coindesk.com
Bitcoin BTC$76,407.76 miner-turned-data-center developer Cipher Digital reported a $31.6 million quarterly profit despite a 63% revenue decline, helped by a $127 million accounting gain tied to warrants issued to Google.
Revenue fell to $26.7 million in the third quarter from $71.7 million a year earlier, according to the company's November 2 SEC filing. Bitcoin mining contributed $20.8 million, down 71%, as Cipher moved computing capacity away from mining and toward leasing data centers to artificial intelligence companies.
Cipher reported net income of $31.6 million for the third quarter, or 8 cents a share, which came from a $127 million non-cash gain on the fair value of its warrants.
But counting the shares those warrants and its other dilutive securities could add, the quarter swings to a loss of 22 cents a share, according to the company’s business update filed with the SEC.
The company earned its first revenue from that business during the quarter, collecting $5.9 million after the initial phase of its Black Pearl data center in Texas began operations in August.
Cipher stopped mining bitcoin at the facility in February to prepare it for the new tenant.
The transition comes with substantial costs. Cipher reported a $71.9 million operating loss, compared with $37.6 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes certain accounting items, fell to a negative $10 million from a positive $40.8 million.
The reported net profit largely came from a $127.2 million noncash gain from revaluing warrants issued to Google, which agreed to backstop certain lease payments from AI infrastructure company Fluidstack. This accounting adjustment, however, does not represent cash received by Cipher.
Meanwhile, the company is betting on a much larger business ahead. It recently expanded its Barber Lake data center lease to 20 years, bringing contracted revenue at the site to approximately $9.1 billion.
