Two major cryptocurrency companies have revealed that they are in distress. Cryptocurrency investment platform Midas has announced that it will close the platform. On the other hand, Argo Blockchain narrowly avoided bankruptcy with the support it received from Galaxy Digital. Here are the details…
Novogratz support for Bitcoin miner Argo Miner
Bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain (ARBK) will avoid filing for bankruptcy protection after agreeing to sell its Helios mining facility in Dickens Country, Texas, to Galaxy Digital (GLXY) for $65 million. The miner will receive a new $35 million loan from Mike Novogratz’s crypto-focused financial services firm, which will be secured by Argo’s mining equipment.
The transaction will help Argo strengthen its balance sheet and avoid bankruptcy after it found itself in a precarious position when a $27 million financing deal failed in October. Earlier this month, the miner said it was in advanced negotiations to sell some of its assets and enter into an equipment financing transaction to avoid filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Galaxy president and chief investment officer Chris Ferraro said the deal is structured to increase Argo’s balance sheet and capital structure. He added that when the miner started the process, “we were in a position to completely solve the problem for Argo while accelerating the expansion of our own mining capabilities.” Additionally, according to the statement, Argo will sign a two-year hosting deal with Galaxy. It will provide a place for Argo’s computers to continue mining at the Helios facility.
Argo will be Galaxy’s most important mining company
Helios, Argo’s largest mining facility, has 180 megawatts (MW) of power capacity and will be the Galaxy’s most important mining operation. The facility became operational in May under the umbrella of Argo, with an energy consumption of 800 megawatts (MW) and a plan to reach 20 exahash/second (EH/s) computing power. If expanded to its full capacity, it could make Galaxy one of the biggest Bitcoin miners. The crypto miner, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (ARB) and Nasdaq (ARBK), said on Tuesday that he has requested a 24-hour suspension of his trading. The London Stock Exchange was already closed for a public holiday in the UK.
Argo is among the few miners struggling to stay afloat as rising energy prices drive costs and stubbornly low Bitcoin prices slash revenues. cryptocoin.com As we reported, this month Core Scientific (CORZ), one of the largest miners by processing power, filed for bankruptcy. Another major company in the space, Compute North, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late September. Bitcoin miner Greenidge also said that it has reached a debt restructuring agreement with lender NYDIG, but the possibility of bankruptcy is still high for the company. Meanwhile, a crypto investment firm announced that it was “closing”.
Cryptocurrency company Midas Investments is shutting down the platform
Midas Investments, an investment firm focused on DeFi returns, is shutting down its platform after suffering significant losses in 2022, according to a blog post by CEO and founder Iakov “Trevor” Levin. Levin announced that he lost $50 million of his Midas DeFi portfolio last spring. That’s 20 percent of $250 million in assets under management (AUM). He also wrote that after Celsius and FTX collapsed, his platform had withdrawn more than 60 percent of AUM.
“Based on this situation and current market conditions, we have made the difficult decision to close the platform,” Levin wrote. According to Levin, the company now aims to focus on a new project that “aligns with its vision” of decentralized central finance (CeDeFi). Midas has temporarily suspended its operations as of Tuesday. Meanwhile, it makes alerts and balance adjustments. His goal is to compensate by exchanging MIDAS tokens for the tokens of his new project. It is also to deduct a certain amount from user balances held in Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins.
