Bitcoin hoard no remedy for negative cashflow

Australian-listed bitcoin mining company Digital CC Limited, which trades as digitalBTC, has claimed cash reserves of AU$4.36 million at the end of September, but reported a negative net operating cash flow of AU$-261,000 for the quarter.

The company, which listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) earlier this year via a reverse takeover of Macro Energy, told shareholders that although the value of the cryptocurrency had dropped, the devaluation had not impacted its performance.

Since September, the notoriously fluctuating bitcoin value has dropped from a high of $489 to just $384 at the time of writing — a far cry from its value in November last year of over $1,120 per bitcoin.

But Digital CC executive chairman Zhenya Tsvetnenko told shareholders in a statement (PDF) that the cryptocurrency's fluctuating value during the quarter had not impacted the company's "underlying inbuilt payments system of bitcoin".

During the quarter, DigitalBTC launched its digitalX brand range of products, including its digitalX Pocket digital bitcoin payments platform.

"Investors should of course remember that movement in the bitcoin price has little bearing on the technology and the digital currency revolution, of which we are a leading participant," said Tsvetnenko. "Short-term fluctuations do not affect our continued progress, and we are well funded to operate our business and work towards achieving our near-term goals around managing our mining capacity and launching our cutting-edge software products."

However, the company said that despite the drop in bitcoin value and the introduction of other products to the market, bitcoin mining remains its primary revenue generator.

It earned 6,140 bitcoins in the September quarter, bringing its cumulative total to 13,340 since listing on the ASX. To date, Digital CC has liquidated $3.2 million of the bitcoins it has earned from mining operations — selling 6,290 bitcoins as at the end of September.

The average price of the bitcoins the company has sold was $510 per bitcoin.

As a response to the decline in the bitcoin price during the quarter, the company decided to reduce the number of bitcoins sold from its mining operations. It plans to sell its mined cryptocurrecy when the market value tilts in its favour.

As of September 30, the company held 8,500 bitcoins, worth around $3.3 million.

In August, Digital CC revealed that it had made an underlying net profit of AU$600,000 for the period since its listing on the ASX and the end of the financial year in June.