DigitalBTC Reports Early Success on Australian Securities Exchange

Australian bitcoin firm DigitalBTC has reported its quarterly earnings, the first since the company went through a reverse takeover and re-listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The company reported positive cash flow from bitcoin mining activities and bitcoin liquidity propositions, adding that it has already managed to recoup investments in its mining operations. In addition to mining, DigitalBTC is trying to enter the consumer space and has made it clear that it plans to use revenue generated by its mining business to fuel further expansion.

As DigitalBTC is the first bitcoin company to be listed on the ASX, it is also the first such company to report its quarterly earnings in a routine filing with the exchange.

Currently, bitcoin mining is DigitalBTC's principal revenue source. The company ordered several tranches of BitFury miners earlier this year, pledging to become one of the biggest mining operations in the world.

In addition to the BitFury arrangement, the firm also entered a strategic partnership with CloudHashing.com.  Under the deal, CloudHashing.com led the deployment of the mining hardware, while DigitalBTC in turn offered trading services to CloudHashing.

"Our purchase of Bitfury Group equipment has proved to be a wise decision, with the company now having achieved complete payback on our original US$4m equipment purchase, including all capital and operating costs incurred to date," said DigitalBTC Executive Chairman Zhenya Tsvetnenko.

The company says in a press release that it has mined approximately 8,600 bitcoins so far and that, as of 30th June, it held an estimated 3,600 bitcoins awaiting liquidation or use in liquidity desk operations. However, in its ASX filing the company reported somewhat lower numbers, saying it sold around 4,000 bitcoins, which generated around US$2.1m.

The company explained the difference between the figures as a foible of the accounting rules:

DigitalBTC has also rebranded its trading desk, which is now called the Liquidity Desk, which it indicates is continuing to generate "good returns". The firm has also expanded its list of partners and gained volume in June, it says, while additional investments in bitcoin mining operations are being considered.

Furthermore, while it hints that R&D is continuing on a number of innovative consumer products, no additional details were provided.

"The bitcoin system continues to go from strength to strength, with significant new investments and major merchants coming on board," said Tsvetnenko. "In the last week, the biggest retailer yet to accept bitcoin, Dell, began accepting payments for purchases via the Dell site."

Tsvetnenko added that bitcoin is rapidly moving toward mainstream adoption and made it clear DigitalBTC intends to play a role in realising bitcoin's full potential.

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