Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF//TSX: BITF), a global Bitcoin
self-mining company, provided a Bitcoin (BTC) production and mining
operations update for February 2023.
“We are well-positioned for growth in 2023
following our 2022 infrastructure investments, our reduction in
cash burn, and our significant deleveraging that began last June,”
said Geoff Morphy, CEO of Bitfarms. “In strengthening our balance
sheet, we increased our financial flexibility to pursue strategic
growth opportunities that we believe are emerging as a result of
persistent and challenging industry dynamics. In addition, with
$22.4 million in credits for the purchase of miners and 40 MW of
built capacity at our Argentina farm, as soon as miners can be
imported there, we will require minimal capital outlays to bring on
substantial additional production.”
Ben Gagnon, Chief Mining Officer of Bitfarms,
said, “In February, we mined 387 BTC, increasing production by 30%
year-over-year although lowering the average BTC mined per day to
13.8 month-over-month. February production was primarily impacted
by unseasonably cold weather in Quebec as we curtailed over 10,000
MWh during an already short month. Additionally, network difficulty
is up 21.7% year to date following another 10% increase on February
24. While this reflects rising confidence in the industry, it also
emphasizes the advantage of Bitfarms being a low-cost
producer.”
CFO Jeff Lucas added, “In February, we paid off
two miner finance agreements: the $20.6 million facility with
BlockFi for $7.75 million and shortly after the $379,000
agreement with Reliz for $118,000. Combined, these actions have
materially reduced our total indebtedness and alleviated
the Company of $22.3 million in principal and interest
payments for just $7.9 million. These and other strategic
actions over the last 9 months have reduced our debt 86% from a
high of $165 million in June 2022 to just $22.7
million at month end, substantially strengthening our
balance sheet and improving cash flows through the reduction of
monthly debt payments.”
Mining Review
As a normal part of operations during the
winter, energy curtailment programs impacted production. As a
result of very cold weather in Quebec in early and late February,
Bitfarms temporarily curtailed operations there, supporting the
community by restoring over 10,000 MWh of power back to the local
power grids. The sustained cold weather and higher levels of
curtailment in February are not expected to continue into
March.
Key Performance Indicators |
Feb. 2023 |
Jan. 2023 |
Feb. 2022 |
Total BTC Mined |
387 |
486 |
298 |
Month End Operating EH/s |
4.7 |
4.7 |
2.3 |
BTC/ Avg. EH/s |
91 |
110 |
131 |
Operating Capacity (MW) |
188 |
188 |
116 |
Hydropower MW |
178 |
178 |
116 |
Watts/Terahash Efficiency (w/TH) |
39 |
40 |
43 |
BTC Sold |
387 |
486 |
15 |
February 2023 Select Operating Highlights
- 4.7 EH/s online as of February 28, 2023, up 104% from February
28, 2022 and no change compared to January 31, 2023.
- 4.25 EH/s average online, compared to 4.42 EH/s in January
2023.
- 91 BTC/average EH/s, down 17% from 110 in January 2023.
- 387 new BTC mined, up 30% from February 2022 and down 20% from
January 2023.
- 13.8 BTC mined daily on average, equivalent to about $328,400
per day and approximately $9.2 million for the month based on a BTC
price of $23,800 on February 28, 2023.
Mining Operations
- Mined Bitfarms’ 20,000th BTC with renewable hydropower since
the 2017 founding.
- Improved efficiency of newly unencumbered Bitmain miners in
Washington 16% from 31 w/TH to 26 w/TH with new firmware.
- Improved overall fleet efficiency to 39 w/TH.
- Started facility optimizations, repairs and preparation for
spring.
Bitfarms’ BTC Monthly
Production
Month |
BTC Mined 2023 |
BTC Mined 2022 |
January |
486 |
301 |
February |
387 |
298 |
Total YTD |
873 |
599 |
February 2023 Financial
Update
- Reduced total outstanding
indebtedness to $22.7 million as of February 28, 2023:
- Settled the outstanding principal
and interest due to BlockFi, totaling $20.6 million, for a cash
payment of $7.75 million.
- Paid off the $379,000 financing due
to Reliz for a cash payment of $118,000.
- Sold 387 BTC, generating total
proceeds of $8.3 million.
- Held 405 BTC in custody at
February 28, 2023, representing a total value of approximately $9.6
million based on a BTC price of $23,800.
Conferences and Events
Bitfarms plans to attend the following upcoming
events:
- March 12-14: Roth 35th Annual Conference, Laguna Nigel,
California
- March 22-23:
Sidoti’s March 2023 Small Cap Virtual Conference
About Bitfarms Ltd.
Founded in 2017, Bitfarms is a global, publicly
traded (NASDAQ/TSX: BITF) Bitcoin self-mining company. Bitfarms
runs vertically integrated mining operations with in-house
management and company-owned electrical engineering, installation
service, and onsite technical repair. The Company’s proprietary
data analytics system delivers best-in-class operational
performance and uptime.
Bitfarms has 10 mining facilities around the
world, which are located in four countries: Canada, the United
States, Paraguay, and Argentina. Powered by predominantly
environmentally friendly hydro-electric and long-term power
contracts, Bitfarms is committed to using renewable, locally based,
and often underutilized energy infrastructure.
