Bitcoin miner Greenidge Generation said fourth-quarter preliminary revenue rose 23% from the third-quarter even as the number of bitcoins produced fell 16%.
- Greenidge said in a statement that fourth-quarter revenue rose to about $44 million compared with the third-quarter’s $35.8 million.
- The Dresden, NY-based miner also said its hashrate climbed 17% to 1.4 exahash per second (EH/s) as of Dec. 31.
- While Greenidge mined about 609 bitcoins in the quarter, a drop of 16%, the price of bitcoin touched a record high near $69,000 during the period.
- Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization is expected to be $18 million to $20 million, the company said. That’s lower than the third quarter’s $21.2 million.
- The miner said it had $85 million in cash and short-term investments, of which only $2 million was in cryptocurrency holdings, implying it potentially monetized most of the coins it mined, a practice that was mentioned in its recent prospectus filing.
- Greenidge has been recently in the middle of energy debate, as Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned its energy consumption and the environmental effect of its operations.
- The stock has fallen about 27% this year, sliding along with other crypto miners as bitcoin prices experienced a sharp sell-off from November’s highs. Greenidge shares are down about 6% on early trading on Wednesday.