Argo Blockchain regains Nasdaq compliance as price recovers

BTC block reward miner Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ: ARBK) has regained compliance with Nasdaq’s Listing Rules, the company has announced.

Argo was first listed on Nasdaq in September 2021 at a time when the BTC price was soaring, and with it, block reward mining stocks. BTC has since then dipped as the bear market wiped out trillions of dollars from the digital asset market. BTC mining stocks were among the biggest casualties, with some, like Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZW) having to file for bankruptcy.

Argo’s stock, which debuted on Nasdaq at $15, has been on the downtrend throughout 2022, shedding 95% of its value. In December, the company received a warning from Nasdaq after its shares traded below $1 for 30 consecutive days.

With the recent pump in digital asset prices, Argo’s stock has recorded over 160% gains in the past month. This has pushed the stock price to just below $2 at press time, getting the company in Nasdaq’s good books once again.

Argo has regained compliance with @nasdaq's listing rules. Jan 13 marked the 10th consecutive trading day that $ARBK closed above $1.
Nasdaq has confirmed that this matter is now closed.https://t.co/TUJS6dYvoM #ARB $ARBK #BTC #Bitcoin
— Argo (@ArgoBlockchain) January 23, 2023

In its SEC filing, the company revealed that it received a letter from Nasdaq notifying it that the matter had been closed.

Argo has struggled with cash flow in the past year and had to dig into its BTC reserves to keep running. It also had to sell some of its other assets to raise money. Three weeks ago, the miner sold its Helios, Texas-based mining facility to Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ: BRPHF), the digital asset investment company led by Wall Street veteran Mike Novogratz. The $65 million it raised from the sale went to servicing its loans and operating costs.

2022 was a year of reckoning for block reward miners. After enjoying a long spell of consistent BTC price rise, last year’s bear market exposed their business models, which rely purely on BTC pumping.

Data from Messari shows that last year, publicly listed BTC miners sold all the BTC they mined (what happened to HODLing?). Some, like Argo, sold twice as much BTC as they mined, indicating they were dipping into their reserves to keep running.

BTC miners sell roughly 100% of the coins they mine
The 10 public bitcoin miners
detailed here mined ~40.7k BTC and sold ~40.3k in 2022
This is a persistent headwind for BTC and for no other reason a good thesis to be bullish the ETHBTC ratio trade pic.twitter.com/L1iI6Z07p7
— Tom Dunleavy (@dunleavy89) December 26, 2022