Bitcoin miner Riot Blockchain in a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it would be selling up to $500 million worth of Shelf Prospectus stock to finance general corporate expenses.
The proceeds from the sale would cover company bills such as repayment of corporate obligations, working capital, investing in existing and future projects as well as capital expenditures and acquisitions.
After the offering, the company would have more than 140 million units of common stock outstanding, giving it a market cap of around $3 billion at current prices. The company is authorized to issue a total of 170 units of common stock.
The prospectus filed is a “shelf” registration, meaning there is no present intention to immediately sell all the securities being registered. Recently, Riot said it held 5,783 bitcoins on its balance sheet as of March 1. That would be worth over $267 million at the current bitcoin price of $46,200
Riot mainly holds the bitcoin it mines, which can be translated to – Company issues equity for occasional capital raises to fund its expansion and operations. In November last year, Riot Blockchain was in a tussle with its rival bitcoin mining company Bitdeer for market share and cheap electricity in Texas town, Rockdale.
However, last October Riot tripled its bitcoin production but production took a big hit when it briefly shut down 99% of its operations in Texas.
