Blockstream to raise $50m to expand ahead of next BTC halving

Major crypto mining firm Blockstream looks to raise $50 million to acquire mining equipment in anticipation of the next Bitcoin (BTC) halving.

During a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Blockstream’s mining sales head James Macedonio said that the firm wants to capitalize on what he described as a “huge separation” in the prices of Bitcoin and mining application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Blockstream plans to use Luxembourg-based digital securities marketplace STOKR to raise funds through the Blockstream ASIC (BASIC) Note.

Macedonio explained that the company would initially only secure $5 million in its series one offering, with each note worth $115,000. It will use those funds to buy ASICs on a large scale to store and resell after the demand for this hardware rises in 2024. The $50 million target will be reached in $5 million tranches.

The BASIC notes are meant to be a Bitcoin basis investment vehicle and are promised to “generate a Bitcoin-on-Bitcoin return.” Blockstream also expects that most investments will be made in Bitcoin as well.

Macedonio highlighted that ASIC prices are about one-tenth of their peak reported in December 2021.

“The price of Bitcoin is half of what it was, but ASICS are a tenth of what they were, and historically they’ve been highly correlated.”

Blockstream’s mining sales head James Macedonio

Not only the prices of cryptocurrencies have fallen, bringing down many companies with them. Macedonio also underscored how the rising energy prices further made mining less profitable, decreasing demand for mining hardware. Now he anticipates ASIC prices to rise again, and Blockstream plans to capitalize on this price movement.

Blockstream plans to acquire the most efficient Bitmain and MicroBT ASICs on secondary markets. Still, Macedonio admits that a rise in Bitcoin’s price will also drive the prices of less efficient machines. He predicted that “if Bitcoin goes to $70,000 or more, people will try to get their hands on any ASICs they can just to start mining because their profitability would be so great.”