The leading cryptocurrency miner – Argo Blockchain – has reportedly decreased its debt to $75 million during the first half of the year. In comparison, it owed $143 million at the end of June 2022.
The company also managed to reduce overall costs and expenses. However, revenue in H1 was significantly less than the one registered in the first half of last year.
The H1 Results
As reported by London South East, Argo Blockchain’s pretax loss for the first six months of 2023 equaled $18.6 million, 61% less than the $47.9 million marked throughout 2022.
Another major improvement is the debt reduction: from $143 million in H1 2022 to $75 million as of the end of June this year.
The crypto miner also trimmed operating costs and expenses by 33%, while non-mining operating costs and expenses fell by 21% in Q2 compared to the first three months of 2023.
Argo’s revenue failed to go up, stopping at $24 million as of the end of H1. In comparison, this figure was $34.6 million at the same time in 2022.
The company said this downtrend resulted from bitcoin’s falling USD valuation and increased global hash rate. As CryptoPotato reported last week, BTC’s mining difficulty surged to an all-time high of 55.62 trillion hashes, whereas it can surpass 62 trillion hashes in September.
Commenting on the recent financial results was Argo Blockchain’s Chairman – Matthew Shaw:
“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 prolonged crypto winter, more specifically, the declining price of bitcoin, affected the operations of the mining firm. In June last year, it sold more BTC than it produced to cope with the market conditions and repay its loan agreement with Galaxy Digital.
The company continued to struggle in the following months and parted with some of its machinery to stabilize its balance sheet. It also failed to secure a multi-million fundraiser, which led to a price crash for its shares.
Argo Blockchain’s attempt to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection included selling its Helios facility to Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. The $65 million deal aimed at bringing fresh capital and reducing the miner’s indebtedness.
Several investors launched a legal battle against Argo Blockchain at the beginning of the year, accusing it of breaching federal securities law during the IPO of its American depositary shares (ADS) in 2021. The company issued approximately 7.5 million stocks at the time, initially valued at $15 each. Nonetheless, the prices have slumped considerably since then.
Last but not least, the crypto miner saw its CFO Alex Appleton and CEO Peter Wall departing in February.
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