Bitcoin miner Greenidge signs $74M debt restructuring agreement with NYDIG

The deal, if executed, would essentially restructure the company into a hosting firm for Bitcoin mining rigs.

According to a Dec. 20 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Bitcoin (BTC) miner Greenidge has reached an agreement with its creditor, fintech firm NYDIG, to restructure approximately $74 million worth of debt. The deal, in the form of a non-binding term sheet, would result in a major change to Greenidge’s current business strategy, essentially transforming Greenidge from self-mining to hosting NYDIG’s mining rigs.

Under the agreement, NYDIG would purchase miners with approximately 2.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) of mining capacity to be hosted by Greenidge, which would facilitate NYDIG’s rights to a mining site within three months following the completion of debt restructuring and hosting agreements. In exchange for consideration amounting to the purchased miners and transfer of mining infrastructure and credits to NYDIG, the firm would agree to a debt reduction of $57 million to $68 million for Greenidge.

Additionally, Greenidge would collateralize a sizable portion of its unencumbered assets to secure the remaining balance of the NYDIG loan. The firm would retain ownership of miners with a capacity of 1.2 EH/s. As of Oct. 31, 2022, Greenidge had approximately 2.5 EH/s of mining capacity from roughly 24,500 miners in service.

However, the company also wrote that “there remains uncertainty regarding Greenidge’s financial condition and substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.” Last month, Greenidge used approximately $8 million of its cash during operations, of which $5.5 million went to principal and interest payments. As of Nov. 30, 2022, the company’s cash balance amounted to approximately $22 million. Greenidge also warned that “NYDIG and Greenidge will endeavor to enter into definitive documentation reflecting the terms described in this release, but there can be no assurances made that such terms will not change materially nor can there be any assurances made that the transactions discussed in this release will be consummated.”

In September 2021, Cointelegraph reported that Greenidge completed a merger with Support.com, a provider of customer and technical support solutions, to become a publicly listed mining firm on the Nasdaq. Since then, shares have plunged over 99%, partly due to a combination of the ongoing crypto winter, higher electricity prices, higher mining difficulty and lower market prices for Bitcoin mining rigs.