Here’s What You Missed in Crypto This Week

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies get increasing attention from investors, Wall Street and its traditional banks continue to adjust to the shift. Catch up on this week’s top stories highlighting the intersection of these old guard and new school areas of finance with this recap compiled by The Fly.

RIPPLE ORDERED TO PAY $125M PENALTY IN SEC CASE: A Manhattan court judge has ordered Ripple Labs to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission roughly $125M in penalties over charges of improperly selling cryptocurrency XRP, according to a Wednesday court filing. The SEC previously sued Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen in 2020, accusing them of illegally raising over $1.3B in an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP. (read more)

Following the filing, Garlinghouse posted on X, saying, “The SEC asked for $2B, and the Court reduced their demand by ~94% recognizing that they had overplayed their hand. We respect the Court’s decision and have clarity to continue growing our company. This is a victory for Ripple, the industry and the rule of law. The SEC’s headwinds against the whole of the XRP community are gone.” (read more)

CRYPTO EARNINGS: On Thursday, Bitfarms (BITF) reported second quarter loss per share of (7c) on revenue of $42M, which compared to analyst estimates of a loss per share of (11c) on a revenue of $44.63M. As of June 30, the company had total liquidity of $195M, comprised of $139M in cash and 905 BTC valued at $57M based on a BTC price of $62,700 at June 30, 2024. As of July 31, the Company held 1,016 BTC. “During the quarter, we made significant strides to position Bitfarms for accelerated growth and efficiency gains in the second half of the year and into 2025,” said CEO Ben Gagnon. “We also continued to expand and diversify the business through new site agreements. Our new site in Sharon, PA represents Bitfarms’ first foray into the PJM region, which we believe is the most attractive energy market in the U.S., and one in which we hope to further grow our footprint. This site, in combination with our new megawatts in South America, positions Bitfarms to reach over 35 EH/s in 2025, representing 67% growth from our year-end target of 21 EH/s. Over the next few years, we will continue executing our growth strategy with a sharp focus on U.S. expansion and diversification beyond Bitcoin mining.”

Along with earnings, Bitfarms also announced that the Special Committee of the Bitfarms Board of Directors has concluded the strategic alternatives review process/ Following the completion of that process, the Special Committee unanimously determined that continuing to execute Bitfarms’ strategic plan as an independent public company is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders at this time. (read more)

On Wednesday, Core Scientific (CORZ) reported a Q2 loss per share of ($4.51) on revenue of $141.1M, which compared to a loss per share of (2c) on a revenue of $126.9M for the same period last year. “We continue to demonstrate progress on the execution of our strategy to maximize the value of our high-power digital infrastructure portfolio through bitcoin mining and high-performance computing,” said Adam Sullivan, CEO. “Key achievements in and after the quarter include successfully navigating the April halving and emerging with favorable quarterly cash cost to mine of approximately $29,900 per bitcoin, converting $260M in convertible notes during and shortly after the end of the quarter, commencing HPC hosting operations and revenue generation at our 16-megawatt Austin data center, and signing long-term contracts to host 382 megawatts of high-performance computing with our current client. These long-term contracts represent total potential revenue of approximately $6.7B over 12 years.” (read more)

Compass Point raised the firm’s price target on Core Scientific to $18 from $17 and kept a Buy rating on the shares after the company reported results in-line with the firm’s estimates with solid hash all-in hash costs that equate to about 0.043 relative to other miners. The firm thinks that over time Core will be valued more like a traditional datacenter business at higher multiples as the company continues to execute on its strategy, though it added that it thinks at current all-time low hash prices that the mining business “also provides a free option on price of BTC prices 2H24/2025.” (read more)

Additionally on Tuesday, Core Scientific announced that CoreWeave has exercised its option to contract for additional infrastructure pursuant to the terms provided as part of the previously announced 200 megawatt hosting contract for high performance computing. Under the terms of the agreement, Core Scientific will modify its infrastructure to deliver approximately 112 incremental MW for HPC to host CoreWeave’s NVIDIA GPUs. Site modifications are expected to begin in 2H24, with operational status anticipated in 1H26. The new contract with CoreWeave is expected to add approximately $2B in projected additional cumulative revenue over the hosting contract’s 12-year term to the more than $4.7B in projected cumulative revenue associated with previously announced contracts with CoreWeave, for a total of $6.7B. (read more)

ANALYST LOWERS PRICE TARGETS: On Wednesday, B. Riley lowered the firm’s price target on Riot Platforms (RIOT) to $12 from $13 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm updated estimates to reflect the company’s new hash rate targets and notable share dilution post the Q2 report. It cited a higher share count for the target cut. (read more)

Additionally, B. Riley lowered the firm’s price target on Marathon Digital (MARA) to $19 from $20 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares. (read more)

COINBASE PRICE TARGET LOWERED: Compass Point lowered the firm’s price target on Coinbase (COIN) on Tuesday to $295 from $325 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. Last week, Coinbase reported Q2 results and going forward, the firm is pushing out the ramp up of higher retail trading volumes into Q4 and the first half of 2025, inline with rate cuts, and also adjusting expense estimates higher given the recent guidance. However, the firm views the recent selloff as a buying opportunity as it continues to believe Coinbase remains well-positioned to benefit from a rising crypto price cycle and thinks regulatory clarity and a Trump administration “would be positive for the stock,” the analyst said. (read more)

BITCOIN DEPOT EXPANDS BDCHECKOUT PROGRAM: Bitcoin Depot (BTM) announced Monday the expansion of its BDCheckout program into six new states: Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas. This expansion increases the total footprint of BDCheckout to 31 states, allowing even more customers to load cash into their Bitcoin Depot digital wallets at major retail partners. Since its initial launch in 2022, BDCheckout has continuously expanded, now covering over 1,500 new locations in Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas. These additions increase Bitcoin Depot’s total number of BDCheckout locations to 7,723, significantly enhancing accessibility and convenience for its users. (read more)

CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Coinbase, Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Marathon Digital, MicroStrategy (MSTR), Riot Platforms, Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG) and TeraWulf (WULF).

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin dropped about 1% this week to $60,454 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.