Bitcoin Miner Iris Energy Says Some Machines Aren't Covering Financing Costs

The company's shares fell almost 9% in early trading.

AccessTimeIconNov 2, 2022 at 12:37 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 4:01 a.m. UTC

Bitcoin miner Iris Energy (IREN) said some of its mining equipment, owned by special-purpose vehicles, aren't producing enough cash to meet its financing obligations.

The firm also said Wednesday that the equipment has a market value "well below the principal amount of the relevant loans" and that it is in talks with the lender.

  • Breaking Down Bitcoin's Selling Pressure
    01:11
    Breaking Down Bitcoin's Selling Pressure
  • Nansen CEO Reveals Top Crypto Projects to Watch
    28:01
    Nansen CEO Reveals Top Crypto Projects to Watch
  • How Lower Interest Rate Could Impact the On-Chain Ecosystem
    00:51
    How Lower Interest Rate Could Impact the On-Chain Ecosystem
  • OpenSea Receives 'Wells Notice' From SEC; Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Indicted on 'Complicity'
    02:04
    OpenSea Receives 'Wells Notice' From SEC; Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Indicted on 'Complicity'
  • The company has three special-purpose vehicles specifically for financing the purchase of mining equipment. Together the three have $104 million of debt outstanding. That's secured against 3.8 exahash per second (EH/s) of mining rigs. The special-purpose vehicles aren't guaranteed by the parent company, and the lenders have no recourse to the company or any of its assets, Iris Energy said.

    Iris and its subsidiaries had $53 million of cash at of the end of October, according to the company.

    In September, Iris signed a deal to sell up to $100 million in equity to investment bank B. Riley over the next two years, which would give the bank a stake of up to 31% in the miner.

    The firm also said it is exploring opportunities to use data-center capacity that may become available, and has used an added portion of its prepayments to mining rig maker Bitmain, reducing the size of those unused prepayments to $75 million from $83 million.

    Bitcoin miners have been plagued by tumbling stock prices in recent months, as they have been squeezed by depressed crypto prices and soaring energy costs.

    Iris' shares fell almost 9% to $3.09 in early U.S. trading.

    UPDATE (Nov. 2 13:22 UTC): Adds additional info on Iris’ situation and background on mining industry.

    UPDATE (Nov. 2, 13:45 UTC): Adds details of special purpose vehicles in third paragraph; updates share trading.



    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Jamie Crawley

    Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.