Bitfarms Seeks Modification of Equipment Loan Facility to Align with Market Conditions
This news release constitutes a “designated news release” for the purposes of the Company’s prospectus supplement dated August 16, 2021 to its short form base shelf prospectus dated August 12, 2021.
TORONTO, Ontario and BROSSARD, Québec, Jan. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitfarms Ltd. (“Bitfarms” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: BITF // TSX: BITF), a global Bitcoin self-mining company, is working to modify and reduce indebtedness at one of its wholly-owned corporate subsidiaries.
Jeff Lucas, Chief Financial Officer of Bitfarms, stated, “During 2022, Bitfarms began taking proactive actions to increase financial flexibility and to reduce indebtedness and capital expenditure obligations. Considering today’s challenging market conditions, we are seeking to modify our Washington state debt facility to achieve terms that are better aligned with the market outlook and our business strategy.”
On February 18, 2022, Bitfarms’ Backbone Mining Solutions, Inc. (“BMS”) entered into a $32 million equipment financing facility with BlockFi Lending LLC (“BlockFi”). BMS owns and operates the assets of Bitfarms’ 20-megawatt active crypto mining facility in the State of Washington. The loan is secured by certain assets of BMS, including its miners and certain Bitcoin produced by those miners and is recourse only against BMS. The current market value of the assets securing the loan is estimated by BMS to be approximately $5 million, while the outstanding principal and interest is approximately $20 million. As a result, the Company determined that it would be advisable to seek more favorable terms from BlockFi and potentially take other steps to reduce the BMS obligations. The Company has taken certain actions, and may in the future take other actions, including not making installment payments, that constitute defaults under the loan agreement and entitle BlockFi to exercise various rights and remedies against BMS and in respect of the collateral. Neither a restructuring on more beneficial loan terms nor a reduction in BMS’s indebtedness is assured. BlockFi’s exercise of its rights and remedies against BMS and its collateral could result in additional charges to the Company and potentially even the cessation of operations at the State of Washington facilities.
As of December 31, 2022, Bitfarms and its subsidiaries had cash and unencumbered crypto assets with a value of approximately $36 million, which the Company believes provides sufficient liquidity to support ongoing operations for the foreseeable future and to make future payments under its various other loan agreements. Bitfarms and its subsidiaries have approximately $47 million of outstanding indebtedness, including approximately $20 million indebtedness under the BlockFi loan.
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 housed 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.
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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 the strategy taken in respect of the BlockFi loan, the benefits of the restructuring of the terms of the BlockFi loan, the ability to service the outstanding indebtedness of the Company, 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: BlockFi’s potential exercise of rights and remedies against BMS as a result of defaults under the loan agreement and applicable law, including remedies in respect of its collateral, which could result in additional charges to the Company and the cessation of operations at the State of Washington facilities; potential cross-defaults under other indebtedness of the Company as a result of events of default under the BlockFi loan; the Company’s liquidity generally; 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 Relations
David Barnard
+1 415-433-3777
Investors@bitfarms.com
Actual Agency
Matt Weaver
+1 339-234-3332
mediarelations@bitfarms.com
Québec Media: Tact
Louis-Martin Leclerc
+1 418-693-2425
lmleclerc@tactconseil.ca
