Argo Blockchain mines the crypto vein

Argo is a publicly-traded blockchain technology company focused on large-scale cryptocurrency mining.

Headquartered in London, England, Argo is the only cryptocurrency mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Its energy-efficient, powerful mining operations are strategically located throughout North America.

Prices of a host of cryptocurrencies tumbled after a memo from the Chinese government saying transactions were illegal and would be banned was posted online.

Crypto watchers said the news was old – originally announced on 15 September and was already in the market – but that did not stop another round of price markdowns.

Traders highlighted the FUD ( fear, uncertainty, doubt) that is afflicting the crypto sector sparked by China’s increasingly aggressive stance.

In the memo, the People’s Bank of China (PboC) said it would seek to end “illegal activity” in cryptocurrencies.

(, , ) is launching a Nasdaq IPO of American depositary shares (ADS) which would, at the current market price, raise around GBP100mln.

The company, in a statement, said it is to sell 7.5mln ADS in the planned IPO with each ADS comprising ten ordinary shares of Argo (priced at 131p at Monday’s close).

(, , ) announced it secured an GBP18.05mln loan agreement with () LP, using a portion of its Bitcoin holding as collateral.

The loan has a maturity date of 29 October 2021.

(, , ), the cryptocurrency miner, is expected to continue to benefit from the disruption to global mining caused by the Chinese government’s crackdown on Bitcoin mining, according to broker finnCap.

The Chinese government’s May announcement that it would restrict mining of the cryptocurrency has materially reduced mining difficulty and led to a drop in the hash rate.

“As the impacts of the changes in China become clearer through H2 21, we will closely watch the development of the three key variables for Argo: the hash rate/network mining difficulty, the cost of mining machines, and the Bitcoin price,” finnCap said in a note on Tuesday.

(, , ) () () CEO Peter Wall tells Proactive long-term profitability and sustainability is paramount for the group, as it reports a profit surge in its first half as a boom in Bitcoin prices and an expansion of its crypto mining operations lifted revenues.

Wall says the crypto miner reported a pre-tax profit of GBP10.7mln, up from GBP0.5mln in the prior year, while revenues surged 180% to GBP31.1mln, reflecting the company’s increase in production as well as the rise in Bitcoin prices over the period.