Bitdeer Technologies Group, a publicly listed company, is preparing to mine for Bitcoin. Previously, it focused on manufacturing mining equipment, but since the Trump tariffs, it will use the 90-day grace period for tariffs to buy up a large amount of mining equipment. Tariffs have further put pressure on the Bitcoin hashrate, which has decreased over the past month. Bitdeer, based in Singapore, is listed on the Nasdaq exchange and has specialised in trading mining equipment. However, tariff wars and low Bitcoin hashrate have recently disrupted their business model. In response to these changes, Bitdeer has decided to buy mining equipment for themselves, while they still can during the 90-day tariff pause, to survive possible global supply chain disruptions. Bitdeer wishes to increase its domestic production of Bitcoin mining equipment in America, rather than import equipment from China. Bitcoin mining has cooled significantly in recent months, prompting companies like Bitdeer to figure out alternative ways to make money from crypto. Instead of selling the mining equipment to buyers or attempting to do so during a bear market, Bitdeer decided to mine Bitcoin itself. Bitcoin is down 30% from its market high, reducing the profitability of mining. The Bitcoin halving occurred in April 2024, which reduced the block reward to 3.125 BTC, further adding to the difficulty of making money from Bitcoin. The Bitcoin hashrate, a key metric for measuring mining profitability, has decreased since the Bitcoin Halving event. Yet Bitdeer insists on making money through Bitcoin mining, possibly expecting a rebound in profitability. Bitdeer plans to import mining equipment from Southeast Asia rapidly. They only have 90 days to do so before Trump ends the tariff grace period. The global supply chain has experienced shocks after the Trump tariffs were announced. Mining equipment is especially vulnerable to trade wars because most mining hardware is manufactured in China, a key focus of American tariffs. Bitdeer may benefit from their move into Bitcoin mining because they have much experience procuring cheap mining equipment. With an insider’s advantage, they may provide needed competition for their rivals. Due to the trade war, many Bitcoin companies have rushed to buy up mining equipment. However, such actions may put these companies at an increased risk because they are quickly making major changes to their business model. Bitdeer, moreover, experienced lower-than-expected earnings and revenues for the fourth quarter of 2024. In February 2025, after the release of the company’s report, the stock price dropped around 28%. In response to these results, the company said that the Bitcoin halving was one of the factors influencing the outcome, as the rewards for mining blocks were significantly reduced. Every four years, the amount of BTC mined for each block is cut in half to limit the adverse effects of inflation. In April 2024, the Bitcoin block reward was reduced from 6.25 to 3.125, causing much extra stress for miners, especially when Bitcoin dropped around 30% from market highs. Factoring in the extra pressure from tariffs and less equipment being sold from China, the situation becomes quite grim for mining businesses. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced last month that proof-of-work mining activities were not classified as securities, thus freeing up time for crypto miners to focus on their business more, rather than spending time registering their activities. Taiwan’s TSMC makes mining chips, complicating matters further because Taiwan is currently exempted from American tariffs. Bitdeer has been expanding its business into Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing, possibly utilising large data centres in Texas and Ohio. Bitdeer has further extended its business operations into Canada and Ethiopia. Regardless of the outcome, Bitdeer is modelling their business assuming that tariffs will be increased.
