Share this article

Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark Surges on Plan to Sell Legacy Energy Business

BTIG analyst Gregory Lewis sees higher growth with the company's new strategy.

Updated May 11, 2023, 6:44 p.m. Published Feb 10, 2022, 6:40 p.m.
CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford (CoinDesk archives)

Shares of CleanSpark rose sharply on Thursday on news that the company plans to sell its legacy energy business in order to focus on its faster-growth bitcoin mining operations.

  • The stock was recently up nearly 15%, far outpacing today’s gains for the rest of the crypto mining industry.
  • CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford announced the company's new strategy along with the release of its fiscal first-quarter earnings report late Wednesday.
  • BTIG analyst Gregory Lewis says the plan has the “potential to flip the script and drive incremental growth.”
  • The company has a current hashrate of 2.1 exahashes per second and another roughly 1.9 EH/s on order, Lewis wrote, with a hoped-for year-end hashrate of about 4.0 EH/s. He figures CleanSpark will need about $40 million in capital expenditures to hit that number.
  • Speaking on its earnings call, CleanSpark management said that it prefers to raise the capital by issuing rig-backed debt and that the company is in active talks with lenders. Other options include monetizing some of the company's holdings, which doesn’t necessarily mean just sales, because it might include yield strategies, as well.
  • BTIG’s Lewis maintained his buy rating and 12-month price target of $30 on CleanSpark's shares, which is triple the current levels.

Read more: Bitcoin Miner Iris Energy Reports Record Earnings, With Expansion on Track

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

More For You

Solana CME Futures Fell Short of BTC and ETH Debuts, but There's a Catch

Solana CME futures first-day activity compared to BTC and ETH debuts. (CME/K33 Research)

When adjusted for asset market capitalization SOL's relative futures volume looks better, K33 Research noted.

What to know:

  • Solana's SOL futures began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Monday, with a notional daily volume of $12.3 million and $7.8 million in open interest, significantly lower than the debuts of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) futures.
  • Despite the seemingly lackluster debut, when adjusted to market value, SOL's first-day figures are more in line with BTC's and ETH's, according to K33 Research.
  • Despite the bearish market conditions, the launch of CME SOL futures offers new ways for institutions to manage their exposure to the token, said Joshua Lim of FalconX.