TeraWulf Starts Nuclear-Powered Bitcoin Mining With Nearly 8,000 Rigs at Nautilus Facility

Terra Wolf has begun operations at the first nuclear powered Bitcoin mining facility in the United States with nearly 8000 mining ranks online representing computing power or hash rate of about one ex hash per second. Joining us now with more is Carrie Lang. She's the Chief strategy Officer at Tara Zero Carbon Bitcoin miner. Carrie. Good to see you this afternoon. So the company expects to have about another 8000 rigs energized in the coming weeks and capacity at your Pennsylvania based Nautilus facility to 1.9 hashes per second by May tell us about these plans. Yes, thanks for seeing for having me. Uh We're really thrilled and excited. Um Terol has two sites, one in New York that began mining um in March of last year, um which is predominantly hydro and then our nautilus facility which is a partnership with Talon Cumulus coin um is a is a behind the meter, 100% nuclear powered Bitcoin mining facility. Um We have 50 megawatts of capacity there and um you know, we started mining earlier this month and have brought on about 50% of our miners, about 16,000 miners. So we're about halfway there. Um And we expect to energize the remaining 50% in the coming weeks. So we're, we're thrilled. Uh We've been really happy with the results so far. Uh And they're just excited to actually begin producing Bitcoin from that site. What can you say about the market conditions for miners right now? Are miners ready to rise? I think if listen, it's been a very long and cold winter. Um Despite the lack of snowfall in New York City, it's been chilly uh in the market. Um So we, you know, during this time, we've really had our heads down and trying to sort of brave the storm we've been building. And so I think we are all very excited to be sort of in our view on the other side of, of those market challenges and really to start producing the Bitcoin and delivering value to our shareholders. So there's no doubt it's been challenging. I think what we've seen is there are a lot of, you know, there's more than 25 public Bitcoin miners in this space. Um You know, some of which have sort of shaken out during this difficult market. I think there'll be consolidation to come. And so for us, we're just happy to uh start deploying our equipment and our facilities. Um And, and, you know, sort of looking to the next phase of growth, um which we will think will not only be just in terms of efficiency of our machines and equipment, but also growth in terms of potentially combining with other folks. So how has Tara will specifically been able to weather this storm where others we've seen copied north others with big debt uh having to declare bankruptcy. You know, it, it, it, it, it's, it takes a lot of finesse and a lot of hard work and we are uh infrastructure entrepreneurs and um executives by background. And so um development is not something that we are new to. Um we've been through our share of cycles um in the oil and gas and energy sectors before. And so I think, you know, we sort of took a hunker down and, and execute mentality. And so in, in focusing on deploying our resources in the most effective way, we can realizing that the capital markets may not be as accessible as we had expected. They would be when we went public in December of 2021. So I think um it's a lot of hard work. A testament to the team, our um you know, terol does have debt and we were uh we have a very collaborative group of, of lenders that worked with us and see the value in the company. And so we were able to restructure that and make that uh the terms of that debt conducive to, to really enabling terrible, to operate its business and sort of get the full deployment of our machines. Yeah, I see. Uh Ter Wolf had to embark on a series of cost cutting measures back in November and raised $10 million in new capital in December to repay some of its debt. Uh You also have several high profile investors including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and a comedian and actress, Mindy Kaling, which have all invested in Wolf. I, I wonder how that happened and I don't know, do they have a say or a contribution in what goes on at? So we're really excited to have the support of all of our investors. This has not been an easy ride uh for anybody and it's really been the investors and their support. Uh and steadfast, it's enabled us to sort of keep going and you know, remain focused on the prize. I think, you know, we are, we are encouraged to see, you know, high profile or not high profile, anybody really come to our name and see the value that we add and how we differentiate ourselves among others. Um So again, II I think all I can comment on that is really that we appreciate their contributions and support. Um And Wolf and does the restructuring have anything to do with the renegotiation of your, your bit main contract? So part of the work that we did over the course of last year, in addition to restructuring our debt to make that a cash flow sweep and, and in lieu of a fixed amortization payment was we had deposits um with, with our uh equipment supplier, Bit Main for equipment that had not yet been delivered. And during the course of the contract, obviously, Bitcoin mining prices came down quite significantly. Um So part of the restructuring work that we did do was was monetize um those, you know, quote unquote stranded deposits and monetize those into equipment at much more favorable prices that could be delivered immediately. Have you had to sell your Bitcoin in order to stay afloat? Yeah. One of the thing, I think um one of the things that I think differentiates um terrible from its peers is we are not a sort of growth at any cost or uh we don't employ that strategy or a hole strategy. And so to the extent we need to monetize Bitcoin uh to fund our operations, we will do that um rather than dilute shareholders at their expense. Ok. Are you able to say how much you've, you've sold? Um We, we, we actually been selling the Bitcoin that we've been mining to date. So, uh we, we have a regular monetization program and I think once we get to steady state, we're anticipating that our full um 5.5 of hash will be operational in the second quarter here. Uh And until that time, we're going to continue to monetize and use our capital the most effective way we can. Carrie last question, what's your outlook on Bitcoin? Listen, I'm very bullish. I think, um you know, all of the indicators, I know that the segment just prior to that was pointing to some, some bearish uh signals. But I think we feel very confident in our business and the value that we bring to the table um in terms of Bitcoin. Um You know, I think that there is a very good prospect for an increase and that's what we're focused on. Uh our break even cost to produce a Bitcoin is 16,000. Um So we're very comfortable in this sort of 22,000 range and are hopeful that it will get even better. All right, Carrie, thank you so much. That was Taro of Chief Strategy Officer Carry Lang.