To learn more about Bitfarms’ events, developments, and online
communities:
Website: www.bitfarms.com
https://www.facebook.com/bitfarms/https://twitter.com/Bitfarms_iohttps://www.instagram.com/bitfarms/https://www.linkedin.com/company/bitfarms/
Glossary of Terms
- BTC BTC/day = Bitcoin or Bitcoin per day
- EH or EH/s = Exahash or exahash per second
- MW or MWh = Megawatts or megawatt hour
- PH or PH/s = Petahash or petahash per second
- TH or TH/s = Terahash or terahash per second
Cautionary Statement
Trading in the securities of the Company should
be considered highly speculative. No stock exchange, securities
commission or other regulatory authority has approved or
disapproved the information contained herein. Neither the Toronto
Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, or any other securities exchange or
regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain
“forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements”
(collectively, “forward-looking information”) that are based on
expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news
release and are covered by safe harbors under Canadian and United
States securities laws. The statements and information in this
release regarding financial flexibility, strategic growth
opportunities, expansion of production in Argentina and other
future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking
information. Other forward-looking information includes, but is not
limited to, information concerning: the intentions, plans and
future actions of the Company, as well as Bitfarms’ ability to
successfully mine digital currency, revenue increasing as currently
anticipated, the ability to profitably liquidate current and future
digital currency inventory, volatility of network difficulty and
digital currency prices and the potential resulting significant
negative impact on the Company’s operations, the construction and
operation of expanded blockchain infrastructure as currently
planned, and the regulatory environment for cryptocurrency in the
applicable jurisdictions.
Any statements that involve discussions with
respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections,
objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but
not always using phrases such as “expects”, or “does not expect”,
“is expected”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, “plans”,
“budget”, “scheduled”, “forecasts”, “estimates”, “believes” or
“intends” or variations of such words and phrases or stating that
certain actions, events or results “may” or “could”, “would”,
“might” or “will” be taken to occur or be achieved) are not
statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking
information and are intended to identify forward-looking
information.
This forward-looking information is based on
assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time
they were made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance,
or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among
others, risks relating to: the Company’s outstanding indebtedness
(including in respect of any defaults thereunder); the global
economic climate; dilution; the Company’s limited operating
history; future capital needs and uncertainty of additional
financing, including the Company’s ability to utilize the Company’s
at-the-market offering (the “ATM Program”) and the prices at which
the Company may sell Common Shares in the ATM Program, as well as
capital market conditions in general; risks relating to the
strategy of maintaining and increasing Bitcoin holdings and the
impact of depreciating Bitcoin prices on working capital; the
competitive nature of the industry; currency exchange risks; the
need for the Company to manage its planned growth and expansion;
the effects of product development and need for continued
technology change; the ability to maintain reliable and economical
sources of power to run its cryptocurrency mining assets; the
impact of energy curtailment or regulatory changes in the energy
regimes in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates;
protection of proprietary rights; the effect of government
regulation and compliance on the Company and the industry; network
security risks; the ability of the Company to maintain properly
working systems; reliance on key personnel; global economic and
financial market deterioration impeding access to capital or
increasing the cost of capital; share dilution resulting from the
ATM Program and from other equity issuances; and volatile
securities markets impacting security pricing unrelated to
operating performance. In addition, particular factors that could
impact future results of the business of Bitfarms include, but are
not limited to: the construction and operation of facilities may
not occur as currently planned, or at all; expansion may not
materialize as currently anticipated, or at all; the digital
currency market; the ability to successfully mine digital currency;
revenue may not increase as currently anticipated, or at all; it
may not be possible to profitably liquidate the current digital
currency inventory, or at all; a decline in digital currency prices
may have a significant negative impact on operations; an increase
in network difficulty may have a significant negative impact on
operations; the volatility of digital currency prices; the
anticipated growth and sustainability of hydroelectricity for the
purposes of cryptocurrency mining in the applicable jurisdictions;
the inability to maintain reliable and economical sources of power
for the Company to operate cryptocurrency mining assets; the risks
of an increase in the Company’s electricity costs, cost of natural
gas, changes in currency exchange rates, energy curtailment or
regulatory changes in the energy regimes in the jurisdictions in
which the Company operates and the adverse impact on the Company’s
profitability; the ability to complete current and future
financings, any regulations or laws that will prevent Bitfarms from
operating its business; historical prices of digital currencies and
the ability to mine digital currencies that will be consistent with
historical prices; an inability to predict and counteract the
effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but
not limited to the effects of COVID-19 on the price of digital
currencies, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and
international travel and supply chains; and, the adoption or
expansion of any regulation or law that will prevent Bitfarms from
operating its business, or make it more costly to do so. For
further information concerning these and other risks and
uncertainties, refer to the Company’s filings on www.SEDAR.com
(which are also available on the website of the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov), including the annual
information form for the year-ended December 31, 2021, filed on
March 28, 2022. The Company has also assumed that no significant
events occur outside of Bitfarms’ normal course of business.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors
that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking
information. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or
update any forward-looking information other than as required by
law.
Contacts:
LHA Investor RelationsDavid Barnard+1
415-433-3777Investors@bitfarms.com
Actual Agency Lisa Helfer+1
646-373-9946mediarelations@bitfarms.com
Québec Media: TactLouis-Martin Leclerc+1
418-693-2425lmleclerc@tactconseil.ca
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