Share this article

Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Talks Operational Issues and U.S. Bitcoin Corp. Merger in Earnings Call

Management spoke to investors on Thursday morning following release of the company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results.

Updated May 9, 2023, 4:10 a.m. Published Mar 9, 2023, 6:09 p.m.
HUT 8 mining plant (hut8.io)
HUT 8 mining plant (hut8.io)

Operational issues across its bitcoin mining sites are weighing on Hut 8 Mining (HUT) as it tries to complete what would be one of the largest deals in the sector – the company's merger with U.S. Bitcoin Corp.

In mid-November 2022, Hut 8 stopped mining with 7,000 rigs at a site in North Bay, Ontario, due to an ongoing dispute with its energy provider, Validus Power. Hut 8 has now removed all machines from the facility to a site in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Pressed about progress by analysts on the company's earnings call Thursday morning, Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton said the firm is assessing opportunities to energize the miners, but didn't give any concrete alternatives.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

At its Drumheller site in Alberta, Hut 8 has been facing "electrical issues" that have hit operations. "We are in the early stages exploring supplementary options to mitigate the challenges and hope we have more definitive plan," said the firm's newly appointed chief financial officer, Shenif Visram, during the conference call.

Hut 8 shares are down 8% on Thursday, as are those of its mining peers, as bitcoin slides to its lowest level in a month at $21,450.

Hut 8 did receive a letter of no action from the Canadian competition authority for its proposed merger with U.S. Bitcoin Corp., meaning the authority doesn't plan to challenge the move, Leverton said on the call. The company's main focus is on completing the merger, she said, which will give it access to additional power for mining rigs.

Looking at Q4 results, mining profit plunged to CAD$3.33 million (US$2.4 million) from $39.2 million (US$28.4 million) during the same period a year earlier. For all of 2022, the company mined 3,568 bitcoin, up 28.1% from 2021. Hut 8 reported a net loss of CAD$242.8 million for 2022 compared to a loss of CAD$72.7 million for 2021.

The company earlier this week disclosed sales of bitcoin for the first time in 2021 as it looked to help fund both operating costs and its merger with U.S. Bitcoin Corp.

Read more: Shares of Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Slump on Merger With US Bitcoin Corp.

CORRECTION (March 9, 18:40 UTC): Clarifies that Hut 8 and Validus were in a dispute, not litigation, in November.

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

Pye Finance Raises $5M Seed Round Led by Variant and Coinbase Ventures

Scattered pile of $1 bills (Gerd Altmann/Pixabay, modified by CoinDesk)

The platform aims to make locked Solana staking positions tradable via an onchain marketplace.

What to know:

  • Pye Finance raised a $5 million seed round led by Variant and Coinbase Ventures, with participation from Solana Labs, Nascent and Gemini.
  • The startup is building an onchain marketplace on Solana for time-locked staking positions that can be traded.
  • Pye says the product targets Solana’s large pool of staked SOL, worth roughly $75 billion, and aims to give validators and stakers more flexibility over terms and reward flows.