Bitcoin

Bitcoin miner Limestone GRIID merging with larger company | WJHL

Published

10 months ago

3 July, 2024

Bitcoin miner Limestone GRIID merging with larger company | WJHL

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LIMESTONE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Bitcoin mining company GRIID, which operates a facility in Limestone that has become the target of a lawsuit, has agreed to merge with a larger and more profitable Bitcoin mining company, CleanSpark.

Tennessee wildlife officials seek statewide ban on bear feeding

The deal would breathe new life into GRIID, which has lost millions of dollars over the past two years, and could boost the chances that it will invest in a replacement bitcoin mine in Johnson City. A court settlement requires the 25-megawatt (MW) Limestone mine, which opened in 2021, to close by March 2026.

The Las Vegas-based company and GRIID announced the news on June 27. GRIID, which went public in January but has continued to lose millions of dollars, will have about $55 million of its current debt under CleanSpark, which has been aggressively growing its Bitcoin mining portfolio this year. The deal, which was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close before the end of September.

GRIID is the parent company of Red Dog Technologies, which operates a Bitcoin mine near BrightRidge’s Bailey Bridge Road power substation in the New Salem community of Limestone. BrightRidge said in 2021 that Red Dog would be its largest energy consumer.

A Bitcoin mine is actually a collection of high-powered computers that perform complex calculations to “search” for new Bitcoins, each with a unique digital ID. The noise from the fans used to cool the computers at Limestone sparked a public outcry, eventually resulting in Washington County suing Red Dog and BrightRidge.

County Commission Approves Bitcoin Lawsuit Settlement

A deal struck last fall requires Red Dog to dismantle the Limestone mine by 2026, but GRIID CEO Trey Kelly told Washington County commissioners that the company hoped to move even sooner if it could find a new site and build a new facility.

But that could have been difficult to accomplish before the CleanSpark merger announcement. GRIID’s financial statements show it lost $18.6 million in 2023, after losing $61.6 million in 2022. The company lost $4 million from operations in the first quarter of 2024 and $6.5 million overall, and listed $75 million in debt and $21.6 million in notes payable as of March 31.

CleanSpark, on the other hand, reported a net profit of $127 million in Q1 2024, with almost no debt and over $650 million in cash and Bitcoin on hand.

Judging by the press release announcing the proposed merger, CleanSpark is looking to grow in Tennessee, where the Limestone facility is currently GRIID’s largest, with 55 MW of current capacity. GRIID also reported 80 MW of expansion plans announced in Tennessee.

“This acquisition would give us a clear and solid path forward over the next three years to accomplish in Tennessee what we have proudly achieved in Georgia over the past three years,” CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford said in the statement. “That achievement was building over 400 MW of infrastructure backed by valuable, long-term power contracts.”

He said CleanSpark should be able to grow the GRIID portfolio in Tennessee to more than 100 MW by the end of the year.

Next stop Johnson City?

The GRIID-Washington County deal costs GRIID $100 per day as long as it operates at its current location. The company has agreed to close the Limestone site once it begins operating elsewhere in Washington County, “including within the Johnson City limits…”

BrightRidge purchased 7 acres in the Buffalo Mountain Industrial Park on Jan. 31. Minutes from a BrightRidge board meeting stated that the property “is located within 1,100 feet of a TVA 161 (kilovolt) transmission line and an adjacent BrightRidge 69kV transmission line.”

BrightRidge told News Channel 11 in a statement that it purchased the land “for future uses, including infrastructure to improve system safety, reliability and quality. Additionally, the acquisition secures an industrially zoned parcel that is uniquely located in close proximity to TVA and BrightRidge transmission lines.”

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The concessionaire declined to comment on the possibility of relocating the Bitcoin Limestone mine.

GRIID CEO Trey Kelly responded to an emailed question and said the pending acquisition does not change the company’s commitment to the terms of the deal.

“We are exploring options to relocate the Limestone facility as agreed in the agreement,” Kelly wrote. “It is premature to identify any specific location at this time. This commitment remains unchanged as we work to close the merger.”

The recently acquired property, for which BrightRidge paid $525,000, sits in an I-2 (heavy industrial) zoning designation, Johnson City Planning and Development Services Director Will Righter told News Channel 11.

He said the city has been working on a “textual amendment” to its zoning ordinance that would put some logical parameters around Bitcoin mines and other “blockchain data centers.”

Righter said the city is trying to figure out where “would be the best place for one of these processing centers” and hopes to add blockchain data centers as an allowed use in the I-2 zone.

“These data centers were not thought of when the zoning code was written,” Righter said. “They’re popping up all over the country, and obviously with the issues that have happened in Washington County, we want to make sure that we have clearly stated where these things can be allowed in the city limits.”

Righter said that when a zoning code “is silent on something,” a local government can’t simply deny a use. “You’re tasked with finding a place that in the zoning code would best accommodate that use.”

He said the city has decided that I-2 is the most appropriate zone, adding that any Bitcoin mine would be subject to the city’s noise ordinance and also, according to the manufacturing process code, that it would not cause “obnoxious noise.”

The Buffalo Mountain property is less than a half-mile from the Garland Acres subdivision on South Roan Street and a large mobile home park. Johnson City’s noise ordinance sets maximum decibel levels in residential districts at 55 decibels between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. and 75 decibels at other times.

GRIID officials told Washington County in 2022, while a previous deal was being discussed, that an anticipated replacement facility would use a more advanced cooling system that would create significantly less noise than the fan-cooled system at Limestone.

