The three largest publicly traded bitcoin miners in the United States lost more than $1 billion in the second quarter after suffering a series of impairment charges triggered by the collapse in cryptocurrency prices.
Core Scientific Inc., Marathon Digital Holdings Inc., and Riot Blockchain Inc. posted net losses of $862 million, $192 million, and $366 million, respectively, in the three months ended June 30, according to data. recent quarterly earnings reports. Other major miners such as Bitfarms Ltd. and Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc., which reported results on Monday, were also forced to write down the value of their holdings following the nearly 60% drop in the price of Bitcoin during the quarter.
Although the actions of Crypto mining companies have experienced a break in recent weeks, they are still deep in the red this year. The minors had to postpone and sell coins of their bitcoin hoarding positions, as they had difficulties in the last quarter to repay and cover operational costs. This took until the third trimester.
Public miners continue to lose bitcoin holdings at a rate exceeding their rate of production, Arcane Crypto analyst Jarand Mellerud wrote in a research note. “Public miners sold 6,200 coins in July, making July the second highest BTC sales month of 2022.”
Miners weren’t the only industry players to suffer significant losses in the last quarter. Coinbase Global Inc., the largest US crypto exchange, posted a loss of $1.1 billion, while MicroStrategy Inc. also posted a net loss of over $1 billion.
Top public miners sold 14,600 coins in June while producing 3,900, Mellerud said. Core Scientific sold nearly 80% of its parts in June to cover operating costs and fund expansion. Bitfarms sold almost half of its holdings to repay a $100 million loan the same month.
Miners are raising more debt and selling their holdings and mining rigs to stay afloat. Marathon added at crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital Corp. added an additional $100 million loan while also refinancing its existing $100 million line of credit in July. The miner also sold its mining rigs for $58 million. Core Scientific has entered into a $100 million common stock purchase agreement with B. Riley Principal Capital II.
