CleanSpark Expands Bitcoin Mining Operations with $1.15 Billion Capital Raise

According to Cointelegraph, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark is set to expand its mining and data center operations by raising capital through a $1.15 billion senior convertible note offering. The company aims to secure approximately $1.13 billion in net proceeds, potentially increasing to $1.28 billion if initial purchasers fully exercise their options to buy additional convertible notes. The offering is anticipated to close on November 13, contingent upon satisfactory closing conditions. CleanSpark plans to allocate $460 million of the proceeds to repurchase common stock from investors. The remaining funds will be used to enhance the company's power and land portfolio, develop data center infrastructure, repay outstanding Bitcoin-backed credit balances, and cover general corporate expenses. The repurchase of common stock will occur through privately negotiated transactions at a share price of $15.03, reflecting the Nasdaq closing price on Monday. This move follows a similar private convertible note offering nearly a year ago, where CleanSpark raised $550 million, closing on December 17, 2024. CleanSpark is currently the world's second-largest Bitcoin mining firm, following Marathon Holdings, with an operating hashrate of 46.60 exahashes per second (EH/s), as reported by Bitcoinminingstock.io. The expansion into AI data center infrastructure is a strategic move by major Bitcoin mining companies to diversify revenue streams, driven in part by post-Bitcoin-halving pressures. CleanSpark's shares surged by 13% following the announcement of its AI expansion on October 20. Scott Garrison, chief development officer and executive vice president at CleanSpark, highlighted Georgia as a strategic region for potential conversion and expansion. In a related development, Bitcoin mining company IREN signed a five-year agreement valued at $9.7 billion to provide Microsoft with access to Nvidia GPUs hosted within IREN’s data centers, underscoring the industry's growing synergy with AI. Earlier in June, Core Scientific announced a $3.5 billion deal with AI cloud provider CoreWeave to supply an additional 200 megawatts of infrastructure for CoreWeave’s high-performance computing operations. This deal is expected to generate over $3.5 billion during the 12-year contract period for the Bitcoin miner. The AI expansion has been pivotal for Core Scientific, which initially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022, two years before its relisting on the Nasdaq and subsequent AI pivot.