Almost $4B in bitcoin miner loans are coming under stress
The prolonged slump in Bitcoin is making it more difficult for some miners to repay the up to $4 billion in loans they have backed by their equipment, posing a potential risk to major crypto lenders.
A growing number of loans are now underwater, according to analysts, as many of the mining rigs lenders accepted as collateral have now halved in value along with the price of the world’s largest digital token.
Few miners have defaulted on their loans so far, but recent sales are showing signs of distress. Core Scientific Inc. sold more than 2,000 Bitcoin in May to help cover operational costs. Meanwhile, Bitfarms Ltd. offloaded nearly half of its mined tokens earlier this month to pay down part of its $100 million loan with Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. It has also taken out another machine-backed loan from New York Digital Investment Group LLC.
If the market doesn’t improve, analysts warn it could be an ugly scenario. Selling Bitcoin reserves puts further pressure on prices and the cost of equipment could fall even lower if lenders — looking to recoup their losses on defaults — start liquidating machines they repossess. The value of Bitmain’s popular S19 mining rig is down about 47% from a high of roughly $10,000 in November, according to data from Luxor Technologies Corp.
“Bitcoin miners, broadly speaking, are feeling pain,” said Luka Jankovic, head of lending at Galaxy Digital. “A lot of operations have become net IRR negative at these levels. Machine values have plummeted and are still in price discovery mode, which is compounded by volatile energy prices and limited supply for rack space.”
Bitcoin mining — which uses powerful computers to process records of transactions and earn rewards in the token — was among the most lucrative businesses in the run-up of crypto’s historic bull run. Margins could be as high as 90%. But loans for upgraded machines via traditional finance could be hard to come by or included high interest rates given the market’s volatility.
To fill the void, native crypto lenders such as Galaxy Digital, NYDIG, BlockFi Inc., Celsius Network Ltd., Foundry Networks LLC and Babel Finance began to accept rigs as collateral in addition to cash down payments. But now those lenders could be significantly undercollateralized, said Ethan Vera, cofounder of Seattle-based mining company Luxor Technologies. “They are nervous about their loan books, especially those with high collateral ratios.”