Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Secures Up to $50M in Loans From Coinbase

Hut 8 Mining (HUT) has secured up to $50 million in loans from Coinbase Credit to fund its operations, which right now includes closing a highly anticipated merger with peer US Bitcoin Corp (USBTC), according to a Monday press release.

Coinbase (COIN) has been leaning into the institutional market, particularly with its plans to be the custodian for BlackRock's highly-publicized bitcoin exchange-traded fund, pending regulatory approval. In March, Coinbase acquired institutional digital asset manager One River.

Hut 8's new credit facility is made up of a $15 million term loan "which is expected to be funded at or shortly following closing," an option to draw an additional $20 million between one and two months later, and another $15 million within 15 business days after completing the merger with USBTC, the press release said.

Hut 8 shares did not move significantly in early Monday trading.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Coinbase of operating an unregistered securities exchange in one of two recently-filed blockbuster lawsuits, the other one against Binance.

Coinbase Credit is one of the crypto exchange's subsidiaries, according to the firm's 2022 annual earnings report. In a previous filing, it is labeled as a "finance subsidiary."

Read more: Hut 8 First-Quarter Revenue Drops 64% as Bitcoin Mining Difficulties Bite