Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 files to raise nearly $400 million in Canada

Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 is seeking to raise $500 million CAD — an amount worth roughly $ 395.8 million — in Canada, according to public documents.

A short-form prospectus dated April 7 indicates that the offering will take place on the Toronto Stock Exchange, where the firm’s shares already trade. A decision document penned by the Ontario Securities Commission was issued on April 7. 

Per the prospectus, the proposed offering would take place during the 25-month period in which the prospectus is deemed effective. 

That Hut 8 would seek to raise the funds is perhaps surprising, given the bullish activity around mining stocks, as shown in the chart below. Miners have attracted interest from institutional investors seeking exposure to bitcoin, and that heightened interest has resulted in elevated prices for mining hardware as well. 

Earlier this year, Hut 8 announced that it was borrowing $11.8 million from Digital Currency Group mining subsidiary Foundry to fund an expansion of its mining operations. 

“This partnership builds on Hut 8’s ongoing commitment to shareholders by mitigating supply constraints and reducing our capital expenditure with a proactive fleet management strategy,” Jaime Leverton, Hut 8’s CEO, said at the time.

In March, Hut 8 released its fiscal year 2020 earnings, in which the firm said it was on track to hit 1.3 exahashes per second of mining power by the second quarter of fiscal year 2021, after reaching 1.3 EH/s in January.

Hut 8’s stock is currently trading at $8.58 CAD at time of writing, according to data published by Yahoo! Finance.

A full copy of the prospectus can be found here:

Hut 8 Prospectus by MichaelPatrickMcSweeney on Scribd