Public miner audit · Oct 12, 2026 · 5 min read
Riot Platforms in the first half of 2026: 4.2¢ per kWh all-in, and $47,400 per bitcoin
Riot mined 3,060 bitcoin in the first half of 2026 at three sites in Texas and Kentucky. Read from its own filings, its power cost 3.3¢ per kWh after grid credits, 4.2¢ with every other site cost, and $47,400 per bitcoin before hardware.
TL;DR
- 3,060 bitcoin mined in the first half of 2026: 1,473 in the first quarter, 1,587 in the second.
- Power cost 4.2¢ per kWh before credits, 3.3¢ after. Riot is paid to switch off when the Texas grid is short, and those credits took $31.1 million off a $145.8 million power bill.
- 4.2¢ per kWh all-in once site staff, insurance, property tax and repairs are added: 3.8¢ in the first quarter, 4.5¢ in the second.
- $47,400 per bitcoin all-in, against $73,700 of revenue per bitcoin mined. Our figure matches the cost to mine Riot publishes, to the dollar.
- Hardware is shown apart: $140.7 million of miner depreciation and a $28.0 million impairment in the half.
What Riot reported
Riot Platforms is a US domestic filer with a December year end. It reports quarterly: a 10-Q for the first quarter and a 10-Q for the second, each with an earnings release (Q1, Q2). The 10-K for 2025 gives the year before as context.
It mines at Rockdale and Corsicana in Texas and at a site in Kentucky. Its miners ran at an average of 36.4 EH/s in the first quarter and 37.2 EH/s in the second, and 44.4 EH/s was deployed by 30 June, on 1,292 MW of developed power capacity.
Mining is two thirds of the business. Riot also builds electrical equipment (its Engineering segment) and, from January 2026, leases data-centre capacity to AMD at Rockdale (its Data Center segment). Bitcoin Mining was 67% of revenue in the first quarter and 65% in the second. Everything below uses the Bitcoin Mining segment only, which Riot reports separately.
The power bill, before and after credits
Riot buys most of its power on long-term fixed-price contracts. When grid prices spike, or the Texas grid operator (ERCOT) asks large users to step down, Riot switches miners off and either sells the contracted power back or is paid for standing ready. These payments arrive as credits against its power invoices. Riot books them on their own line, "Power curtailment credits", outside cost of revenue.
So there are two honest power figures. The bill for the half was $145.8 million. Credits were $31.1 million: $21.0 million in the first quarter and $10.1 million in the second. Net of credits, power cost $114.7 million.
Riot does not report megawatt-hours. It does report an "all-in power cost" per kWh, net of credits: 3.0¢ in the first quarter, 3.6¢ in the second and 3.3¢ for the half. Dividing the net power cost by that rate gives the energy used: 1,709,800 MWh and 1,762,361 MWh, 3,472,161 MWh for the half. Our net rate therefore equals Riot's by construction. The check is elsewhere: that energy at the hashrate Riot reports works out at about 21.7 joules per terahash, a plausible figure for a fleet like this one.
Before credits, the same energy cost 4.2¢ per kWh in both quarters. The credits are the whole difference between 4.2¢ and 3.3¢, and they move with the weather and the grid: the first quarter's were more than twice the second's. In the second quarter Kentucky cost 5.2¢ against 3.2¢ at Corsicana and 3.5¢ at Rockdale.
Everything else it takes to run the sites
Riot's segment note lists the other direct costs of mining: site staff, insurance on miners, water and property tax, and repairs and maintenance. They came to $30.2 million in the half, about 0.9¢ per kWh. Power plus these costs gives the all-in operating rate: 3.8¢ in the first quarter, 4.5¢ in the second, 4.2¢ for the half.
Selling, general and administrative costs were $158.2 million for the whole company, of which $74.7 million was stock-based pay. We take the cash part and give mining its share of revenue: $55.1 million for the half. That makes the fully loaded rate 5.8¢ per kWh. Mining's share of stock-based pay, $49.4 million, is shown separately in the cost per bitcoin.
| Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | H1 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power, before credits | $72.3M | $73.5M | $145.8M |
| Power curtailment credits | −$21.0M | −$10.1M | −$31.1M |
| Power, net of credits | $51.3M | $63.4M | $114.7M |
| Other direct mining costs | $14.4M | $15.8M | $30.2M |
| Cash SG&A allocated to mining | $24.8M | $30.3M | $55.1M |
| Stock-based pay allocated to mining | $26.2M | $23.2M | $49.4M |
| Energy used (derived) | 1,709,800 MWh | 1,762,361 MWh | 3,472,161 MWh |
| Power ¢/kWh, before credits | 4.2¢ | 4.2¢ | 4.2¢ |
| Power ¢/kWh, net of credits | 3.0¢ | 3.6¢ | 3.3¢ |
What a bitcoin cost them
Divided by the bitcoin mined, power net of credits cost $37,500 per bitcoin in the half and the all-in operating cost $47,400. Riot publishes the same measure as its "cost to mine one bitcoin, excluding bitcoin miner depreciation": $44,629 in the first quarter, $49,912 in the second and $47,369 for the half. Ours matches each to the dollar.
