Core Scientific, which says it’s the biggest U.S. bitcoin mining company, is going public via SPAC
Core Scientific, a cryptocurrency mining company, announced Wednesday that it will list on the Nasdaq by merging with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp.
Core Scientific was valued at approximately $4.3 billion by the deal with the company that acquired it for special purposes.
It is not known when trading will start. The ticker name has not been announced.
Core is a provider of hosting and blockchain infrastructure in North America. It also has operations in North Dakota and North Carolina.
Rival bitcoin miners Riot Blockchain, Marathon Digital and others have market capitalizations in excess of $2.18 billion each.
Core’s ‘blockchain infrastructure business is unparalleled, backed by more than 70 blockchain and infrastructure-related patents and applications,’ said Darin Feinstein, co-founder and co-chairman. “We are proud to have combined these two companies and moved forward into capital markets.
Bitcoin has had a wild year, peaking at more than $63,000 before crashing to a current value of around $30,500, but it’s still up more than 230% from a year ago as of Tuesday. Another way to speculate on the crypto craze is to invest in SPACs. These companies can be a bit more long-term than just speculating on currencies.
Core, which mints bitcoins, claims it has generated $60 million in 2020 revenue and expects to make $493 million in 2019. The company did not disclose its net income or loss.
Core has produced more than 3,000 bitcoin so far in 2021, Core’s Chairman and CEO Mike Levitt stated in an interview. Core also produced 1,683 bitcoin for its own account. Marathon’s mining fleet produced 846 bitcoin, while Riot produced 1,167.
Core is expanding its capacity at existing sites and looking to expand into one or two additional states. Levitt says that Core currently operates approximately 80,000 rigs and will have more than 300,000 miners by 2022.
“We are all sold out.” Levitt stated that every bit of infrastructure that we can build, and we are the largest, we have demand. “We are basically out of capacity until 2022 and we are building more.
Levitt, who was a private equity investor in data centers in 1990s, stated that Core’s business model goes beyond building huge warehouses and a few computers that run 24/7.
“What to Mine” is one project. Core developed an AI-powered program that optimizes mining across all bitcoin derivatives to maximize the return on the network’s current moment.
Core intends to channel $300 million of net cash proceeds into the company to finance growth.
Critics claim that cryptocurrency is a dangerous energy source and has an adverse impact on the environment. This is an issue Core has focused on since its inception. Core is a carbon-neutral 100% company. 56% of the company’s electricity comes from renewable sources including hydro and solar. To offset the remainder, the company purchases carbon credits.