Crypto Miner Greenidge Generation Seeks Debt Restructuring

Aiming to stave off bankruptcy, crypto miner Greenidge Generation is aiming to restructure its debt.

The firm said in a Tuesday (Dec. 20) press release that it is working to restructure a significant portion of its debt with NYDIG.

“If we complete this debt restructuring, this would improve our future liquidity and would provide a significant step toward the improvement of our balance sheet,” Greenidge CEO Dave Anderson said in the release. “In addition, we believe that the contemplated terms of a concurrently executed hosting arrangement would allow us to continue participating in the future upside potential of bitcoin.”

On Monday (Dec. 19) Greenidge entered into a nonbinding term sheet with NYDIG that would restructure its $74 million of debt remaining with NYDIG, reduce its debt by $57 million to $68 million in exchange for miners, transfer credits and coupons, and transfer its acquired mining infrastructure that has not yet been deployed, according to the press release.

Under the nonbinding term sheet, Greenidge would also provide additional collateral to secure the remaining debt balance with NYDIG, the release said.

Greenidge and NYDIG would also enter into a long-term hosting arrangement in which the former would provide hosting services for energy capacity and the latter would pay a hosting fee covering the costs of power and of management of the mining facilities.

Currently, Greenidge is facing an average monthly cash burn rate of $8 million, of which $5.5 million is principal and interest payments to NYDIG, according to the press release.

“In the absence of additional liquidity, the company is at risk of having insufficient cash to support ongoing business operations within the next two months,” the release said.

“We are pleased to continue working with Greenidge,” NYDIG Head of Structured Financing Trevor Smyth said in the release. “As the company optimizes to account for current market conditions, we look forward to working together on potential future strategic opportunities and remain strident believers in the ongoing promise of bitcoin.”

In related news, New York imposed a two-year moratorium on some forms of crypto mining in November.

A law signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Nov. 22 imposed the moratorium on crypto mining that is powered by fossil fuels and uses proof-of-work authentication methods.