Miner Ups $500M Debt Offering to $650M
Bitcoin

Miner Ups $500M Debt Offering to $650M

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2 years ago

The increase came hours after announcing the half-billion-dollar debt offering and filing a quarterly earnings report revealing an SEC investigation that knocked 27% off its share price.

Miner Ups $500M Debt Offering to $650M

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You'd think you really don't want to reveal that you've received a subpoena investigating securities law violations the same day you announce plans to sell $500 million in debt. 
That was the position U.S. Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings revealed it was in on November 15. However, it didn't stop the Nasdaq-listed firm (MARA) from increasing the size of its offering to $650 million later that evening.
That despite a 27% decline in its share price by the 4 p.m. EDT closing bell. 
The senior, unsecured debt offering announced early Monday morning sought to raise $500 million for "general corporate purposes including the acquisition of Bitcoin or Bitcoin mining machines." 
Las Vegas-based Marathon also revealed in its public quarterly 10-Q earnings filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had received a subpoena from the agency looking into possible securities law violations over an October 6 agreement to build a 100 megawatt data center in Montana.
Later that night, a law firm also announced an "investigation" into the issue — code for "we're filing a class action lawsuit."
Marathon reported net losses of $22.1 million for the third quarter, up from $2 million in Q3 2020. In the first nine months of 2021, net losses were $47.7 million, up from $5.2 million in that period the year prior. However, its Q3 revenue of $57.1 million was up 76% from Q2 and 6,091% compared with Q3 2020. 

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Green or Greenwashing?

Thanks to China's recent decision to boot cryptocurrency mining out of the country, the U.S. has become the world's biggest hub for Bitcoin mining, with a 35.4% share as of August, the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF) reported last week.

Bitcoin uses an enormous amount of energy — but how much of that is green, renewable energy is up for debate.

The CCAF's Third Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study, released in September, reported that 39% of Bitcoin's hash power is from renewable energy sources, but 76% of miners report using some green sources like wind, hydropower, and solar. 

That is likely to climb as Bitcoin's power drain becomes a bigger and more contentious issue, increasingly mentioned by senior finance officials like Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Earlier this year, Tesla CEO and crypto fan Elon Musk quickly reversed the electric auto maker's policy of accepting Bitcoin in payment, citing environmental concerns.
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