Core Scientific reveals financial distress in SEC filing, says its end may be near

The Bitcoin miner says low BTC and high electricity rates and Celsius’ refusal to pay its bills could be its undoing; the company’s BTC holdings have dropped from 8,058 in May to 24 now.

Bitcoin miner Core Scientific filed forms with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 26 indicating that will not make payments due in late October and early November. The company blamed low Bitcoin prices, increased electricity costs, an increase in the global Bitcoin hash rate and litigation with the bankrupt crypto lender Celsius for the situation.

The payments the company will skip would have gone to equipment and other financing and two promissory notes. Its creditors may decide to exercise remedies such as accelerating the debt or suing the company, it noted. Those actions, in turn, could result in “events of default under the Company’s other indebtedness agreements” and more creditor remedies against the company. It adds:

“The Company anticipates that existing cash resources will be depleted by the end of 2022 or sooner. […] Given the uncertainty regarding the Company’s financial condition, substantial doubt exists about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time.”

Core Scientific has engaged legal and financial advisers and is negotiating with creditors and considering restructuring its capital. It may also initiate bankruptcy proceedings, the filing warned. The company’s coffers have shrunk from 1,051 Bitcoins (BTC ) and $29.5 million in cash on Sept. 30 to 24 BTC and $26.6 million on Oct. 26. Core Scientific had holdings of 8,058 BTC as of May 31.

If you wonder how Core Scientific has got here, take a look at how it managed to grow quarterly #BTC production through the spiking D/E ratio. pic.twitter.com/6o8GDNJktI

— BlocksBridge Consulting (@BlocksBridge_) October 27, 2022

The company has an equity line of credit with B. Riley with the right to sell up to $100,000,000 of common stock to the financial services company. It had received $20.7 million in net proceeds from the agreement as of Oct. 26.

Related: B. Riley may purchase up to $100M stake in Bitcoin miner Iris Energy

Core Scientific filed papers in court on Oct. 19 claiming that Celsius had refused to pay its bills to the company since declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 13. Celsius reportedly countered with a claim that Core Scientific had not fulfilled its obligations for rig deployment and power supply. Core Scientific claimed at that time that Celsius owed it $2.1 million and that it was losing $53,000 daily “to cover the postpetition increased electricity tariffs that Celsius refuses to pay.”

Core Scientific also took the opportunity to inform the SEC of the appointment of Neal Goldman as the seventh member of the board of directors. Goldman will be compensated $35,000 per month for his services.