A major Australian Bitcoin mining firm does not appear concerned about profitability of its operation despite the current bear market.

According to a report by The Sydney Morning Herald on May 12, Daniel Roberts, co-founder and CEO of Australian-founded sustainable Bitcoin mining company Iris Energy remains unmoved by the rapid changing $BTC price. Roberts, based out of Sydney, told the outlet that Bitcoin would have to fall “significantly” before it became unprofitable for his Nasdaq-listed company to mine. 

While Roberts said he would prefer to see the price of Bitcoin higher, he was unbothered by the sudden price fall below $30,000 (AU$43,000). 

He said, 

I’d rather bitcoin was higher, but it’s really not interrupting anything day-to-day. We do get caught up in the broader crypto narrative, notwithstanding that the underlying business is more of a real asset data centre business.

Roberts claimed that Iris Energy’s revenue line had exposure to the price of Bitcoin, but that the profits were still “pretty compelling” even at BTC’s current value. 

Iris recently reported adjusted earnings of AU$9.8 million for the third quarter of the financial year, a 358% increase on the prior year, despite operating at a net loss of AU$3.6 million from foreign exchange losses. 

According to the report, Iris, which uses renewable energy to power its Bitcoin mining operation, can turn a profit even if $BTC drops as low as $8,880 (AU$12,700). Roberts noted that Bitcoin falling below $9,000 would be unprofitable for many large mining companies, in addition to Iris. 

Roberts also commented on stablecoin TerraUSD’s price collapse, which fell last week to an all-time low of $0.04 despite supposedly being pegged to $1. Roberts said the stablecoin’s demise would likely have no long-term impact on Bitcoin, pointing out that ultimately “nothing’s changed” for $BTC. 

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Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.

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