Crypto Miner Core Scientific Dumps $165M Bitcoin to ‘Enhance Liquidity’

Crypto miner Core Scientific sold roughly $165 million worth of Bitcoin last month, as inflation and market turmoil piled on the pressure for public crypto companies.

The NASDAQ-listed firm sold 7,202 Bitcoin during June at an average price of $23,000, leaving it with just 1,959 Bitcoin, bosses told investors yesterday. 

As of June 30, the company had $132 million in cash on its balance sheet.

The proceeds will go towards covering the cost of servers, increasing data capacity, and paying off debts, Core Scientific said.

Chief executive Mike Levitt said the group was “working to strengthen our balance sheet and enhance liquidity” in response to current challenges.

“Our industry is enduring tremendous stress as capital markets have weakened, interest rates are rising and the economy deals with historic inflation,” he said. “Our company has successfully endured downturns in the past, and we are confident in our ability to navigate the current market turmoil.”

The company also said it would continue to sell self-mined Bitcoin and use the proceeds to cover expenses, fund growth, pay debt, and maintain liquidity.

In the meantime, the group continued to mine new Bitcoin, producing 1,106 fresh tokens in June through its self-mining operations.

Despite the market conditions, Core Scientific still expects to deploy another 70,000 new self-mining ASIC servers over the next six months and has already paid 90% of the cost for these new additions.

Miners buckle up amid crypto sell-off

Publicly-traded crypto miners have been selling off their reserves following the decline in crypto asset prices, putting pressure on their balance sheets.

Until now, many miners have been holding significant treasuries in Bitcoin, but the bear market has made the practice less profitable and forced some to drop those holdings to cover costs.

But there are fears that these dumps could push Bitcoin prices down, further worsening conditions.