As per court documents, on January 25 the bankrupt Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific filed an urgency petition requesting to sell Bitmain vouchers valued $6.6 million. According to the petition, the vouchers’ limitations render them worthless for Core Scientific’s company. The coupons can be utilized to cover 30% of any fresh order of S19 Miners from Bitmain, but cannot be redeemed for cash from Bitmain. The coupons are only valid for S19 devices, which offer a lower hash rate than Bitmain’s more current models.
“The Debtors do not think that using their liquidity to acquire additional S19 Miners, despite the existence of Bitmain Coupons, is the wisest use of their funds,” the business said.
In addition, the validity of Bitmain coupons will lapse between March and April 2023, when the business expects to have recovered from Chapter 11 restructuring. Additionally, Core Scientific said that company would not purchase any new S19 miners during or after its Chapter 11 reorganization.
In addition to the petition, the corporation has had conversations with Bitmain and two prospective third parties interested in purchasing the vouchers at a substantial discount. In instance, the selling of Bitmain coupons with a face value of $1.9 million for $285,000 and coupons with a face value of $4.8 million for about $713,000, both indicating 15% of the coupons’ face value.
The deal would add roughly $1,000,000 to the balance sheets of Core Scientific. “While the cumulative pricing of roughly $1 million would constitute a substantial discount to the roughly $6.7 million face value of the Bitmain Coupons, it would also portray considerable value over what these Bitmain Coupons are valuable to the Debtors and their estates, which is zero,” the company added.
As per the petition, the cryptocurrency winter caused a rush of S19 Miners to be available for sale on the secondary market, pushing down prices. Recent trades for S19 Miner coupons on the Voucher Exchange have happened at prices in the range of 15% to 25% of the face value of the coupon.
Core Scientific, one of the top cryptocurrency mining firms in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 21 owing to increasing energy expenses, decreased income, and the price decline of Bitcoin. Due to financial concerns, the corporation recently secured court clearance to borrow a $37.5 million loan from current creditors.
