Bitcoin Mining Giant Offloads 7K Coins Raising More Than $167M

One of the biggest crypto mining companies sold the bulk of its Bitcoin holdings in June, realizing $167 million which it intends to use, in part, to repay debt.

Core Scientific sold 7,202 coins. It now holds 1,959 BTC and $132 million in cash on its balance sheet.

By holding a majority of the Bitcoin they mine, public mining companies often serve as proxies on the stock market, providing investors exposure without owning the coins directly. 

Others also believe that holding large positions in Bitcoin would boost their balance sheet in the long run.

Bitcoin mining struggles

However, many miners are currently struggling to repay debt or complete large purchase orders of mining equipment made during the boom last year. 

Operational costs have also exceeded mining revenue for some miners, as shrinking values provide diminishing mining rewards.

“Our industry is enduring tremendous stress as capital markets have weakened, interest rates are rising, and the economy deals with historic inflation,” said Core Scientific CEO Mike Levitt. 

The company says it will continue to sell its mined Bitcoins to pay operating expenses and maintain liquidity, among other things.

The company is still bullish on the cryptocurrency and plans to grow its Bitcoin data centers and continue to self-mine. 

Founded in 2017, the Austin, Texas-based firm is one of the largest miners in the world. 

According to its latest public filing, its 180,000 servers provided nearly 10% of the current computing power securing the Bitcoin network as of June 30.

Meanwhile, Bitfarms also sold much of its BTC holdings last month. About half of the Canadian crypto miner’s mined coins were sold to pay down a loan. 

Additionally, Riot Blockchain made its first sale of its Bitcoin holdings earlier this year. 

So far, other public miners such as Marathon Digital Holdings and Hut 8 Mining have not been forced to offload any of their Bitcoin holdings in order to stay afloat.