Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain Borrows $70M to Buy Equipment for Texas Site
Popular Bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain has announced taking on additional debt under Argo’s equipment financing agreement from a subsidiary of New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). The move will help Argo fund the purchase of mining equipment for its Helios facility in Dickens County, Texas.
Argo Seeks Additional Equipment Financing From NYDIG
As part of the financing, Argo will borrow up to $70.6 million from NYDIG, the interest rates set at 12%, the official press release stated. The loan will be offered in allocations starting from April to July 2022. Following the development, Peter Wall, Chief Executive of Argo, commented,
“We are delighted to secure this additional non-dilutive funding which will enable us to continue fitting out Phase 1 of our Helios site. NYDIG understands the financial requirements of large-scale bitcoin miners and we are excited to continue working with them to execute and deliver on the next phase of Argo’s growth.”
The latest development comes less than two months after the Bitcoin miner signed an equipment financing agreement with the NYDIG subsidiary.
It announced borrowing $26.66 million, at an 8.25% per annum interest rate and a term of four years, to recapitalize the purchase of electrical infrastructure equipment for the company’s flagship cryptocurrency mining facility in Texas. The focus was also on being able to “energize” the 200 megawatts (MW) Helios facility. In total, Argo has borrowed more than $97 million.
Argo’s Texas Facility
After facing intense criticism over energy-guzzling mining equipment, the crypto mining industry has taken a swift transition towards creating power plants that are environmentally responsible, even though a complete shift to renewable power would take a couple more years.
Argo’s new 126,000-square-foot facility in West Texas will also be fueled mostly by wind and solar energy, as claimed by its chief executive. During the latest earnings call, Wall noted that 85% of the power is being derived from renewables, primarily wind. Mining operations at Helios are expected to start this month.
Besides, Argo also revealed raising approximately $40 million in the last quarter of 2021 in unsecured debt through the issuance of senior notes traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The company released the audited results for 2021, which demonstrated a revenue of $100 million, increasing 291% from the previous year largely due to a massive surge in Bitcoin’s hash rate. Its EBITDA also rose by an astonishing 594% to $71 million by 2021.
