New York Bitcoin Miner TeraWulf Restructures Debt

TeraWulf (WULF) is the latest bitcoin miner to restructure its debt obligations in order to stave off negative cash flow.

Miners like Bitfarms (BITF) and Greenidge Generation (GREE) have paid down or restructured their debt, as the bear market coupled with high energy prices over the last few months have taken a toll on the industry. Some of those that haven't been able to restructure have started Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedures, sold assets or faced margin calls.

Under the restructuring signed on Jan. 27, amortization of the term loan will be replaced with a free cash flow sweep mechanism through April 2024, according to a Wednesday press release. TeraWulf will also be able to extend the maturity date of its term term loan to April of 2024, as long as it manages to raise an undisclosed "requisite amount of equity proceeds by March 15, 2023."

On Wednesday, the mining firm announced a public offering of common stock, which it priced today calling for gross proceeds of $25 million. The offering is expected to close on or about February 6, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.

At the end of the third quarter of 2022, TeraWulf had $138.5 million of principal outstanding on the term loan.

TeraWulf stock was down 32% on Wednesday as of the time of writing.

The miner's cash reserves were running low in Q3 and TeraWulf is one of the most indebted publicly listed miners, according to data analyzed by CoinDesk in June.

TeraWulf has also raised $6.75 million in equity in the past several months. The two co-founders, Chief Executive Officer Paul Prager and Chief Operating Officer Nazar Khan bought $2.5 million in TeraWulf stock for $1.05 per share in a private placement, adding to the $15 million they have already invested in the company. They have also "received approximately $4.25 million in proceeds from the exercise of certain private placement warrants issued in December 2022," according to the press release.