Elain Brown Tech 04.26.2022 15:Apr PM EDT

Bitcoin Mining Company CleanSpark Raises $35 Million in Capital— Will This Pave the Way for Sustainable Crypto Mining?

Bitcoin miner CleanSpark secures equipment with $35 million in funding.

CleanSpark, a company based in North America, officially raised $35 million in equipment financing, backed by 3,336 new S19j Pro bitcoin miners from Trinity Capital, a provider of venture debt financing. CleanSpark expects to be able to use the money to fund expansion-related capital expenditures in the near future.

CleanSpark's Bitcoin Mining Fund

CleanSpark has raised $35 million in equipment financing from Trinity Capital, a provider of venture debt financing.

The equipment financing is supported by 3,336 new S19j Pro bitcoin miners.

In a press release, CFO of CleanSpark, Gary Vecchiarelli stated,"As we mentioned in our Q1 earnings call, debt capital is currently the lowest cost of capital available to the company. This non-dilutive facility is an example of us delivering on our capital strategy and the expectations we have previously communicated."

"We intend to continue our efforts of obtaining non-dilutive capital to finance our growth capex needs. It is worth noting that we have not drawn on our ATM since November," Vecchiarelli added.

The financing agreement, which has a three-year interest rate of 9.9%, requires the pledge of approximately 3,336 new S19j Pro Miners as collateral. The S19j Pro is a piece of crypto mining equipment. These powerful devices have a hashrate of 100,000,000,000,000H, which makes them able to mine Bitcoin.

CleanSpark has made it clear from the beginning that it will utilize its funding to support its capital expenditures for growth.

According to CoinDesk, in an earnings call in February, the company stated that it prefers to raise capital through the granting of rig-backed debt and that it is in active discussions with lenders to accomplish this goal.

Aside from the funding they raised, CleanSpark also added that monetizing some of the company's bitcoin (BTC) holdings through sales and/or yield is one of the options the company is looking into.

CleanSpark's Sustainable Mining

CleanSpark mines Bitcoin using 100% renewable energy. According to CleanSpark, their sustainability efforts account for variations in local energy mixes by purchasing renewable energy credits and deploying distributed energy systems onsite once facilities have reached scale.

CleanSpark's loan is secured by the company's assets. The terms are similar to those of a loan financing transaction completed by Trinity Capital last year, in which the company lent a $30 million equipment-backed loan with a three-year term and a 9.5 percent interest rate to another crypto miner, Hut 8 (HUT), to fund its operations.

Crypto mining is the process by which new units of cryptocurrency, commonly referred to as coins, are created. Computers and processors are used in cryptocurrency mining to perform all of the heavy lifting, such as solving complex mathematical problems. In the cryptocurrency world, crypto mining is the process of creating individual blocks that are added to the blockchain by solving complicated mathematical problems.

A primary goal of cryptocurrency mining is to verify cryptocurrency transactions and demonstrate proof of work by adding this information to a block on the blockchain, which serves as a ledger for mining transactions. Crypto mining is an energy-intensive process that necessitates the use of expensive hardware and software.

As every other industry transitions to green energy sources and iterates on reducing its carbon footprint, cryptocurrency mining is following suit. Cryptocurrencies are continuing to gain mainstream acceptance, but the question of their impact on the environment remains a concern for the industry as it grows in popularity.