Note 8. Property and Equipment

Property and equipment consisted of the following as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):

There were no impairment charges for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Riot Blockchain, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(in thousands, except for share and per share amounts)

During 2021, we received 34,608 additional Antminer model S19-Pro miners related to its purchase contracts with Bitmain and, as of December 31, 2021, had deployed a total of 30,907 miners in its mining operation. Additionally, we entered into six additional purchase agreements with Bitmain to acquire 52,500 Antminer model S19j (90 Terahash per second) (“TH/s”) miners and 30,000 of their latest Antminer model S19XP (140 TH/s) miners for a combined total purchase price of approximately $535.0 million. Pursuant to these agreements, approximately $301.3 million remains payable to Bitmain in installments in advance of shipment of the miners, which is scheduled to occur on a monthly basis through December 2022.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company purchased 33,646 Bitmain S19-Pro Antminers and as of December 31, 2020 the Company had received 3,043 of the S19-Pro Antminers.

In December 2020, the Company entered into a pilot project with a dual focus of evaluating next-generation immersion technology to increase mining productivity, in addition to evaluating software to reduce energy costs. These technologies have the potential to reduce the Company’s Bitcoin production costs, increase hash rate capacity and significantly extend the life of the Company’s Bitcoin mining ASICs. During June 2021, this pilot project had commenced full operation and the approximate $2.7 million in equipment costs for this project previously not yet operational and included in “Miners and mining equipment” in the table above, commenced being depreciated.

Depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment totaled approximately $26.1 million, $4.3 million and $0.1 million, for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Depreciation is computed on the straight-line basis for the periods the assets are in service.

Construction in progress:

Upon completion of the Whinstone Acquisition, the Company commenced expansion of the Whinstone Facility from its existing 300 MW developed capacity to 700 MW. This expanded Bitcoin mining infrastructure is expected to comprise four new buildings totaling approximately 240,000 square feet, with the capacity to support an estimated 112,000 S19j Antminers based upon current configurations. It is expected that the first portion of this expansion will be completed by Q1 2022 and the balance during Q2 2022. Two of these four buildings are being developed utilizing air-cooling infrastructure, with the optionality to upgrade to immersion-cooling. The other two of these buildings are being developed utilizing immersion-cooling technology, a technique that offers improved cooling performance as compared to air-cooling infrastructure. The expansion of Bitcoin mining infrastructure at Whinstone provides critical capacity for Riot to deploy its future shipments of Bitcoin mining hardware, in addition to providing an opportunity to expand Whinstone’s hosting business for third-party Bitcoin miners.

In November 2021, Riot’s 400 MW expansion at the Whinstone Facility hit multiple progress milestones while navigating the challenges with the current state of the global supply chain. Progress during the month included the completion of the substation expansion to 700 MW, successful installation of the substation busbar, and 400 MW of high-voltage transformers. Whinstone also completed construction of Building F, Riot’s first self-mining building dedicated to immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining, while also advancing on its second immersion-cooled dedicated building, Building G. In December 2021, Whinstone also received most of the structural components required for Buildings D, E, and G. The construction completion timeline is currently on-time, despite global supply chain shortages and delays. A hosting client with its miners in a portion of Building C has now filled the remainder of Building C with its miners.

Riot Blockchain, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(in thousands, except for share and per share amounts)

Commitment:

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had outstanding executed purchase agreements for the purchase of miners from Bitmain for a total of 30,495 new S19j-Pro model miners and 30,000 new S19XP model miners, scheduled to be delivered through December 2022, and had paid a deposit of 43% of the total purchase price. A summary of the purchase agreement commitments, deposits paid and expected delivery timing (remaining balances are payable in advance of shipping) is summarized as follows (in thousands):

* Pursuant to the Company’s agreements with Bitmain, the Company is responsible for all shipping charges incurred in connection with the delivery of the miners.

The Company paid approximately $85.7 million as a deposit for the miners to be acquired under the purchase agreement, dated effective as of April 5, 2021, with Bitmain to acquire approximately 42,000 Antminer model S19j Miners, which are scheduled to be shipped in 12 batches of approximately 3,500 miners each, on a monthly basis, through October 2022.

During the fourth quarter ended December 31 2021, the Company entered into purchase agreements with Bitmain to acquire 9,000 S19j Pro (100 TH/s) miners and 30,000 S19XP (140 TH/s) miners, for a total purchase price of approximately $389.3 million, with an anticipated delivery and deployment schedule set for April 2022 through December 2022.