigs.
Cipher was spun off from Bitcoin mining hardware giant Bitfury in March 2021 and went public via a merger with blank-check company Good Works Acquisition Corp.
Last month, CoreWeave offered to acquire Bitcoin miner Core Scientific for around $1 billion. The deal was then rejected. CoreWeave then confirmed it had instead leased another 70MW hosting deal from Core Scientific.
