Riot Platforms (RIOT) reported strong operational performance in March 2025, highlighted by continued expansion into the artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) sector.

The company’s bitcoin (BTC) production last month rose to 533 BTC, the most since the reward halving almost a year ago. The figure represents a month-on-month increase of 13% and 25% more than a year before. Bitcoin holdings grew to 19,223 BTC.

Riot said it plans to «aggressively pursue» development of its Corsicana facility to capitalize on rising demand for compute infrastructure used in AI and HPC.

A recently completed feasibility study by industry consultant Altman Solon confirmed the significant potential of the site to support up to 600 megawatts of additional capacity for AI/HPC applications. Key advantages include 1.0 gigawatt of secured power, 400 MW of which is already operational, 265 acres of land with substantial development potential and close proximity to Dallas — a major hub for AI and cloud computing.

The study noted the site’s ability to support both inference and cloud-based workloads, strengthening its appeal to AI/HPC tenants.

Riot maintained a steady deployed hash rate of 33.7 EH/s, while its average operating hash rate grew 3% month-over-month to 30.3 EH/s—representing a 254% increase year-over-year. Although power credits declined due to seasonal factors, Riot kept its all-in power cost low at 3.8 cents per kWh, and improved fleet efficiency to 21.0 J/TH, a 22% improvement from the previous year.

Riot’s shares fell 5.5% Friday, while the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 2.8%. They have lost 35% year-to-date.

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In 2008, an anonymous person or group of people known only as “Satoshi Nakamoto” released a now-seminal document, the Bitcoin White paper, introducing a peer-to-peer system for value of exchange without intermediaries.

With this revolutionary concept, the idea of a “digital asset” was born. Soon after, developers and entrepreneurs expanded on this concept, developing systems where value was exchanged not just for its own sake, but for services and digital products.

Over the past decade, innovators have built permissionless, decentralized networks for computing services, file storage, asset exchange, cellular coverage, Wi-Fi connectivity, mapping tools, lending services, and more. Because digital assets can be used for services that anyone can offer and anyone can access, the use-cases – both financial and non-financial – are potentially endless.

Despite this promise, these networks have courted criticism. The Biden-Harris Administration attempted to block this innovative advance through a relentless campaign of lawsuits and enforcement actions without providing the regulatory clarity the digital asset ecosystem and its innovators and users so desperately needed.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) failed to clarify how existing securities laws apply and — more importantly — don’t apply to digital asset transactions. This lack of regulatory clarity stifled the digital asset ecosystem, pushing growth out of the United States to jurisdictions that have established clear rules of the road.

To address these failures, Congress began exploring ways to modernize the regulatory structure to accommodate the unique characteristics of digital assets and how they could be used in our financial system. These efforts culminated in a series of bills aimed at clarifying how digital assets could be used in the financial system, ensuring investor protection and fostering innovation.

In the 118th Congress, the House Committees on Financial Services and Agriculture launched a historic joint effort to address digital asset regulation. This led to the first-ever passage of bipartisan digital asset market structure legislation in a chamber of Congress. This collaboration enabled Congress to address longstanding challenges in the ecosystem and lay the foundation for a fit for purpose framework under the leadership of President Trump.

This Congress, both the House and Senate are committed to creating a clear path forward for the digital asset ecosystem. As we move ahead, it is crucial that the framework is both balanced and iron-clad for the future. To accomplish this, we have set out principles for digital asset legislation.

Six principles

First, legislation must promote innovation. We seek to protect opportunities for innovators to create and utilize digital assets, while ensuring users can lawfully transact with one another.

Second, legislation must provide clarity for the classification of assets. Users of digital assets should clearly understand the nature of their holdings, including whether they qualify as securities or non-securities.

Third, legislation must codify a framework for the issuance of new digital assets. The framework should permit issuers to raise capital through the sale of new digital assets under the jurisdiction of the SEC. It should protect retail investors and require developers to disclose relevant information to help users understand the unique characteristics of digital asset networks.

Fourth, the legislation must establish the regulation of spot market exchanges and intermediaries. Centralized, custodial exchanges and intermediaries facilitating transactions with non-security digital assets should adhere to similar requirements as other financial firms.

Congress should provide the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with the authority to impose requirements over these entities necessary to protect customers, limit conflicts of interest, ensure appropriate execution of customer orders, and provide disclosures.

Fifth, the legislation must establish best practices for the protection of customer assets. Entities registered with the SEC or CFTC should be required to segregate customer funds and hold them with qualified custodians. Customer funds should also be protected during bankruptcy.

Sixth, and finally, the legislation must protect innovative decentralized projects and activities. Congress should ensure that decentralized protocols, which pose different risks and benefits, are not subject to regulations designed for centralized, custodial firms. In safeguarding decentralized activities, Congress must also protect an individual’s right to self-custody their digital assets.

We look forward to both Committees continuing our legislative work together to fulfill President Trump’s request to make America the “crypto capital of the planet.” In May, our Committees will host our second joint hearing to discuss digital asset market structure legislation.

Our goal is to bring much-needed regulatory clarity to this rapidly evolving industry, ensuring that America continues to lead in shaping the future of digital finance.

OKX’s Europe company—also known as OKCoin Europe, a subsidiary of crypto exchange OKX—was fined 1.05 million euros ($1.2 million) by Malta’s financial watchdog on Thursday for breaching the country’s money laundering rules.

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) said the company failed to assess the money laundering and financing of terrorism risks emanating from the products it offers and had violated parts of the country’s Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Regulations.

«Regulatory compliance is a top priority for OKX, and we remain committed to meeting and exceeding global regulatory standards,» OKX said in a statement.

The company also said it had addressed gaps identified in its compliance framework following the authority’s 2023 review. In the new notice, FIAU also commended the company on making significant improvements over the past 18 months.

OKX secured the coveted Markets in Crypto Assets license (MiCA) from Malta earlier this year, which will enable it to offer crypto services across the European Union.

«The company was expected to assess the nature of risks prevalent in the services it was offering,» the authority said in its notice.

FIAU said the exchange should assess risks tied to the use of stablecoins, mixers that obscure the origins of transactions, privacy coins, tokens designed for anonymity, and tokens on decentralized exchanges.

OKX recently temporarily suspended its decentralized exchange aggregator following reports that European regulators had been looking at how it had been used to launder funds from a recent hack of the Bybit exchange.

Bloomberg first reported the story.