Hut 8 secures $50M loan to boost ‘financial flexibility’ ahead of merger, halving

Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 aims to enhance its “financial flexibility” by securing a loan prior to its upcoming merger with US Bitcoin Corp. and the anticipated bitcoin halving.

The proceeds of a $50 million credit facility — with lender Coinbase Credit — is to be used for “general corporate purposes,” the company said Monday, though declined to detail specific uses.

Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton added in a statement that the credit facility allows the company to maintain its “dynamic bitcoin treasury management strategy” ahead of the next bitcoin halving. 

The supply of new bitcoins awarded to miners is halved at each halving event. Data from BitOoda indicates that bitcoin (BTC) prices have typically increased in the six months following each of the previous halvings.

Read more: Bitcoin halving a year out: Here’s what to expect

“We have one of the largest self-mined bitcoin stacks of any publicly traded company, and this credit facility allows us to maintain our HODL strategy while giving us financial flexibility,” a Hut 8 spokesperson told Blockworks in an email.

Hut 8 sold more bitcoin than it generated in May — producing 147 BTC during the month while selling 179 BTC for $6.8 million. Still, the company had 9,233 “unencumbered” bitcoins in its reserves as of May 31, it said in a June 9 news release. 

The credit facility also comes as Hut 8 prepares to close its merger with US Bitcoin Corp — a deal first revealed in February.

Hut 8 said earlier this month that the combined company, set to be called Hut 8 Corp, is set to have a hash rate capacity of 7.5 exahashes per second (EH/s) across facilities in Alberta, Canada, as well as in New York, Nebraska and Texas.

A $15 million term loan is expected to be funded around the time of the credit facility’s closing, as well as the option for an additional $20 million one or two months later. A third loan tranche of an additional $15 million would come within 15 days after Hut 8’s combination with US Bitcoin Corp. is final.

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