Northern trade goes south

Crypto mining data center operator Compute North has filed for bankruptcy in Texas, the latest victim of a bear market environment driven by falling bitcoin prices and rising energy costs.

The petition was filed Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

According to the filing, the Minnesota-based firm owes up to $500 million to at least 200 creditors. Assets range from $100 million to $500 million.

In anticipation of available funds, Compute North stated that it would not have capital to distribute to unsecured creditors after paying administrative expenses.

Compute North was launched in 2017 as a crypto mining company, but in 2018 it changed its focus to providing co-hosting services. It grew to 100 employees in March and in April launched a 300-megawatt data center in Granbury, Texas. His website shows.

The firm last raised $385 million in debt financing in February, Crunchbase data shows. Mercuria, National Grid Partners and Generate Capital are among the investors.

Falling bitcoin prices and rising energy costs have hurt the profitability of crypto miners, with many home miners who once raked in cash from their own garages now struggling.

Arcane Research reports that bitcoin miners’ daily earnings have fallen by more than 10% in the past week, generating $17.9 million per day – the lowest since November 2020. This is down from $62 million in revenue per day at the peak of the crypto bull market in November. 2021.

Delays caused by supplier Compute North energy prevented one of its customers, Marathon Digital, from operating its mining machines for months earlier this year. Marathon hosted 40,000 mining machines at the company’s West Texas location, where 280 megawatts of bitcoin were mined.

Compute North and Marathon Digital did not return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.

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