Since releasing its 3Q21 earnings report on November 30, 2021, Stronghold Digital Mining, Inc. (NASDAQ: SDIG), a vertically integrated Bitcoin mining firm with an emphasis on ecologically friendly operational processes, has inked four distinct contracts to purchase 9,080 Bitmain and MicroBT Bitcoin miners. Stronghold aims to supply 4,800 miners (denoting 426 PH/s of hash rate capability) by the end of 2021 or the start of January, with the remaining miners scheduled to arrive in the initial half of next year.
All of Stronghold’s mines will be situated in the company’s entirely owned restoration and electricity production facilities. Nearly $35.7 million was spent to procure the initial 4,800 miners, which equates to under $84 per terahash per second (“TH/s”). The rest of the 4,280 miners were purchased through a profit-sharing deal with Stronghold’s prevailing associate, Northern Data, under business terms that Stronghold deems to be extremely advantageous.
More than 54,000 miners with a hash rate capability of roughly 5.2 exahash per second (“EH/s”) have been deployed by Stronghold as part of formal buying agreements or as part of the installation of more than 54,000 miners.
Stronghold is a Bitcoin mining firm that is fully integrated and places a clear focus on ecologically friendly practices. Stronghold provides housing for its miners at its Scrubgrass Plant and Panther Creek Plant, and both are cost effective, ecologically friendly coal waste power production plants in Pennsylvania that are entirely owned and run by the company.
According to Greg Beard, co-chairman and CEO of Stronghold, “During our Q3 earnings call, we informed investors that we would persist to strategically acquire miners from a wide range of sources, as mandated by risk – return profile and prevailing capacity,” he said.
“The miner acquisitions, we think, will help us achieve our quick development goal, and the short-term delivery timelines for the open-market acquisitions will help us improve our projected return profiles and limit timing uncertainty.”
“Furthermore, the extension of our income sharing deal highlights our ability to build alliances with industry professionals in a way that provides a return profile that we feel is particularly appealing to our shareholders. Our proximity to power and the ability to connect miners is one of the primary advantages of our cost-effective, vertically integrated business strategy, and these acquisitions serve to stress that fact.”
Moreover, on December 15, 2021, Stronghold embarked on an equipment financing arrangement with NYDIG ABL LLC for a total amount of up to $54.0 million, which is subject to change. In addition, the firm has already received about $18.6 million as advance funding. The total amount of principle owing carries interest at a rate of 9.85 percent per year and will be returned over a period of two years, ending December 25, 2023. Stronghold is not liable for the loan, which is secured by the acquisition of 12,000 Antminer S19j Pro miners from Bitmain Technologies, Ltd.
“We think this offering illustrates our capacity to obtain non-dilutive capital at a competitive cost in a short period of time, according to Mr. Beard. Equipment finance is our favored non-equity form of financing due to its easy conditions and non-recourse format to Stronghold,” says the CEO of Stronghold.
“In light of the latest changes in the mining equipment financing sector, which is growing increasingly competitive and, as a result, making conditions very appealing for Stronghold, we are hopeful. We aim to continue to use moderate amounts of equipment finance with both current and new associates, as well as capital on the balance sheet and strategic monetization of our Bitcoin assets, to support our expansion goals in the foreseeable future.”
