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Bitfarms Looks to Boost Liquidity With Sale of 1,500 Bitcoin, New Loan

The miner paid down a credit line from Galaxy Digital while inking new equipment financing from NYDIG.

(Sharon McCutcheon/Unsplash)
(Sharon McCutcheon/Unsplash)

Crypto miner Bitfarms (BITF) raised $34 million with the sale of 1,500 bitcoin (BTC), applying those funds to trim a credit-backed facility from Galaxy Digital (GLXY.TO) to $66 million from $100 million. Alongside, the company entered a new $37 million equipment financing deal with NYDIG.

  • “In addition to lowering our interest expense, this $34 million reduction in borrowing gives us the ability to utilize more of our BTC holdings strategy as it frees up BTC that would otherwise be used to collateralize this credit facility,” said Bitfarms CFO Jeff Lucas in a press release.
  • The Galaxy facility was set to expire on June 30 and Bitfarms is now negotiating with Mike Novogratz’s crypto merchant bank to renew the line, according to the statement. The sale of 1,500 bitcoin to raise $34 million with which to partially pay down the loan implies an average price of about $22,000 per coin.
  • Bitfarms also agreed to an equipment financing deal with NYDIG for $37 million at a 12% interest rate. This loan is collateralized by the mining rigs at the company’s Leger and Bunker facilities.
  • Bitfarms’ moves come as crypto miners who levered up to fund speedy growth are feeling the squeeze of the crash in crypto markets.
  • The company is also in talks with NYDIG for additional funding which – if eventually agreed upon – might come in July and October as construction continues at the miner’s Bunker facility.
  • On February 25, Bitfarms closed a $32 million equipment financing loan with another lending firm, BlockFi, that carried a two-year term and interest rate of 14.5%.
  • The shares of the miner are up about 4% on Friday alongside a 1% gain in bitcoin. The stock’s lower by nearly 75% year to date.

Read more: CleanSpark Takes Advantage of Bear Market to Acquire Mining Rig Contracts

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Aoyon Ashraf

Aoyon Ashraf is CoinDesk's managing editor for Breaking News. He spent almost a decade at Bloomberg covering equities, commodities and tech. Prior to that, he spent several years on the sellside, financing small-cap companies. Aoyon graduated from University of Toronto with a degree in mining engineering. He holds ETH and BTC, as well as ALGO, ADA, SOL, OP and some other altcoins which are below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Aoyon Ashraf