Crypto-friendly bank ends loans backed by crypto mining rigs
The holding firm for the crypto-friendly financial institution, BankProv, has revealed it’s now not offering loans secured by cryptocurrency mining rigs after writing off $47.9 million in loans primarily secured by them all through 2022.
In keeping with a Jan. 31 submitting with the USA Securities and Change Fee (SEC), BankProv has already almost halved the proportion of its digital asset portfolio consisting of rig-collateralized debt because the quarter ending Sep. 30, 2022.
The financial institution held $41.2 million in digital asset-related loans as of Dec. 30 final yr consisting of $26.7 million price of loans collateralized by crypto mining rigs which “will proceed to say no because the Financial institution is now not originating the sort of mortgage”.
The crypto mining trade has taken on large quantities of debt through the 2021 bull market, usually providing up mining rigs they personal as collateral so as to decrease their rates of interest.
The following bear market beginning in 2022 resulted in powerful circumstances for miners, nonetheless, and lots of have been pressured to promote the Bitcoin (BTC) mining rigs they personal so as to cowl working prices, inflicting mining {hardware} costs to plummet.
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Regardless of the falling costs, some banks who had issued mining rig-collateralized debt have been pressured to repossess a number of the miners used as collateral.
In keeping with a earlier SEC submitting, BankProv repossessed mining rigs in trade for the forgiveness of $27.4 million in loans on Sep. 30, 2022, which resulted in an $11.3 million write-off for the agency.
The losses probably contributed closely to its determination to cease issuing most of these loans, with Carol Houle, the CFO of its holding firm Provident Bancorp, noting:
“As we mirror on 2022, we’re desperate to take its classes and emerge a greater, stronger financial institution. Regardless of our 2022 losses, we enter 2023 nicely capitalized and nicely diversified.”
