In preparation for Bitcoin’s halving slated this year, crypto mining firm CleanSpark announced on February 6 that it expects a doubled hashrate.

Alongside the forecast, the crypto mining firm also unveiled its purchase of three mining facilities in Mississippi for $19.8 million. An additional Dalton, Georgia facility was also purchased for $6.9 million.

According to CleanSpark, the facilities in Mississippi are expected to produce 2.4 exahashes per second (EH/s) once their purchase is finalized. The mining facility in Georgia is expected to serve 0.8 EH/s. Following the announcement, CleanSpark shares increased by 12%, closing its trading day at $8.70.

These acquisitions and expansions anticipate the Bitcoin halving event, which is expected to occur in late April or early May 2024.

By increasing its hash rate, CleanSpark aims to improve its operating efficiencies and maintain its competitiveness. The company’s CEO, Zach Bradford, emphasized the significance of these acquisitions in preparing for the halving and expressed optimism about the company’s prospects.

“Given our existing footprint in Dalton, we expect to nearly triple our hashrate there with minimal increases to our overhead operating costs,” shares CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford.

Bradford said that CleanSpark is gradually increasing its geographic diversity and claims it is “one of the few public miners to achieve scale.”

The Bitcoin halving event is designed to reduce the rewards for successfully mining Bitcoin. It occurs once every an estimated four years, based on 210,000 block production cycles. After this year’s halving, 29 more halving events are expected to occur until at least 2140 if the rate remains at the estimated four-year cycle. This is part of Bitcoin’s mining algorithm in order to maintain scarcity and counteract inflation. Currently, miners are rewarded 6.25 BTC, which will be reduced to 3.125 as the halving takes effect.