30 Miners. $150,000 in Hardware.
30 Antminer S21 Pro ASIC miners at $5,000 per unit. Total hardware cost: $150,000.
Each S21 Pro runs 234 TH/s at 3,510 watts, putting 7,020 TH/s of mining capacity in a professional facility running around the clock.
Your LLC owns the hardware and it goes on your balance sheet as tangible business property. MinerOps handles facility management, hardware maintenance, power optimization, and compliance monitoring. You get a monthly production report.
Operating Costs
| Line Item | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting (electricity at $0.08/kWh, passed through at cost) | $6,065 | $72,783 |
| MinerOps management fee (3% of production value) | Varies | Varies |
| Total operating cost (before management fee) | $6,065 | $72,783 |
There are no setup fees and no hardware markup. Hosting is the facility’s industrial rate, passed through at cost.
Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation
ASIC mining hardware is tangible business property. Under Section 179, your LLC can deduct the full $150,000 purchase price in the year you place the equipment in service. 100% bonus depreciation was also reinstated for property acquired after January 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, giving you two overlapping paths to a full first-year write-off.
The Section 179 limit for 2026 is $2,560,000 — a $150K deployment is well under that. Hosting and management fees are also deductible as ordinary business expenses.
First-Year Deduction at 35% Effective Tax Rate
| Deduction | Amount | Tax Impact (at 35%) |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware (Section 179) | $150,000 | $52,500 |
| Hosting costs | $72,783 | $25,474 |
| Management fees | ~$2,300 | ~$805 |
| Total Year 1 deductions | ~$225,100 | ~$78,780 |
One thing to know: mined Bitcoin is taxable income. Your LLC reports the fair market value of BTC at the time it’s mined as ordinary income. The net tax benefit depends on how your deductions offset that mining income plus your other business income — that’s your CPA’s calculation to run.
The Section 179 deduction on the hardware alone ($150,000) typically exceeds the first-year mining income, creating a net reduction in your LLC’s taxable income even after accounting for what you mined.
What the Miners Actually Produce
Based on March 2026 network conditions:
- Network hashrate: ~1,000 EH/s (1 ZH/s)
- Block reward: 3.125 BTC per block (post-halving)
- Difficulty growth: ~25% annually
- Your fleet: 7,020 TH/s (30 x S21 Pro)
Starting monthly production is roughly 0.095 BTC across all 30 miners. Network difficulty increases throughout the year, so monthly output declines. After accounting for that:
Year 1 estimated total production: ~1.03 BTC
| Metric | At $75K BTC | At $150K BTC |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 production value | $77,160 | $154,320 |
| Annual hosting cost | $72,783 | $72,783 |
| MinerOps fee (3%) | $2,315 | $4,630 |
| Net production value (before tax) | $2,062 | $76,907 |
At $75K, operating margins are thin — production barely covers hosting by end of year as difficulty climbs, and the tax deduction does the heavy lifting. At $150K, the operation generates significant cash flow above operating costs from day one.
Total Outlay, Tax Savings, and BTC Held
| At $75K BTC | At $150K BTC | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware investment | $150,000 | $150,000 |
| Operating costs (hosting + fees) | $75,098 | $77,413 |
| Total Year 1 outlay | $225,098 | $227,413 |
| Tax reduction (Section 179 + operating deductions) | ~$78,784 | ~$79,595 |
| BTC mined (held) | 1.03 BTC ($77,160) | 1.03 BTC ($154,320) |
| Year 1 capital recovered | $155,944 (69%) | $233,915 (103%) |
At $75K, you recover 69% of your Year 1 outlay through tax savings and BTC production combined. At $150K, you break even in Year 1 and the miners keep running.
When Does It Stop Making Sense to Run the Machines?
At $0.08/kWh, there’s a point where rising difficulty pushes monthly production below the cost to run the machines. A rational operator shuts miners off or sells the hardware when that happens.
At $75K BTC, that breakeven hits around month 8 to 9. Production starts strong but difficulty erodes it — you’d mine roughly 0.75 BTC before it stops making sense to keep the power on. At $150K BTC, the operation stays profitable for close to 4 years.
This doesn’t change the tax picture. Section 179 gives you the full $150K deduction in Year 1 regardless of how long you mine. Even if you shut the hardware off at month 9, you already took the deduction and you hold the BTC you mined.
Building a Bitcoin Reserve Inside Your Business
Most LLC owners thinking about this aren’t trying to flip BTC in 6 months. They’re building a Bitcoin reserve inside their business over years, maybe a decade or more.
