The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) put a cryptocurrency company under the spotlight. This time around, Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital was in the focus of regulators. The company announced that it has received another subpoena from the SEC regarding its 100-megawatt data center in Hardin, Montana. Here are the details…
Cryptocurrency company receives subpoena from SEC
According to Marathon’s quarterly report, released May 10, it received subpoenas on April 10 “regarding, among other things, transactions with interested parties” that occurred while building the facility in Montana. “We understand that the SEC may be investigating whether there have been violations of federal securities law. We are cooperating with the SEC,” he said. As Cryptokoin.com reported, this subpoena is the second subpoena Marathon has received regarding the facility. It also received a subpoena late in the third quarter of 2021 that the SEC asked the firm to produce a series of related documents and communications.
On May 9, Marathon announced that it has partnered with crypto-asset infrastructure firm Zero Two to build a large-scale Bitcoin mining facility in Abu Dhabi. The facility will consist of two mines with a total capacity of 250 megawatts, and Marathon said that while mining in Abu Dhabi would not normally be possible, the “custom-made immersion solution” would be sufficient to keep the mining rigs cool.” The announcement comes just two months after the Biden administration proposed a new tax for crypto miners operating in the US that would require them to pay a tax equal to 30 percent of the cost of electricity used while mining crypto.
Marathon reduced his damage
Meanwhile, Marathon, one of North America’s largest publicly traded crypto miners, reported its first-quarter loss per share was less than anticipated as the rising Bitcoin price and increased production helped the Florida-based company return to profitability. According to FactSet data, Marathon posted a net loss of $0.05 per share compared to its average estimate of $0.08. The loss was down from the previous quarter at $3.14 and the same period in 2022 at $0.12, according to Wednesday’s announcement. Revenue increased from $28.4 million in the previous three months to $51.1 million. This figure has changed little compared to the previous year. Analysts had forecast revenue of $48.8 million for the quarter.
Faced with operational hurdles last year, including the bankruptcy of one of its partners, Compute North, Marathon ramped up production. While the firm’s operational hashrate increased by 64 percent compared to the previous quarter, reaching 11.5 exahash/second (EH/s), Bitcoin production also broke a record with 2,195 BTC ($80 million) this quarter. Because the price of Bitcoin increased by more than 70 percent in the first quarter.
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