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Bitcoin

What to watch for in the markets

Published

9 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Photo: Andrew Harnik (Getty Images)

After witnessing one of the largest global IT outages on record, affecting the travel, finance and healthcare sectors worldwideThis week is set to see more political drama, events, and earnings reports from tech giants.

Donald Trump’s ‘Lovefest’ Sets Jamie Dimon Up for Consideration for Treasury Secretary Job

Let’s take a look at what awaits us:

Major companies will release their earnings reports

Major tech companies and others will release their earnings reports this week, paving the way for what the second half of 2024 will look like.

Monday

Verizon will report earnings before the start of operations.

Tuesday

Coca-Cola, Comcast and UPS are all set to report earnings before the market opens.
Tesla will report earnings in the morning, while General Motors will report earnings in the evening.
Alphabet and Visa will report results after the market closes.

Wednesday

AT&T will release its report before the market opens.
Ford and Chipotle will report earnings after the market closes.

Thursday

Earnings reports from AstraZeneca, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines will be released before the market opens.

Trump to speak at Bitcoin conference

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will speak at the next Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennesseewhich is scheduled for July 25-27. While this is the first time a presidential candidate will attend the conference, it has sparked a debate over whether the crypto-friendly Trump will receive support from the crypto community in the upcoming election.

In addition to Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will also discuss crypto during the conference. Crypto advocates such as ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, and whistleblower Edward Snowden are among some prominent names who will be participating in the conference.

Ether ETFs are on the way

New Ether Spot ETFs are set to begin trading on Tuesday, July 23. Much like the spot Bitcoin ETFs, these ETFs will allow investors to buy the second most popular cryptocurrency like stocks. BlackRock, Ark Invest/21Shares, VanEck, Grayscale, Fidelity, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, and Invesco/Galaxy Digital are all set to offer Ether ETFs. Crypto asset manager Bitwise predict that trading in the Ether ETF will drive the price of Ether higher, potentially surpassing $5,000.

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Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency’s Biggest Winners and Losers in a Second Trump Presidency

Published

9 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Cryptocurrency’s Biggest Winners and Losers in a Second Trump Presidency

Bitcoin miners and cryptocurrency companies that have been blocked from going public in the U.S. could ultimately be the biggest winners in the digital asset world under a second Donald Trump presidency. Foreign companies at risk of losing market share could end up being the biggest losers.

That’s the view that’s taking hold among market participants and observers in the wake of the former president’s growing embrace of cryptocurrency as his chances of election grow. survey released Thursday by CBS News showed Trump with the majority — 52 percent — of likely voters in his likely November rematch with President Joe Biden.

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Cryptocurrency Markets Look Ready to ‘Send’ as Stars Align, According to Investor Chris Burniske

Published

9 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Cryptocurrency Markets Look Ready to ‘Send’ as Stars Align, According to Investor Chris Burniske

Cryptocurrency investor Chris Burniske says Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SUN) and the cryptocurrency market in general seem poised for a run.

Former Head of Cryptocurrency at ARK Invest account his 292,200 followers on social media platform X that several catalysts are aligning, suggesting that digital asset markets are on the verge of a bull run.

According to Burniske, a partner at venture capital firm Placeholder, the highly anticipated launch of Ethereum-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at an upcoming Bitcoin event, and the current state of the BTC, ETH, and SOL charts all suggest significant optimism for the cryptocurrency markets.

“With ETH ETFs set to go live, Trump speaking at The Bitcoin Conference, and BTC, ETH, and SOL charts looking [they do] (while stocks are weak), it’s hard to imagine a world where we don’t ship next week.”

Reuters recently reported that preliminary approval for ETH ETFs has been granted as the Bitcoin Conference is scheduled to take place from July 25-27.

BTC, ETH, and SOL are trading at $67,333, $3,528, and $174 at the time of writing, respectively.

The venture capitalist too provides an update on his prediction that the total crypto market cap will eventually hit $10 trillion. According to his chart, the path to $10 trillion is currently “23%” complete, as it sits around $2.2 trillion.

Source: Chris BurniskeX

Earlier this month, Burniske he said in an interview with Real Vision CEO Raoul Paul that he has his eye on the Move ecosystem, which was originally built by social media giant Meta and then used to develop layer 1 blockchains Sui (IUE) and Apts (APT).

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Bitcoin

Here’s the next target for BTC before bulls can hold out for $70K

Published

9 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Here’s the next target for BTC before bulls can hold out for $70K

Bitcoin’s recovery is going well, and the market is seemingly poised to create a new all-time high in the near term.

Technical analysis

Per NegotiationRage

The daily chart

As the daily chart shows, the price of Bitcoin has been rising since it broke above the 200-day moving average.

The market has also reclaimed the $60K and $65K levels and is moving towards the $68K resistance zone, which could be the last hurdle before creating a new all-time high. With the RSI also indicating that the price has clear bullish momentum, it could be just a matter of time.

Source: TradingView

The 4-hour chart

Looking at the 4-hour chart, it is evident that the price has been rising rapidly since breaking the downtrend line to the upside. The market also broke the $65K resistance level with momentum, turning it into a support.

While almost everything points to a new record high in the coming weeks, there is one worrying sign. The RSI is showing a clear bearish divergence between recent price highs, which could indicate a correction or even a reversal in the near term.

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Cryptocurrency Charts by TradingView.

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