Why This Team of Ninjas Is Tripling Down on Mining Bitcoin

NIP Group, the entity behind the esports team Ninjas in Pyjamas, has acquired a third set of Bitcoin miners. This acquisition was exchanged for over 247 million Class A ordinary shares.

Hicham Chahine, the founder and CEO of NIP Group, stated to Decrypt that he prefers to invest in Bitcoin mining when the market is "cooling," as opposed to during periods of high competition when the market is hot.

Chahine reported that after this latest tranche was closed, the company's capacity is approximately 13.85 EH/s. This level places them among the world's largest publicly listed miners, enabling them to mine around 195 Bitcoin monthly, which equates to $2.8 million based on current prices.

The company previously targeted mining 160 Bitcoin per month; this recent purchase increases that goal by 35 Bitcoin to 195 Bitcoin monthly, or $2.8 million at today's prices.

Chahine explained that the company reviewed all aspects of NIP Group this year, focusing on achieving better margins and a clear path to profitability, noting that mining had to "earn its place" in that review, and it succeeded.

The CEO also mentioned that the facilities could be repurposed for AI computing if the projected returns surpass those from mining. He clarified to Decrypt that they will assess what AI and high-performance computing customers are willing to pay, their commitment duration, and whether that demand is sustained.

"When those workloads clearly beat mining on returns, consistently and not just for a week or two, that's when we may move capacity. If the numbers say shift, we shift," Chahine stated.

The stock ticker, NIPG, has seen a 40.7% decline, falling from $6.74 to $4 since the Bitcoin announcement last week, according to Yahoo Finance data, marking an all-time low. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has decreased 2% to $79,820 over the same timeframe, per Decrypt data.