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Argo Blockchain, a big name in the mining industry, faced some tough times due to a challenging market and fierce competition. As a result, they reported a loss of $18.8 million in the first half of 2023.
This loss was actually an improvement. It was 50% lower than the $39.6 million loss they experienced in the same period in 2022. Throughout 2023, the company worked hard to strengthen its financial position. They managed to cut their debt by $4 million, leaving them with a total debt of $75 million. This is quite an achievement, considering that their debt was once as high as $143 million in June 2022.
Their revenues took a hit, dropping by 31% compared to the first half of 2022. Argo blamed this decrease, which brought in $24 million in revenue by mid-2023, on the falling value of Bitcoin (BTC). The increasing global hash rate and network difficulty also played a role.
Looking at their mining operations, Argo saw a small 1% increase in the amount of Bitcoin they mined – a total of 947 BTC – in the first half of the year. This was in contrast to the same period in 2022. It’s interesting to note that the global hash rate went up by a whopping 78% in 2023.
By June 2023, Argo had $9.1 million in cash and owned 46 BTC.
A significant moment in late 2022 was when Argo managed to secure $7.5 million by issuing new shares. This caught the attention of both institutional and retail investors.
Despite facing potential financial trouble in late 2022, Argo’s interim results for 2023 show their determination to increase their total hash rate capacity to 2.8 exahashes per second (EH/s). This involves setting up 1,628 BlockMiners at their mining facilities in Quebec.
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Additionally, the company is in talks about selling off some “non-core assets” as part of their strategy to reduce their overall debt.
A major series of transactions occurred between Argo and Galaxy Digital. In December 2022, Argo sold the Helios mining facility and related property to Galaxy for $65 million. This was followed by a smart refinancing move, resulting in a new $35 million, three-year loan with Galaxy. This move cut Argo’s total debt by $41 million and made their operations more streamlined.
Matthew Shaw, the Chairman of Argo’s board, highlighted the importance of maintaining a fleet of over 27,000 miners, with a significant number of them operating at the Helios site through a deal with Galaxy.
All these changes came about after Argo’s financial troubles in late 2022, which eventually led to their partnership with Galaxy. This partnership also marked the departure of Argo’s former CEO, Peter Wall.
