One of the largest bitcoin miners, Marathon Digital (MARA), said it terminated its credit facilities with Silvergate Bank, which said Wednesday it will wind down operations and liquidate its assets.
Marathon said that on March 8, the term loan prepayment was completed, and the company’s credit facilities with Silvergate Bank were terminated, reducing its debt by $50 million, according to a statement. The debt paydown also increased its unrestricted bitcoin holdings by 3,132 as the bitcoin that was being held as collateral by a third-party custodian, were returned to the miner, the statement said.
“We have reduced our leverage by approximately $50 million, immediately freed up approximately $75 million in bitcoin that was being held as collateral for the term loan, and reduced our annual cash interest costs and facility fees by approximately $5 million,” said Hugh Gallagher, Marathon’s CFO in the statement.
The company has been taking steps to shore up its balance sheet by paying off some of its debts and freeing up its restricted bitcoins that were being used as collateral. In January, Marathon said that it fully paid off $30 million in revolver loans with Silvergate in December, freeing up 3,615 bitcoins (BTC) that had been pledged as collateral.
The company also sold 650 bitcoin in February, following its sale of 1,500 bitcoin in January, to pay for operating expenses and general corporate purposes. In after hours trading on Wednesday, Marathon shares were down about 1%, in line with bitcoin’s decline.