Iris Energy will reduce its mining equipment after defaulting on a $108 million loan.

Iris Energy, an Australian Bitcoin mining company, is the most recent victim of the crypto bear market pressure, losing a sizeable portion of its mining capacity after defaulting on a loan.

According to a document submitted by the company to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 21, as of Nov. 18, it had disconnected the hardware used as security for a loan of $107.8 million.

The business said that the divisions “generate insufficient cash flow to meet their separate debt financing obligations.” The business makes a monthly gross profit of about $2 million in bitcoin but is unable to pay its $7 million in debt commitments.

Iris has now decreased the amount of mining power it can produce by about 3.6 EH/s. According to the report, capacity is still at roughly 2.4 EH/s, with 1.1 EH/s of operational hardware and 1.4 EH/s of rigs in transit or awaiting deployment.

The business declared that it will keep looking for ways to use its capacity and that “data center capacity and development pipeline are unaffected by the current events.” The possibility of “utilizing $75 million in prepayments already made to Bitmain in respect of an additional 7.5 EH/s of contracted miners for future self-mining” is another thing Iris is considering.

The company received a default notice for $103 million earlier this month. Iris Energy mostly manages entirely renewable energy-powered Canadian BTC mining facilities. The company increased its hash rate at the beginning of August after igniting Canadian facilities.

In after-hours trading, Iris Energy stock (IREN) fell 18% on the day to trade at $1.65. On November 21, it reached an all-time low, 94% below the $24.8 all-time high it reached when it first began trading in November 2021.

High hash rates and difficulty, high energy prices, and low Bitcoin prices currently present a triple whammy for bitcoin miners.

Many of them are starting to sell their assets or shut down their hardware as a result of this. Charles Edwards, the creator of Capriole Fund, noted on November 21 that the current miner selling rates were the most brisk in over seven years.

He continued, “If pricing doesn’t rise soon, we’ll see a lot of Bitcoin miners go out of business.”

It’s a carnage among Bitcoin miners.

The most obstinate mining seller in over seven years.
In just 3 weeks, up 400%!

We will witness many Bitcoin miners going out of business if the price doesn’t rise soon. pic.twitter.com/4ePh0TIPmZ

(@caprioleio) Charles Edwards 21 November 2022
It’s doubtful that the price will rise very soon. In the early hours of Asian trade on Tuesday, Nov. 22, Bitcoin fell to a new bear cycle low of $15,649, according to CoinGecko.