On July 7, 2022, HIVE Blockchain Stock Technologies, released the production figures from its global Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) mining operations for June 2022. According to the figures released, HIVE Blockchain Stock had a BTC HDOL balance of 3239 BTC, and 7667 ETH as of July 6, 2022.
Details of the June Production Figures
According to the press release, HIVE was able to produce the following tokens from its global mining operations in June 2022:
- 278.5 BTC
The company started the month of June with a BTC mining capacity of 2.17 Exahash, which grew to 2.24 Exahash during the month, before falling to 2.0 Exahash at the end of the month. The slight drop was occasioned by the need to take some mining rigs offline to replace them with more efficient rigs while optimizing the layout.
- 2,542 ETH
During the start of June, HIVE Blockchain had 6.26 Terahash in ETH mining capacity, which dropped to 6.0 Terahash at the end of the month. This drop was because of some mining rigs being taken offline temporarily for layout optimization because of the high summer temperatures.
Mining Difficulty
The HIVE Blockchain update revealed that BTC mining difficulty has risen 1% during June 2022, although it fell by -2% towards the end of the month. As a result, the net difficulty had been 1% lower than at the start of the month. ETH, on the other hand, had seen its mining difficulty increase and decrease by an average of 4% during June 2022. As a result, the average difficulty remains at levels consistent with those of May 2022.
HIVE CEO Shares His Thoughts on the Crypto World
According to the Executive Chair of HIVE, Frank Holmes, HIVE was an experienced firm when it comes to managing volatility in the crypto markets. He noted that HIVE Blockchain had been the first digital asset-mining firm to go public in 2017. He noted that since its launch, the company had undergone various crypto winters.
Holmes noted that HIVe Blockchain Stock had always maintained its business as a cash flow positive business, without any meaningful debt. Its only significant debt to date remains a long-term real estate mortgage from Canadian bank, which they got for less than 4% interest. Holmes noted that the company did not accrue any debt for equipment financing for any of their ASIC and GPU equipment.
In June, Holmes noted that HIV Blockchain had produced an average of 14 BTC equivalent per day, comprising around 9 BTC per day, plus their Ethereum production. He noted that presently, the company was producing around 9.4 BTC a day, in addition to around 90 ETH daily.
Holmes noted that the industry was currently going through a “Great Unwind” of highly leveraged proof-of-stake (PoS) fintech firms. This unwind was producing selling pressure in the crypto markets. According to Holmes, it was a demonstration of how abuse of leverage without regulation, endemic to proof of stake projects, had caused volatility. The CEO compared the situation created by these “crypto cowboys” to that of the 1998 Long Term Capital Management LP (LCTM) crisis. However, there was no Federal Reserve to bail them out this time. Holmes said the current situation reminded him of the 2017 ICO craze where tokens would launch, then crash and burn by 2018 with that crypto winter ending in February 2019.
According to Holmes, these cycles were often filled with innovation. He concluded by stating that HIVE blockchain was confident BTC and ETH would survive and thrive once all over-leveraged players had been forced out of business. In the meantime, HIVE would continue to seek out new growth opportunities.
The HIVE Blockchain COO, Aydin Kilic, also gave his opinion on the current state of HIVE. According to him, the company would continue to strive for operational excellence. He added that HIVE would continue striving to optimize its uptime, ensuring ideal BTC and ETH output.
HIVE’s Coin Strategy
According to the HIVE Blockchain CFO, Darcy Daubaras, the company had strategically sold some of its ETH holdings in the past year. The proceeds from these sales had gone into funding the expansion of their BTC footprint. It had also brought their ETH position from a high of 25,000 ETH to the current level of 7667 ETH.
Daubaras added that HIVE Blockchain had outright sold most of their ETH at higher prices, and wisely avoided lending out the tokens for yield farming since most of those schemes are now bankrupt. The CFO added that during these challenging times, the company would remain committed to expanding its operation. To fund these plans, the company would sell some of the BTC, and ETH it had produced while striving to maintain current BTC inventory levels.
According to the CFO, the company was able to do this because it had maintained a strong balance sheet position. Daubaras added that HIVE had never entered into an agreement where their coins would need to be staked, put up as collateral, or be exposed to the risk of being used by another party to cover a position because of the current bear market conditions. He added that their conservatism had put them in a favorable position to continue their strategic growth in a controlled and feasible manner.
