Cloud mining firm BitFuFu on Tuesday issued a statement communicating a second delay to its plans for public listing via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with a new deadline now set for May.
The Bitmain mining arm first revealed its intentions to become publicly listed by a merger with Arisz Acquisition Corp in Jan 2022, setting Q3 of the same year as a deadline to complete the same. BitFuFu has deferred its deadline twice now under Arisz’s governing documents. The latest three-month pushback means that the mining firm can’t postpone the date again without approval from shareholders.
Hut 8 merges with US Bitcoin as the majority of companies abandon consolidation plans
BitFuFu isn’t the only company that has shelved or canceled plans to go public, alluding to the chaotic market landscape and increased scrutiny from regulators in the wake of Terra ecosystem collapse in May and FTX exchange bankruptcy. Poor market returns in 2022 also put a financial strain on most miners, leading some to significantly trim their operating costs, raise funds via the sale of equipment, consolidate, or in extreme cases, declare bankruptcy.
Singapore-based mining firm Bitdeer hinted last November that it could push back its public listing until the end of this year. USD Coin stablecoin issuer, on its end, mutually called off a SPAC listing plan with Concord in December. In the same month, Thiel-backed digital assets exchange Bullish withdrew a similar bid with Far Peak Acquisition that would have made the company public. Earlier this week, Canadian mining firm Hut 8 said it is merging with US Bitcoin against the mothballing trend in a Feb 7 announcement. Hut 8 disclosed the merge, birthing ‘New Hut’, which will primarily operate in the US on Tuesday. In a Wednesday interview, Hut 8 CEO Jamie Leverton denied reports that the firm was compelled to merge because of the market downturn.
“One of the advantages here is […] giving us that geographic diversification. There’s uncertainty in regulatory environments on both sides of the border,” she remarked on the location of the resulting unit.
Leverton said the miner would still have advanced with all-stock merger plans even if the sector wasn’t currently in turmoil. She tied the decision primarily to ambitions to scale and seek more revenue streams benefitting both firms. The two intend to complete the deal by the second half of the year, with the merger presentation awaiting review by other parties, including stakeholders and stock exchanges. The new entity will boast a capacity of around 5.6 exahashes per second (EH/s) across the facilities in the US (New York and Texas) and Canada (Alberta), which will have access to 825 megawatts.
Worth noting, Hut 8 and US Bitcoin both have pending disputes – the former with the energy supplier for its facility in North Bay. US Bitcoin, on the other hand, fell into the radar of the City of Niagara Falls over complaints raised about the noise from its facility in the Ontario province.
Argo Blockchain CEO steps down barely a month after CFO resignation
Argo Blockchain has today communicated the exit of its CEO Peter Wall whose resignation marks the second executive to leave the firm after the acquisition by Galaxy Digital. Last week, CFO Alex Appleton vacated his position to explore other opportunities. Wall is expected to continue serving the firm as an advisor in the next three months as the miner restructures following the sale of its leading Helios facility to Galaxy Digital Holdings last year. The $65 million sale was part of a bailout plan that prevented the miner from filing for bankruptcy because of financial issues.
Argo also announced the resignation of another board member Sarah Gow citing health reasons in the latest update. The NASDAQ and London Stock Exchange-listed crypto miner Argo Blockchain on Feb 1 said that Alex Appleton had left his position as the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director after spending more than two years at the company. In his exit message, Appleton highlighted his achievements at the crypto mining firm, noting the inherent potential of the business to succeed even more in the future.
The company said it had contracted a specialized executive search firm to undertake a comprehensive selection process to replace its CFO. The search has now extended to include the top seat. Argo previously enlisted the services of BDO Canada to furnish its Chief Operating Officer, Seif El-Bakly, with accounting and consultancy services during the search. Following Thursday’s resignation, El-Bakly took the helm as interim CEO, supported by Matthew Shaw as the chairman of the board
Riot Platforms mined a record 740 BTC in January but anticipates delayed hash rate growth
On Monday, Colorado-headquartered crypto mining firm Riot Platforms told shareholders to expect stunted growth towards achieving its targeted 12.5 EH/s in Q1 (a deployment of about 113,520 Antminer ASICs), as sub-zero temperatures continued for days last December. Riot Platforms, formerly Riot Blockchain, said that severe winter storms damaged some sections of piping in two of its buildings in Texas, resulting in 17,040 miners being taken offline. It, however, did not report on any instances of curtailing its power usage.
CEO Jason Les said that repair efforts have helped slash the initial damage that knocked out as much as 2.5 EH/s. Les confirmed that Riot is in the process of restoring the remaining 1.9 EH/s still impacted by damage in one of its buildings and will provide updates on deployment timelines.
Bitcoin mining figures and deployment updates
In the January 2023 update, the NASDAQ-listed Bitcoin miner revealed that it produced an impressive record high of 740 Bitcoin, an increase of 62% from January last year. The company also sold 700 BTC, resulting in approximately $13.7 million in net proceeds. As of Jan 31, the company had a total of 6,978 BTC, all of which were produced through its self-mining operations. In terms of mining equipment, Riot had a fleet of 82,656 miners, with a total hash rate capacity of 9.3 EH/s.
Riot Platforms also noted that it got 5,130 new S19-series miners last month and deployed 6,912 of them, which means it now has about 1,152 staged for deployment. This would bring the total of deployed miners to 83,808 once all these machines are operational. Riot further confirmed that its transaction with Bitmain in January was the last in their purchase agreement.
Marathon Digital’s first-time sale of Bitcoin slashed 1,500 tokens
Earlier this month, Marathon Digital, one of the largest public holders of Bitcoin, shared an update detailing that it had taken a break from its HODL strategy. The digital asset technology company notified that it carried out its first-ever sale of Bitcoin to take advantage of the decent rally that Bitcoin saw in January, tracking nearly 40% in monthly returns. The company said the $35.3 million it received from selling 1,500 BTC would also help it settle some of its expenses.
Vice president of corporate communications Charlie Schumacher noted that Marathon didn’t sell the tokens because of distress as has been for most sellers of the leading digital asset. Schumacher said the company has been mining Bitcoin whilst refraining from selling during periods of reduced mining output. Marathon Digital maintains a bullish outlook on the long-term prospects of cryptocurrency. However, into the new year, the company wants to establish a reserve of liquidity, including both cash and Bitcoin, and to reduce debt in addition to an enhanced cash reserve position. As a result of the transaction, Marathon Digital held a total of 11,418 BTC in its reserve as of the end of January, with approximately 8,090 BTC (equivalent to $187.2 million) being unrestricted.
The Bitcoin miner has now aligned with fellow publicly listed miners who have adopted a similar strategy, including Riot Blockchain, Iris Energy, HIVE, and Bit Digital. Marathon’s mined Bitcoin increased to 687 Bitcoin – a 45% rise from the month before. In January, the firm’s facilities cumulated to 11 EH/s in hash rate and now looks to reach 23 EH/s by mid-this year. In comparison, the current hash rate of the Bitcoin network is 282.55 EH/s, putting the miner’s share at around 4%. The crypto miner intends to liquidate another portion of the mined Bitcoin later this year to cover the ongoing operating expenses.
The post Argo CEO Follows CFO In Exiting Firm, Hut 8 Advances with Merger Plans, and More appeared first on Securities.io.
