Key Takeaways




Core Scientific states that the coupons are limited to S19 models



 The coupons can be used only to pay 30% of any new order of S19 Miners from Bitmain




Bankrupt crypto miner Core Scientific has now filed an emergency motion seeking to sell Bitmain coupons worth around $6.6 million. The Austin, Texas-based miner states that the coupons are limited to S19 models, which provide a lower hash rate output in comparison to Bitmain’s recent models.



“The Debtors do not believe that utilizing their liquidity to purchase new S19 Miners, even with the availability of the Bitmain Coupons, is the best use of the Debtors’ cash,” stated Core Scientific. According to court records, the coupons can be used to only pay 30% of any new order of S19 Miners from Bitmain and further cannot be exchanged with Bitmain for cash.”



The miner is reportedly also in talks with Bitmain and two potential third parties interested in buying the coupons at a significant discount. As per reports , the sale would result in an aggregate of nearly $1.0 million to Core Scientific’s balance sheets. 



“While the aggregate purchase price of $1.0 million would represent a significant discount to the around $6.7 million face value of the Bitmain Coupons, it would represent significant value above what these Bitmain Coupons are worth to the Debtors and their estates: zero”, the miner noted.



The miner first warned of the risk of bankruptcy in late October, stating that it won’t be paying some of its loan installments, causing its shares to fall by 80% on Nasdaq. In December, Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas owing to falling revenue and low BTC prices.



As per bankruptcy filing, Core Scientific’s estimated liabilities lie between $1 billion-$10 billion. As per its earnings report, at the end of the third quarter, the miner’s assets stood around $1.4 billion, whereas its liabilities were about $1.3 billion. The BTC miner has between 1,000-5,000 creditors, with the largest unsecured claim arising from investment bank B. Riley.



The latest development also comes amid a report that the BTC miner secured a $500 million fundraiser led by leading financial firms such as BlackRock, Apollo Capital, Kensico Capital, and Ibex Investors, among others. Despite the multi-billion losses suffered in 2022, the dismissed employees, and the bankruptcy filing, Core Scientific continued mining BTC to repay debtholders.