Core Scientific, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin miners, may be facing bankruptcy as it expects to run out of cash resources by the end of this year or sooner, according to an announcement made in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Stocks of the Nasdaq-listed mining company tumbled by some 70% in U.S. pre-market trading on Thursday after the announcement.
The company said on Thursday in the filing that it is “very difficult to estimate our future liquidity requirements” and it could “potentially seek relief under the applicable bankruptcy or insolvency laws.”
Core Scientific’s liquidity crisis comes amid a crypto winter, as low Bitcoin prices and high electricity costs erode profitability across Bitcoin miners.
Bitcoin, which traded at around US$67,000 in November 2021, changed hands at around US$20,616 on Thursday, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Core Scientific said that its operating performance and liquidity have been severely impacted by the prolonged decrease in the price of Bitcoin, higher electricity costs and global hashrate and the litigation with crypto lender Celsius Networks and its affiliates.
In a court filing last week, Core Scientific said that Celsius’ default on payments has affected its financial conditions and that it continues to lose about $53,000 per day to cover the increased electricity tariffs that it said Celsius refused to pay.
Core Scientific said in the Thursday SEC filing that it would not make payments due in late October and early November for several of its equipment and other financings, including two bridge promissory notes.
Core Scientific has cut monthly expenses and increased hosting services, the company added. It is also exploring strategic alternatives, including hiring strategic advisors, raising additional capital or restructuring its capital structure.
As of Wednesday, the company held 24 Bitcoins (US$497,000) and about US$26.6 million in cash, compared with 1,051 bitcoins and US$29.5 million in cash on September 30, according to the filing.
