Bitdeer’s $62m Bitcoin liquidation ‘not a concern’ as miner eyes land acquisitions

Bitdeer Technologies is attempting to soothe investors after revealing it had liquidated its remaining Bitcoin holdings over the weekend.

As of February 20, the Singapore-based Bitcoin miner holds zero Bitcoin on its balance sheet after it sold reserves of 943 Bitcoin, worth almost $62 million at current prices.

“Our decision to sell Bitcoin should not be a concern for the broader market,” Bitdeer said in a Monday X post.

“We are currently evaluating multiple non-binding powered land acquisition opportunities, and we believe it is prudent to prepare liquidity now.”

The move comes as many firms struggle to stay profitable by mining Bitcoin.

Rising energy costs and increased competition have squeezed all but the most efficient miners out of the market. Many of the largest firms have bought out their less successful competitors in recent years.

At the same time, Bitcoin’s recent plunge to a 15-month low has put even more pressure on miner profitability.

Bitcoin miners usually sell a portion of the Bitcoin they mine to cover their costs. So as the top cryptocurrency’s price declines, miners must sell more than they did before.

AI Pivot?

Bitdeer is the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner by hashrate, commanding hardware that produces 63.20 exahashs per second.

An exahash is a unit of measurement for computing power in Bitcoin mining, representing one quintillion hashes per second.

The firm operates data facilities in the US, Bhutan, and Norway. It has a market capitalisation of almost $1.5 billion.

In recent months, many miners — Bitdeer included — have pivoted to providing more profitable artificial intelligence and high-performance computing services.

Last week, Bitdeer announced a $300 million convertible notes offering and a $43.5 million equity placement, both aimed at funding data center expansion and AI services.

Bitdeer has since reassured investors that Bitcoin will remain a key part of its business.

“Our hash rate will continue to grow, and we will continue to mine more Bitcoin for the interest of our shareholders,” the firm said.

At the start of the year, Bitdeer held roughly 2,000 Bitcoin, which declined to 1,530 Bitcoin at the end of January.

Bitdeer’s Bitcoin liquidation is unusual compared to other mining firms.

Marathon, the second-biggest Bitcoin miner, held 52,850 Bitcoin, worth around $3.4 billion, per an October update.

CleanSpark, the fourth-biggest miner, held over 13,513 Bitcoin as of January 31.

Bitdeer shares, which trade under the ticker BTDR, haven’t moved in pre-market trading. The firm’s market capitalisation is down 72% from its October all-time high.

Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.