The tax treatment supports that. When your LLC mines Bitcoin, it reports the fair market value as ordinary income at the time of mining — that becomes your cost basis. If you hold that BTC for more than one year and sell later, you pay long-term capital gains on the appreciation above that basis.
Example: Your LLC mines 1 BTC when the price is $75,000. That $75,000 is reported as ordinary income. You hold it for 3 years. BTC hits $200,000. You sell. You owe long-term capital gains tax on $125,000 (the appreciation), not the full $200,000. At the 20% LTCG rate, that’s $25,000 in tax on a $200,000 asset.
The mining operation runs for 3 to 5 years depending on price and difficulty, but the BTC you accumulate sits on your balance sheet for as long as you want it there. A $150K deployment that produces 2.5 to 3.5 BTC over its lifetime gives your LLC a Bitcoin position that compounds in value as long as you hold it.
The hardware depreciates. The Bitcoin doesn’t have to.
Cumulative Production at ~25% Annual Difficulty Growth
| Year 1 | Year 3 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTC mined (cumulative) | 1.03 | 2.51 | 3.46 |
| Hosting costs (cumulative) | $72,783 | $218,350 | $363,917 |
| MinerOps fees (cumulative, at $75K BTC) | $2,315 | $5,648 | $7,781 |
These projections assume the miners run continuously. In practice at lower BTC prices, you’d shut machines off when hosting exceeds production and restart when price recovers.
3-Year Totals at $150K BTC
| Line Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hardware | $150,000 |
| Hosting (3 years) | $218,350 |
| Management fees | $11,296 |
| Total 3-year cost | $379,646 |
| Year 1 tax reduction | ~$79,595 |
| BTC held: 2.51 BTC | $376,500 |
| Net 3-year position | +$76,449 |
Why Not Just Buy Bitcoin?
If you take $150K and buy Bitcoin on an exchange at $75K, you own 2 BTC — you get no deduction, no depreciation, and when you sell you pay capital gains with nothing to offset them.
If you deploy that $150K through your LLC into mining hardware:
- You deduct the full $150,000 under Section 179, reducing your tax bill by ~$52,500 at 35%
- Hosting and management fees are also deductible as ordinary business expenses
- You mine ~1.03 BTC in Year 1, with production continuing for years at favorable prices
- Cumulative BTC over 3 to 5 years: 2.5 to 3.5 BTC — more than what you’d have bought outright
- Any BTC held over a year qualifies for long-term capital gains treatment on appreciation
- You received a tax benefit that buying on an exchange never provides
Your CPA can model which path produces a better after-tax outcome for your LLC. Buying is the simpler path; mining is the tax-advantaged one.
What This Model Assumes — and What Can Go Wrong
- BTC price stays at $75K or $150K. It could go either direction.
- Network difficulty grows ~25% per year. If miners flood the network faster, production drops faster. If miners go offline, your share increases.
- Hosting rate holds at $0.08/kWh. Industrial electricity moves. MinerOps passes facility costs through with no markup.
- Hardware runs for 3 to 5 years. ASICs degrade over time and get outcompeted by newer models. At lower BTC prices, they become uneconomical sooner.
- 35% effective tax rate. Your rate depends on income, state, entity structure, and filing status.
- Mining income is taxable. Fair market value of mined BTC is ordinary income. Net tax position depends on your full picture.
What can go wrong: BTC price drops hard, difficulty spikes, hardware fails, regulations shift, or electricity costs rise. Mining is a real business with operational risk.
What doesn’t change: the Section 179 deduction exists regardless of BTC price. If Bitcoin dropped 50% the day after you deployed, you still deducted $150,000 from your taxable income. That reduced tax liability doesn’t depend on the market.
Is This the Right Move for Your LLC?
This deployment model fits if:
- Your LLC clears $200K+ in annual taxable income
- You have $150K+ in capital that’s otherwise going to the IRS
- You work with a CPA who understands depreciation
- You’re thinking in years, not months
- You want to build a Bitcoin reserve inside your business
The next step is a conversation. We’ll run through your specific numbers, talk timing with your CPA, and figure out whether a deployment makes sense for your situation.
Ready to Run the Numbers on Your LLC?
Discovery Call
30 minutes. We cover your tax situation, capital range, and timeline — and tell you whether a deployment makes sense.
Strategy Session
90 minutes. Full tax analysis, deployment sizing, and a framework your CPA can use. Fee credits toward Managed Ops.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a qualified CPA or tax professional before making any decisions about Section 179 deductions, bonus depreciation, or Bitcoin mining operations. MinerOps does not guarantee production levels, returns, or tax outcomes.