Major Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital said it has taken proactive measures to strengthen its liquidity position.
In a Jan. 5 update, Marathon Digital announced a new record in quarterly Bitcoin production, ending Q4 2022 with a total of 1,562 BTC mined.
The firm said it had increased its unrestricted cash holdings to $103.7 million and unrestricted Bitcoin holdings to 7,815 BTC as of Dec. 31.
A good amount of this unrestricted Bitcoin came from freeing up its collateral obligations to Silvergate Capital, a publicly traded U.S. bank that deals with cryptocurrency.
Marathon freed up 3,615 BTC which was pledged as collateral against revolver loans to Silvergate, by fully paying them off for $30 million in December.
“Given the macroeconomic uncertainty heading into 2023, we decided to fully pay down outstanding balances under our revolving credit agreement,” said Marathon.
Marathon appears to be one of the only Bitcoin miners operational today that has not been struck by increasing headwinds of a declining crypto market and higher costs. A number of Bitcoin miners, including the largest publicly traded miner by hash rate, Core Scientific, filed for bankruptcy over the last few months after reporting large losses and insufficient liquidity.
Meanwhile, Silvergate has been forced to sell $5.2 billion worth of its assets for cash at a $718 million loss to generate liquidity for its balance sheet, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Silvergate’s customers pulled $8 billion worth of deposits from the bank after FTX’s collapse in November.
Silvergate’s role in facilitating the transfer of FTX user funds to Alameda Research has also become the subject of scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers. On Dec. 6, NBC News reported that Senators Elizabeth Warren, John Kennedy and Roger Marshall asked Silvergate CEO Alan Lane to provide details on its relationship with FTX and its related entities.
According to Lane, Silvergate conducted “significant due diligence” on FTX and Alameda and did not detect any concerning activity through the process.
Silvergate shares declined 42% at the time of markets’ closing on Thursday.
