Core Scientific (CORZQ) has signed contracts to host almost 18,000 bitcoin (BTC) mining rigs with three firms as it negotiates its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it said in a Friday press release.

The contracts are the latest indication the prospects for the largest publicly listed miner by computing power, or hashrate, might be improving after it started bankruptcy proceedings in December 2022. The change in market conditions since then led a group of the firm's equity holders to point out in March that the firm's financial position had improved significantly.

Core Scientific will host 6,914 mining rigs for Greenidge Generation Holdings (GREE), 10,000 units for Ault Alliance (AULT) and 1,021 for LM Funding (LMFA). Once fully installed in May, they will bring the total number of machines the firm is hosting to about 70,000. That's on top of the 155,000 machines it uses to mine for itself as of March-end. The contracts are a mix of variable pricing and proceeds-sharing deals, the firm said.

The 18,000 machines will be hosted in Core Scientific's sites in Dalton, Georgia; Calvert City, Kentucky; and Denton, Texas – all sites where Celsius Mining had rigs. After the Chapter 11 filing, Core Scientific shut down 37,000 rigs belonging to Celsius Network's mining arm, which is also in bankruptcy proceedings, as the two are quarreling over their services agreement.

Core Scientific's equity, traded over-the-counter, has gained 887% since the start of the year, TradingView data shows. The shares are now at 40 cents.

The miner has 175 megawatts (MW) of available hosting capacity in its Denton, Texas, facility, and is developing another 915 MW in west Texas and Oklahoma.

Read more: Core Scientific Bankruptcy Judge Approves Transfer of Over $20M of Equipment to Its Exclusive Energy Negotiator