A large cryptocurrency mining store sells almost all of its bitcoins

Core Scientific, among the largest publicly traded cryptocurrency mining operators in North America, sold nearly all of its bitcoin holdings last month.

why does it matter: Crypto miners typically enjoy large profit margins similar to those in the luxury goods sector, but with bitcoin dropping below $20,000 in the past month, some operators have begun selling cryptocurrency stocks strategically to counteract the market turmoil.

News leadership: The crypto-mining store sold 7,202 bitcoins at an average price of nearly $23,000, totaling about $167 million in revenue in June, according to the company.

• It also said it shut down data center operations for a total of 2,472 megawatt hours per month.

in numbers: Core Scientific as of June held 1,959 bitcoins; In May the store reported possession of 8,058.

what are they saying“We are working to strengthen our balance sheet and enhance liquidity to address this challenging environment,” CEO Mike Levitt said in a statement on Monday.

• Calls to Core Scientific with additional questions have not been returned in time for publication.

between the linesPublicly traded cryptocurrency companies are being hit by a double whammy from stock market turmoil and a drop in coin prices.

• It will also suffer massive impairment charges due to an accounting problem with the SEC that required it to write down digital assets held on the balance sheet to the lowest price achieved during the quarter.

details: Core Scientific owns and operates data centers in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and North Dakota.

• The company also has operations in Texas with plans to expand there, as well as in Oklahoma, this year.
• Its revenue is split almost 50/50 between helping its clients mine cryptocurrency and mining for itself.
• Last month, autonomous mining took up 57% of capacity for data centers and mining operations, according to Core Scientific.

what we’re watchingWe’ll see what this means for Core Scientific, and other publicly traded miners, when the earnings kick in.

• Canadian self-mining company Bitfarms reports that it sold its bitcoin stack, moving away from its “collective strategy” in June.

What’s NextCore Scientific is expected to report second-quarter earnings on August 11.