Bitcoin rally is much-needed lifeline for troubled miners after grim quarter

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

High electricity costs, a plunge in digital assets prices and persistent network competition in the fourth quarter slashed mining profit margins and made it difficult for miners to stay afloat. Core Scientific Inc., the largest public Bitcoin mining company by computing power, went bankrupt and multiple major miners warned of liquidity crunches. While struggling miners have garnered some relief from Bitcoin’s 40% rebound this year, they are still under financial pressure. The rise in Bitcoin has made it easier for miners to raise capital from the equity market after debt-financing opportunities dried up and interest payments outpaced cash flows in the quarter. Miners such as Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Riot Platforms Inc. have been among the best performing US stocks this year, gaining more than 75% each after tumbling in value in 2022. “Public market investors are not typically those that look at hash price and mining machines,” said Ethan Vera, chief operations officer at crypto-mining services firm Luxor Technologies, referencing industry terms used to calculate miners’ revenue. “Their investing is based on the price of Bitcoin.”

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Marathon canceled the release of fourth-quarter results Tuesday after saying there had been “accounting errors” in several quarters of its financial statements. The US Securities and Exchange Commission raised questions about how the miner recognized the