Cryptocurrency mining company Argo Blockchain has sold its Helios mining facility to Galaxy Digital in a $65M deal, this has helped Argo to reduce its total debt by $41M.
On December 28, Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall formally announced an agreement to sell the Helios facility for $65 million to Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency investment company Galaxy Digital. Argo has already started paying out its Bitcoin mined to Galaxy in order to lower the debt.
Argo will also get a fresh $35 million equipment financing loan from Galaxy to aid in the ailing miner’s debt reduction. In a new Galaxy loan, “We’ve utilized the profits of that transaction to pay off the debt that we owed to NYDIG and a little amount to another secured lender,” Wall said.
The new deals are intended to lower Argo’s overall debt by $41 million, increase liquidity, and enhance the operational structure, all of which will enable the company to continue its mining activities, according to the CEO.
Wall said that under pressure from high energy expenses combined with the low Bitcoin price, the agreement was the “only conceivable road ahead” during the bear market.
The company has not sold any of its mining equipment, the CEO noted, despite Argo selling Helios. Wall said that those will continue to mine at the Helios site and that Argo had also secured a contract to continue using their mining equipment there. He declared:
“Staying at Helios will also allow us to continue to access power through the Texas grid and participate in the ancillary services, which are provided by Ercot.”
The agreement is made barely six months after Argo’s formal May 2022 launch of Helios. The biggest Argo mining operation, the Helios facility, is situated in Dickens County and can produce 200 MW of power. Comparatively, Baie Comeau, another Argo plant, runs at around 15 MW.
The information is released as Argo struggles to find funding after failing to obtain $27 million via the subscription for common shares.
Argo warned that it would have to close its doors in October since it has been unable to get additional funding. Midway through December, Argo said that it was seeking to avoid declaring bankruptcy by haggling over the sale of its assets and “engaging in an equipment financing deal.”