Each bitcoin mined brought in $73,700 of revenue over the half. With cash overheads it cost $65,400, and $81,500 with stock-based pay as well. For 2025 Riot reported 5,686 bitcoin at a cost to mine of $49,645 and an all-in power cost of 3.7¢ (release).
| Period | Bitcoin mined | Power ¢/kWh | All-in ¢/kWh | Loaded ¢/kWh | Power $/BTC | All-in $/BTC | Loaded $/BTC | Revenue $/BTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | 1,473 | 3.0¢ | 3.8¢ | 5.3¢ | $34,800 | $44,600 | $61,400 | $76,000 |
| Q2 2026 | 1,587 | 3.6¢ | 4.5¢ | 6.2¢ | $40,000 | $49,900 | $69,000 | $71,700 |
| H1 2026 | 3,060 | 3.3¢ | 4.2¢ | 5.8¢ | $37,500 | $47,400 | $65,400 | $73,700 |
The hardware
Machines are kept out of the cost per bitcoin on purpose. A miner is the roof over the operation, bought once and replaced from what it earns, so it is not what each bitcoin costs to make. It is shown here in full so nothing is hidden.
Riot depreciates its miners over three years: $140.7 million in the half. In the second quarter it wrote off $28.0 million of equipment ordered for a mining expansion at Rockdale, once that space was given to data centres instead. It paid $48.7 million for miners in the half.
| Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | H1 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin miner depreciation | $76.1M | $64.6M | $140.7M |
| Impairments | none | $28.0M | $28.0M |
| Paid for miners (deposits and payments) | $23.5M | $25.2M | $48.7M |
| Miner depreciation per bitcoin mined | $51,700 | $40,700 | $46,000 |
What it means
Hosting at Firsthand's sites runs from 3.9¢ to 6.5¢ per kWh all-in, on our sites page. Riot's all-in operating rate was 4.2¢ for the half, 3.8¢ in the first quarter and 4.5¢ in the second, and its bitcoin mined is the measure that matters to an owner. Mining output depends on bitcoin's price, difficulty and uptime, and isn't guaranteed. This is our analysis of the company's public filings, not an audit in the accounting sense.
Method and sources
Bitcoin mined, mining revenue, power cost, curtailment credits and other direct costs come from Riot's cost-to-mine table and the Bitcoin Mining column of its segment note, in each 10-Q. The half-year is the two quarters added together, and the 10-Q's six-month columns agree.
Energy is derived, not reported: power net of credits divided by Riot's stated all-in power cost. Riot rounds that rate to a tenth of a cent, so the energy figure is good to about 1.5% either way. Some credits come from selling contracted power rather than from switching off, so the net rate partly reflects power trading. Riot also marks its power contracts to market each quarter; those gains and losses are left out.
SG&A covers the whole company. We remove stock-based pay, which Riot books entirely in SG&A, and allocate the rest by mining's share of revenue. The Data Center segment is new and growing, so this allocation is approximate. Riot does not disclose its fleet efficiency in joules per terahash.
Sources and further reading
- Form 10-Q, quarter ended 30 June 2026 — Riot Platforms, 10 Aug 2026
- Riot Platforms Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results (8-K, Ex. 99.1) — Riot Platforms, 10 Aug 2026
- Form 10-Q, quarter ended 31 March 2026 — Riot Platforms, 30 Apr 2026
- Riot Platforms Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results (8-K, Ex. 99.1) — Riot Platforms, 30 Apr 2026
- Form 10-K, year ended 31 December 2025 — Riot Platforms, 2 Mar 2026
- Riot Platforms Reports Full Year 2025 Financial Results (8-K, Ex. 99.1) — Riot Platforms, 2 Mar 2026
Disclosure
Firsthand Bitcoin sells and hosts mining hardware. This is our analysis of the company's public filings, not an audit in the accounting sense, and it is not investment advice. Every reported figure links to the filing it comes from; figures we estimated are labelled, with their inputs. No company paid for or reviewed this page. Corrections are published with the date they were made.