Sentiment couldn't be worse.
Multiple crypto hedge funds went belly up this past week as contagion sent Bitcoin's price down to its 2017 high. Mining firms were not spared either, as on-chain data and headlines showed liquidations of Bitcoin treasuries, loan restructures and secondary machine market scavenging.
Dig in to the top five stories you should know.
Miners unload Bitcoin onto open market
Some 88,000 Bitcoin worth an estimated $1.94 billion were transferred to exchanges from mining addresses tracked by data analytics firm Coin Metrics, according to Coin Metrics analyst Kyle Waters.
As Mining Memo covered, Miners began unloading Bitcoin in May, such as Core Scientific's 2,698 Bitcoin sell.
Read: Core sells, Riot curtails and Marathon waits: May updates
High end ASICs still in the green
Next generation ASICs such as the S19 series continue to mine near breakeven despite price and difficulty headwinds. Miners with electrical costs under $0.10 remain in the green, with higher margins as electrical costs drop.
Bitfarms eases loan obligation with 1,500 Bitcoin sell
Canadian Bitcoin mining firm Bitfarms sold 1,500 Bitcoin (BTC) in a bid to dollar cost average (DCA) out of a $100 million loan from crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital, according to a press release. Bitfarms is now on the hook for only $66 million after reducing their position by $34 million.
The mining firm also signed a $37 million credit agreement with financial firm NYDIG for equipment financing. The credit is collateralized by machines at a 12% interest rate.
Cleanspark purchases 1,8000 S19 XPs
Publicly listed Cleanspark has purchased 1,800 S19 XPs from an undisclosed mining firm. The deal adds 252 petahash (PH/s) to the miner's current 2.4 EH/s under management, according to CoinDesk.
Read: The Antminer S19 XP: What is it?
Some $1.9 billion in outstanding machine orders remain spoken for by public miners, Galaxy Digital’s head of mining Amanda Fabiano said at Consensus 2022.
Russian oil firm signs deal with Bitcoin miner BitRiver
St. Petersburg-based oil firm Gazpromneft – both the third largest oil producer and refiner in Russia – has entered into a deal with Russia-based Bitcoin miner BitRiver, according to a memorandum signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Thursday. The partnership will see mining facilities created at Gazpromneft oil fields.
