BIT Mining Sheds Casino Roots to Emerge as a Crypto Powerhouse

From slots to SHA-256—BIT Mining's pivot from gambling to blockchain is the ultimate high-stakes bet.

The once casino-heavy firm now runs one of the largest Bitcoin mining fleets in North America. No more counting cards; they're counting hashes now.

Wall Street analysts remain skeptical—after all, this is the same crew that thought 'all-in' was a viable business strategy. But with BTC hovering near $60K, even the cynics are watching.

One thing's certain: in crypto, the house doesn't always win.

BIT Mining reinvents itself after its casino past

BIT Mining recently changed its identity from its former casino business, known as 500.com. The company had subsidiaries in Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Malta, Cyprus, Curacao, the United States, and China.

In November 2024, the company was fined $10M in connection with a failed bribery scheme in Japan, where 500.com attempted to receive a casino license. The fine is owed to the US Department of Justice and partially to the US SEC, and was lowered from $54M due to inability to pay. 

Despite the company’s past, demand for treasury companies gives BIT Mining a chance at pivoting. The company retains its mining operations, data centers, hosting, and hardware, but will expand into Solana’s staking ecosystem.

Treasury announcement revives BIT Mining share price

BIT Mining lost over 98% of its price since the initial listing in 2015. Over the years, the company stock continued to slide, down to a valuation of just $40M. 

The recent SOL treasury announcement brought the price of BIT Mining to the highest level in the past 12 months, above $5.80. BTCM shares expanded by over 90% in the past year on average, but gained a net 137% in the past five days. 

The treasury effect may be short-lived, as the shares quickly slid from their peak of $6.97. BIT Mining is also not clear about its plan to acquire SOL, using the announcement effect to boost its visibility and share price. 

The company announced that SOL acquisitions will depend on access to capital and market conditions, a feat that is difficult even for large-scale BTC treasury companies. 

For now, the leading Solana treasury company is still DeFi Development Corp., still trading near its higher range at $22.86.

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