The plunge in digital currency process in the past year has left its mark on currency mining company Bitfarms (TASE: BLLCF), traded in Tel Aviv. The company lost $18.2 million in 2018.
Bitfarms (formerly Blockchain Mining) will shortly be delisted from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Last Wednesday, the company filed a preliminary prospectus with the Ontario Securities Commission, with a view to a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company's share price has risen by nearly 80% since the start of 2018, but is still 90% below the peak to which it soared in December 2017, when Bitcoin was also at a peak.
The financials released yesterday show that Bitfarms lost $23.1 million in the second half of 2018, which compares with a net profit of $4.9 million in the first half. Revenue fell 48% to $11.5 million in the second half from $22.3 million in the first half. The company explains the decline in revenue by decline in the price of Bitcoin and an 81% rise in mining difficulty. The company also says that it mined fewer cryptographic coins than it expected.
Bitfarms CFO John Rim said, "2018 was a volatile year for the cryptocurrency industry and crypto miners. From the beginning of 2018 to December 31st, the price of Bitcoin decreased by 73% while network difficulty increased by 288% to its peak in October 2018. Despite the challenges, through continuous reinvestment of cash flow generated from our operations, careful financial planning and disciplined execution, we were able to achieve many operational growth objectives in 2018. We also successfully secured a large pipeline of economical, renewable energy that will allow us to continue to grow and scale going forward. With our recently secured $20 million debt facility, we are well-positioned to continue our growth and build upon Bitfarms’ strong position in the crypto mining space.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 1, 2019
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