Bitcoin

Bitfarms sold 3K Bitcoin as part of strategy to improve liquidity and pay debts

06/21/2022
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Canadian crypto mining firm Bitfarms sold roughly $62 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) in June, using the proceeds from the sale to reduce its debt.

In a Tuesday announcement, Bitfarms said it had sold 3,000 Bitcoin in the last seven days, roughly 47% of the crypto mining firm’s roughly 6,349 BTC holdings. According to the company, it will use the funds from the BTC sales — $62 million — to “rebalance its indebtedness by reducing its BTC-backed credit facility with Galaxy Digital.” The sold crypto seemingly included 1,500 BTC Bitfarms used to reduce its credit facility from $100 million to $66 million in June, bringing its debt down to $38 million at the time of publication.

According to Bitfarms chief financial officer Jeff Lucas, the mining firm is “no longer HODLing” all the Bitcoin it produces daily — roughly 14 BTC — instead choosing to “take action to enhance liquidity and to de-leverage and strengthen” the company’s balance sheet. Bitfarms said it also closed a $37-million deal with NYDIG to finance equipment, bringing the firm’s liquidity to roughly $100 million.

“While we remain bullish on long-term BTC price appreciation, this strategic change enables us to focus on our top priorities of maintaining our world-class mining operations and continuing to grow our business in anticipation of improved mining economics,” said Lucas. “We believe that selling a portion of our BTC holdings and daily production as a source of liquidity is the best and least expensive method in the current market environment.”

Bitfarms held a reported 4,300 BTC as of January, worth roughly $177 million when the crypto asset was at a price of more than $41,000. Founder and CEO Emiliano Grodzki said at the time the company’s strategy was “to accumulate the most Bitcoin for the lowest cost and in the fastest amount of time.”

Related: Bitcoin vs. BTC miner stocks: Bitfarms mining chief explains key differences

The move from Bitfarms came amid extreme price volatility among major cryptocurrencies including BTC and Ether (ETH). On Saturday, the price of Bitcoin dropped under $18,000 for the first time since December 2020 but has since returned to more than $21,000 at the time of publication. The ETH price experienced a similar drop to under $1,000 on Saturday — an 18-month low — before rising to more than $1,200 on Tuesday.