Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining company Riot Blockchain (RIOT) reached a $1.08 billion market capitalization Monday after surging nearly 13% in early trading hours.
- Shares of the Castle Rock, Colo.-based firm have gained over 1,250% in 2020, currently trading hands above $16.
- Over the same period, bitcoin gained nearly 280%.
- Riot has issued nearly 17 million shares since November, with a total of 67.5 million shares outstanding, according to data collected by ycharts.com.
- Riot has aggressively expanded the size and sophistication of its mining operations in 2020, including a planned pilot project in Texas to test water immersion cooling technology in addition to purchasing over 31,000 new ASIC mining machines this year, per CoinDesk's prior reporting.
- Riot shares opened Monday nearly 18% higher than their Thursday close on Christmas Eve.
- Riot pivoted its business model from biotech to bitcoin mining in October 2017 when its value was less than $50 million.
- Riot did not immediately respond to a comment request from CoinDesk.
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