Bitcoin mining company recoups $67M in debt selling 26,200 old rigs

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The crypto crash early this year hit hard, tanking the value of many coins. Bitcoin miners in particular had it rough with some of the biggest companies losing over $1B during the crash. The massive losses are continuing to be dealt with by crypto companies and lenders, and one has turned to selling off much of its mining hardware to offset the losses. You'll forgive me if I can't quite find the tears.

Tom'sHardware spotted the financial reports for one such company based in the US, called Stronghold Digital Mining. The statement noted that the company had recently managed to sell 26,200 of its mining rigs, recouping $67.4M in debt by doing so.

Given most hardware prices are back down to earthly levels, it's unlikely these second-hand machines were drawing outrageous prices. Especially given how worn out some of these rigs would likely be. Still, it seems a smart move financially for the company, which has managed to free up some cash for other investments during this time.

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Stronghold Digital Mining isn't out of the mining game, as the company still retains 16,000 mining machines. According to the report, it's planning to watch the market, potentially buying up new rigs at a better price if possible. For big mining companies like this, it will all depend on the cost of the hardware, efficiency of mining, and power prices.

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This kind of changing strategy sounds a bit risky but Stronghold Digital Mining also owns 165MW of power generation thanks to its Scrubgrass and Panther Creek plants. They burn coal refuse, which is a waste product from coal mining. As for as sustainability goes, this can release a lot of toxins into the environment but when done right can be mitigated.

Since getting rid of those mining rigs, Stronghold Digital Mining is currently selling off excess power generation. With another crypto crash it could be that the power itself is worth more than the machines were mining, or at least enough of a deficit to make the effort and waste involved worthless.

Of course if crypto doesn't recover we could see these kinds of companies dissolve the mining portions of their businesses completely. Please?

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Hope’s been writing about games for about a decade, starting out way back when on the Australian Nintendo fan site Vooks.net. Since then, she’s talked far too much about games and tech for publications such as Techlife, Byteside, IGN, and GameSpot. Of course there’s also here at PC Gamer, where she gets to indulge her inner hardware nerd with news and reviews. You can usually find Hope fawning over some art, tech, or likely a wonderful combination of them both and where relevant she’ll share them with you here. When she’s not writing about the amazing creations of others, she’s working on what she hopes will one day be her own. You can find her fictional chill out ambient far future sci-fi radio show/album/listening experience podcast right here. No, she’s not kidding.