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Argo Blockchain Lowers Debt and Overall Expenses, Sees Decline in Revenue (Report)
The prominent cryptocurrency mining company, Argo Blockchain, has reportedly reduced its debt to $75 million in the first half of the year. This is a decrease from the $143 million owed at the close of June 2022.
The firm also succeeded in lowering its overall costs and expenditures. However, revenue for the first half of the year was considerably lower than that recorded in the same period last year.
The H1 Results
According to a report by London South East, Argo Blockchain experienced a pretax loss of $18.6 million for the first six months of 2023, which is a 61% reduction from the $47.9 million loss reported in 2022.
Another significant advancement is the reduction of debt: from $143 million in H1 2022 to $75 million by the end of June this year.
The cryptocurrency miner also decreased its operating costs and expenses by 33%, while non-mining operating costs and expenses dropped by 21% in Q2 compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Argo’s revenue did not increase, remaining at $24 million by the end of H1. In contrast, this amount was $34.6 million at the same point in 2022.
The company indicated that this decline was due to the decreasing USD value of bitcoin and the rising global hash rate. As reported by CryptoPotato last week, BTC’s mining difficulty reached a record high of 55.62 trillion hashes, with projections suggesting it could exceed 62 trillion hashes in September.
Matthew Shaw, Chairman of Argo Blockchain, commented on the recent financial outcomes:
“For the remainder of 2023, the company will continue to focus on strengthening the balance sheet and growing the business with a strong emphasis on financial discipline and operational excellence. I am excited for Argo to continue its mission of powering the world’s most innovative and sustainable blockchain infrastructure in this next stage of the company’s development.”
Argo’s Turbulence During the Bear Market
The extended crypto winter, particularly the declining price of bitcoin, impacted the operations of the mining company. In June of last year, it sold more BTC than it mined to navigate the market conditions and fulfill its loan agreement with Galaxy Digital.
The firm continued to face challenges in the subsequent months and sold some of its equipment to stabilize its financial position. It also struggled to secure a multi-million dollar fundraising effort, which resulted in a decline in its share price.
Argo Blockchain’s efforts to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection included the sale of its Helios facility to Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. The $65 million transaction aimed to inject new capital and decrease the miner’s debt.
At the beginning of the year, several investors initiated legal action against Argo Blockchain, alleging violations of federal securities law during the IPO of its American depositary shares (ADS) in 2021. The company issued approximately 7.5 million shares at that time, initially priced at $15 each. However, the stock prices have significantly decreased since then.
Lastly, the cryptocurrency miner experienced the departure of its CFO Alex Appleton and CEO Peter Wall in February.
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