CleanSpark to start selling Bitcoin in 'self-funding' pivot

CleanSpark will start selling a portion of the Bitcoin earned from its mining operations each month in a bid to become financially self-sufficient, the US Bitcoin miner said on April 15. 

In addition, CleanSpark secured a $200 million credit facility backed by Bitcoin (BTC) through an agreement with Coinbase Prime, the institutional brokerage division of the crypto exchange, according to a statement.

Together, the Bitcoin sales and credit line mean CleanSpark has “achieved escape velocity — the ability to self-fund operations, augment our bitcoin treasury, and contribute to expansion capital through operational cash flow,” Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, said. 

CleanSpark has opened an institutional Bitcoin trading desk to facilitate the cryptocurrency sales, it added. 

Crypto mining stocks are down sharply in 2025. Source: Morningstar

Related: Bitdeer turns to self-mining Bitcoin, US operations amid tariff tumult — Report

The Bitcoin miner’s emphasis on self-funding comes as mining stocks reel from across-the-board selloffs in the first quarter of 2025. 

Shares of CoinShares Crypto Miners ETF (WGMI) — a publicly traded fund tracking a diverse basket of Bitcoin mining stocks — are down more than 40% since the start of the year, according to data from Morningstar. 

“[W]e believe this is the right time to evolve from a nearly 100% hold strategy adopted in mid-2023 and move back using a portion of our monthly production to support operations,” Bradford said. 

Cheaper stock prices effectively increase Bitcoin miners’ cost of capital and can potentially cause creditors to demand faster loan repayments. 

Analysts at JP Morgan attributed the downturn to eroding cryptocurrency prices, which added pressure to business models already strained by the Bitcoin network’s April 2024 halving. 

Halvings occur roughly every four years when the Bitcoin network automatically cuts mining rewards in half. 

Price per Bitcoin versus network hashrate. Source: JPMorgan

In April, pressure on mining stocks worsened when US President Donald Trump announced plans for sweeping tariffs on US imports.

US Bitcoin miners are especially vulnerable to trade wars because they rely on specialized mining hardware, often sourced from foreign manufacturers.  

Bradford said he expects CleanSpark’s financial self-sufficiency to differentiate it from peers “who continue to rely on equity dilution to fund operating costs or increased leverage to grow their Bitcoin reserves.”

Other miners are taking similarly aggressive measures to adapt to the changing market.

Bitdeer, a Singapore-based crypto miner, has reportedly touted plans to start manufacturing mining hardware in the United States to mitigate the impact of Trump’s planned import tariffs.

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