Riot Platforms Sold 3,778 BTC in Q1 2026 to Support Operations

Highlights:

• Riot sold 3,778 Bitcoin in Q1 and raised $289.5 million amid market pressure.
• Bitcoin production fell slightly, but Riot continued expanding hash rate and improving mining efficiency.
• Lower power costs and rising energy credits helped support Riot’s operations and overall liquidity.

Riot Platforms, a leading Bitcoin mining company based in Colorado, sold 3,778 Bitcoin during the first quarter of the year. The company earned $289.5 million from these sales, with each Bitcoin averaging $76,626. This strategic move comes as cryptocurrency markets face uncertainty and mining firms reassess their treasury approaches. Riot shared these results in a Thursday operations update, which provided a clear picture of its production, sales, and infrastructure growth.

During the first quarter of 2026, Riot produced 1,473 Bitcoin, slightly below the 1,530 Bitcoin it mined in the same period last year. The company ended the quarter with 15,680 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, down from 19,223 a year earlier. It also includes 5,802 restricted coins that cannot be sold right away.

Riot Platforms, one of Nasdaq's largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, sold 3,778 BTC in the first quarter of 2026, generating net proceeds of approximately $289.5 million. The company's total Bitcoin holdings decreased to 15,680 BTC by the end of the first quarter.… pic.twitter.com/Zt23bziDin

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) April 3, 2026

While Riot did not explain the sales in detail in its production update, the figures show the company chose to convert part of its Bitcoin reserves into cash during the quarter rather than hold all of the coins it mined.

Mining Output Slipped, But Infrastructure Kept Growing

Riot’s Bitcoin production fell 4% year over year in the first quarter. Its average daily output also slipped 4% to 16.4 Bitcoin, down from 17.0 a year earlier. Even so, the company kept expanding its mining capacity. Riot said its total deployed hash rate reached 42.5 exahashes per second by the end of the quarter, up 26% from 33.7 exahashes per second a year earlier. Its average operating hash rate also rose 23% to 36.4 exahashes per second.

In simple terms, hash rate shows how much computing power a miner uses to help secure the Bitcoin network and compete for block rewards. A higher hash rate usually points to stronger mining strength.

The company also reported better fleet efficiency. Riot’s fleet efficiency improved to 20.2 joules per terahash from 21.0 a year ago. Lower numbers are better here because they mean the machines use less energy to perform the same amount of work.

Lower Power Costs and Energy Credits Support Riot Platforms

One of the brighter points in Riot’s quarterly update was its lower energy cost. The company said its all-in power cost fell to 3.0 cents per kilowatt-hour from 3.8 cents a year earlier. Riot also reported $21.0 million in total power credits, up sharply from $7.8 million in the first quarter of the previous year.

That amount included $13.5 million in estimated power curtailment credits and $7.5 million in estimated demand response credits from ERCOT and MISO programs. These programs pay large power users to reduce or adjust electricity use when the grid is under pressure. For Bitcoin miners, this can provide extra income in addition to mining revenue. 

The recent performance of Riot indicates the management’s success in achieving both objectives. In addition to increasing its mining capacity and becoming more energy-efficient, the firm is also selling some Bitcoin tokens in order to increase liquidity at a challenging time for the industry. Despite the fact that the quarter did not bring about an increase in output, it confirmed that the company relies on its scalability, low expenses, and energy credits.