CleanSpark Loosens Pure-Bitcoin Focus With Coinbase Loan Expansion for HPC Push
CleanSpark, long branding itself as a pure-play bitcoin miner, is signaling a shift in strategy by broadening its financing capacity to include investments in high-performance computing (HPC).
The Nasdaq-listed company announced after markets closed Monday that it had expanded its bitcoin-backed credit facility with Coinbase by another $100 million, following a $200 million increase in April.
“The $100 million in financing will be deployed into strategic capital expenditures, including expanding CleanSpark’s energy portfolio, scaling its bitcoin mining operations, and investing in high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities,” the company said in the release.
The move marks a notable departure from CleanSpark’s past messaging. The firm has repeatedly described itself as a dedicated bitcoin miner, even as many industry peers—including IREN, Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ), Hut 8 (NASDAQ: HUT), and TeraWulf—have diversified into HPC and artificial intelligence hosting. Shares of CleanSpark (CLSK) jumped more than 7% when trading opened Tuesday.
CleanSpark Senior Vice President Harry Sudoc previously said in an interview with the Mining Pod that the company remained a pure-play bitcoin miner while evaluating the best use of its power for shareholders. At the time, however, there was no clear indication it would expand into the AI/HPC segment.
As of June 30, CleanSpark had $174.5 million in loans outstanding to Coinbase at an 8.5% interest rate. By Aug. 30, it had pledged 3,026 BTC for its total draws, which—based on bitcoin’s price and the facility’s loan-to-value ratio of 64%—implied an outstanding balance of about $215 million.
Assuming the latest drawdown, CleanSpark’s pledged bitcoin could rise to roughly 4,300 BTC, or about 33% of its total reserves of 12,827 BTC as of Aug. 30.
