coindesk.com
Dallas-based bitcoin (BTC) mining startup Blockmetrix has raised $20 million in new debt from crypto-friendly commercial bank BankProv and digital asset exchange CrossTower, the company said in an emailed statement to CoinDesk.
The financing comes after Blockmetrix already raised $5 million in debt from the same lenders in December, making the total raise $25 million, The miner also raised $43 million in a Series B round in March, which was oversubscribed and included investors from the U.S., Australia and several Asian countries.
Blockmetrix didn’t provide the details of the terms for the debt. However, Blockmetrix CEO and co-founder Nevin Bannister told CoinDesk the proceeds from the new funding will go towards expanding its operations, including buying more mining machines and investing in joint ventures (JVs) to build infrastructure.
“This is what we call our colo-light strategy, wherein Blockmetrix partners with an industry-leading colocation developer and operator by contributing equity and functioning as an anchor tenant for the new venture,” Bannister said, adding that the JV partner will provide all of the developmental and operational expertise. “This allows Blockmetrix to significantly control our energy cost and secure locations for our rigs, while having a retained equity interest in the facility with no operational requirement.”
Blockmetrix’s current average hashrate is around 0.32 exahash per second (EH/s) and plans to expand it by more than 200% to 1 EH/s by the end of this year once the remainder of the mining rigs arrive and are plugged in. The year-end hashrate projection doesn’t include potential mergers or acquisitions of existing miners, which the company is currently considering, Bannister said.
BankProv provides debt capital solutions to bitcoin miners and other crypto-linked companies while CrossTower's mining offerings help both retail and institutional miners.
Read more: Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark Raises $35M in Equipment-Backed Debt From Trinity Capital