Bitcoin miner Hut 8 is expanding the scale of its operations by adding 1.5 gigawatts of capacity via four new facilities set to be launched across Texas, Illinois, and Louisiana.

After a shaky start to the year, with the company reporting first-quarter losses,  Hut 8 said in a Tuesday announcement that it is targeting markets where energy demand is rising quickly.

According to CEO Asher Genoot, the latest move positions the Bitcoin miner to be able to “double the scale of our platform and address accelerating demand across energy-intensive use cases.”

Hut 8’s existing 1 gigawatt platform is already 90% utilized, the company noted. The new facilities are expected to support “energy-intensive use cases” beyond traditional Bitcoin mining, such as high-performance computing, the artificial intelligence sector, and next-gen industrial applications.

In select locations, Hut 8 plans to implement modular architectures that allow for rapid deployment and flexibility in how each site can serve different clients.

Each of the four sites will tap into regional energy grids where demand is already on the rise. By pre-empting future strain on infrastructure, Hut 8 aims to lock in favorable energy contracts early and leverage economies of scale.

Hut 8 has already secured land and power deals and is now advancing physical buildout across the four sites. Once operational, these sites will lift Hut 8’s total managed capacity to over 2.5 gigawatts across 19 locations.

Hut 8 taps into Bitcoin reserves

The Bitcoin miner plans to fund its latest expansion strategy by making use of its cryptocurrency reserves and a mix of traditional credit lines and a $1 billion at-the-market equity program.

Currently, Hut 8 holds over 10,000 Bitcoin in its reserves, which is valued at around $1.2 billion based on current prices. It has also secured a $200 million credit line from Two Prime and a repriced $130 million facility with Coinbase, alongside the ATM equity program. In total, the firm reported having access to roughly $2.4 billion in liquidity.

“The strength of our balance sheet has been a critical differentiator in demonstrating our ability to minimize execution risk and deliver at scale to prospective customers,” Genoot said.

Expansion beyond mining via American Bitcoin

While Hut 8 pivots toward infrastructure and diversified compute, the company retains direct exposure to the Bitcoin mining sector via American Bitcoin Corp., a standalone mining venture it helped launch earlier this year in partnership with Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Hut 8 is the majority shareholder in the venture, which was formed through a restructuring deal that transferred 61,000 mining rigs and 11 U.S.-based sites to the new entity. Hut 8 holds an 80% stake, while the Trump brothers control the remaining 20% through a related entity.

According to Genoot, via American Bitcoin, Hut 8 is able to streamline its operations by carving out its mining business into a focused, capital-efficient entity, thereby freeing the parent company to concentrate on infrastructure and treasury strategy.

American Bitcoin has quickly grown into one of the better-funded mining ventures in the United States and recently raised $220 million from private investors to scale its operations and accumulate Bitcoin.

It plans to go public via an all-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, a Nasdaq-listed firm, with the deal expected to close next month.