Bloomberg: BlockFi sells ASIC-miner-backed loans worth $160 million

BlockFi, currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, a crypto-lending platform, is attempting to sell collateralized loans backed by around 68,000 bitcoin miners, worth about $160 million. Bloomberg reports, citing its own sources.

The auctions were opened last year, sources said. Some loans have already defaulted. Based on current market prices for mining equipment, collateral for some of the loans is insufficient.

The average price of an ASIC miner loan at BlockFi is about $2,350. According to Hashrate Index, the price of a latest-generation device on the current market is around $14 per TH/s. This means that the popular Antminer S19j is worth roughly $1,400.

During the 2021 bull run, miners borrowed aggressively, pledging equipment as collateral. Earlier, the total debt of industry players on such loans was estimated at $4 billion. In addition to BlockFi, loans were issued by NYDIG, Celsius Network, Foundry, Babel Finance and Galaxy Digital.

The latest step in a $65 million deal to acquire Argo Blockchain’s flagship data centre refinanced the mining company’s debt.

In January, Bitfarms said it could default on the remaining $20 million loan from BlockFi if it could not secure more favorable repayment terms.

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