Riot Resets ATM With New $500M Raise as Bitcoin Mining Cash Flow Remains Thin
Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) has replaced its existing at-the-market (ATM) equity program with a new $500 million offering as compressed bitcoin hashprice levels leave limited room for internally generated cash flow.
In a Form 8-K filed on Monday, Riot said it entered into a new sales agreement allowing the company to sell up to $500 million of common stock from time to time at prevailing market prices. At the same time, Riot terminated its prior ATM agreement launched in August 2024. As of its termination, Riot had sold about $600.5 million of stock under the previous program, leaving roughly $149.5 million unsold.
The move comes as the bitcoin mining sector continues to grapple with a prolonged period of weak economics. Network hashprice has remained under pressure, leaving even the largest publicly listed miners struggling to generate positive cash flow once all operating, overhead and financing costs are taken into account.
According to estimates from TheEnergyMag, Riot’s total hashcost in the third quarter stood at about $38.5 per PH/s, slightly above the current hashprice level. That suggests the company’s core bitcoin mining operations are likely operating around breakeven or at a cash loss, limiting their ability to internally fund expansion or diversification efforts.
The fresh agreement expands Riot’s roster of sales agents to include B. Riley Securities, BTIG, Cantor Fitzgerald, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Macquarie Capital, Morgan Stanley, Needham, Northland Securities and Roth Capital Partners. The company can issue shares at its discretion by submitting placement notices that specify the maximum dollar amount and minimum price for each tranche, while retaining the ability to pause sales at any time.
For Riot, the renewed equity capacity underscores the growing reliance on capital markets as mining margins remain compressed. With limited cash generation from its existing bitcoin mining fleet, external funding is increasingly viewed as necessary not only to support balance sheet liquidity, but also to underwrite capital-intensive initiatives such as AI and high-performance computing infrastructure that fall outside traditional mining operations.
