Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain Halts Trading on NASDAQ
by Arthur · December 27, 2022
Bitcoin mining company Argo Blockchain has requested that trading of shares and unsecured notes on the NASDAQ exchange be suspended until Wednesday.
The contested company, which trades on both NASDAQ and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), said it is set to make a significant announcement before the start of Wednesday trading. Only the shares on the NASDAQ are paused.
This is set to include “inside information” and forward-looking statements regarding the firm’s “financial performance, business strategy and management’s plans and objectives for future operations.”
The news comes as Argo, like many other mining companies, is taking serious steps to restructure its operations amid an uncertain future for the sector.
IN an archiving disclosed earlier this month, the company said it was in “advanced negotiations” with an unnamed third party to support its ongoing business operations due to a lack of “sufficient cash”, and said it hoped to complete those transactions without having to file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
Those negotiations are said to include plans to sell “certain assets” to a third party and to review an equipment financing agreement that they hope will “strengthen the balance sheet and improve liquidity.”
Argo has been struggling to raise funds through much of late 2022, as it has been hit hard by factors such as high energy costs and falling Bitcoin prices. The firm has seen its shares fall by more than 95% during the year.
The company began sell off their Bitcoin reserves back in Juneearmarking of the capital for financing operating expenses.
In October, Argo failed to complete a planned fundraising of £24 million ($27 million) that sent its share price down a whopping 40%.
Rocky landscape for crypto miners
It is not just Argo that is looking towards restructuring, as investor confidence seems minimal at best.
Embattled miner Greenidge Generation said earlier this month there was “significant doubt” about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern and agreed to new repayment terms that will see its debt reduced by about “$57 million to $68 million”.
But this type of measure has not been enough to support other people’s fortunes. Core Scientific, one of the largest players in the industry, archived for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas last week, citing low Bitcoin prices and high fixed costs.
