Argo Blockchain cuts 2022 debt by half, down to $75M

Cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain has reduced its debts to $75 million through the first half of 2023.

The Argo Blockchain mining company, which has been one of a number of firms to struggle amid negative market conditions and a highly competitive mining ecosystem, reported half year net losses of $18.8 million in 2023, down over 50% from a net loss of $39.6 million in H1 2022.

Argo also notes that it has reduced its debt by $4 million in 2023, taking its total debt to $75 million. The company has cut its debt by $68 million, having owed $143 million in June 2022.

Revenues were down by 31% in comparison to H1 2022, with Argo netting $24 million midway through 2023, which it linked to a decrease in the value of Bitcoin (BTC) and an increase global hash rate and the associated network difficulty.

Argo reports that it mined a total of 947 BTC through the first half of the year, an increase of just 1% of the BTC mined during the same period in 2022. It is worth noting that 2023 has seen a 78% increase in global hash rate.

As of June 2023, Argo’s balance sheets reflect $9.1 million of cash holdings and 46 BTC. Argo began the second half of the year by raising $7.5 million in gross proceeds through a share placement in July 2022 offered to institutional and retail investors.

Related: Argo Blockchain reports insufficient funds, ‘no assurance’ it can avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy

While the company had warned that it faced the reality of bankruptcy in late 2022, its 2023 interim half year results indicate that it plans to increase its total hash rate capacity to 2.8 exahases per second (EH/s) by deploying some 1,628 BlockMiners to its Quebec-based mining facilities.

Argo also reported that it was in advanced discussions to sell “certain non-core assets” and was exploring other options to reduce its overall debt.

Argo board chairman Matthew Shaw highlighted a “transformational series of transactions” with Galaxy Digital in which it sold its Helios mining facility and property for $65 million in December 2022. Argo then refinanced a new $35-million, three-year asset backed loan with Galaxy.

“The transactions reduced total indebtedness by $41 million and allowed Argo to simplify its operating structure.”

Shaw added that Argo’s ability to maintain a fleet of more than 27,000 miners was crucial to its ongoing operations, with some 23,600 Bitmain S19J Pro operating at the Helios site through an ongoing hosting agreement with Galaxy.

Argo had previously warned that it was facing dire financial circumstances in late 2022 before it struck a deal with Galaxy for its Helios facility. In the months following the closure of the deal, former Argo CEO Peter Wall announced his resignation from the company. 

Magazine: Recursive inscriptions: Bitcoin ‘supercomputer’ and BTC DeFi coming soon