Bitdeer Raises $179M in Loans and Equity Amid Bitcoin Chip Push

Bitdeer (NASDAQ: BTDR) has stepped up its use of financial leverage to accelerate its push into Bitcoin ASIC manufacturing, securing $60 million in new loans and tapping equity markets for additional capital.

According to its annual report filed Monday, Bitdeer entered a loan agreement in April with its affiliate Matrixport for up to $200 million. Matrixport—a crypto financial services firm founded by Bitdeer Chairman Jihan Wu—offers custody, lending, and wealth management products.

The Matrixport loan carries a floating interest rate of 9% plus a market-based benchmark, is backed by Bitdeer’s SEALMINER hardware assets, and features a 24-month amortization schedule with loan-to-value constraints. As of April 21, Bitdeer had drawn $43 million from the facility.

This follows a separate $17 million unsecured loan Bitdeer secured in January from a commercial bank. That facility carries a 10.22% annual interest rate and matures on September 5. Bitdeer had fully drawn the funds by mid-April.

The loans add to the company’s broader financing activity. In August and November 2024, Bitdeer raised a combined $572.5 million via convertible senior notes due 2029. The August issuance totaled $172.5 million with an 8.5% coupon; the November raise brought in $400 million at a 5.25% rate. These figures contrast with peer issuances from MARA, Riot, and CleanSpark, which priced their 2024 convertible notes at zero or near-zero coupon rates.

Bitdeer has also turned to equity markets. Between January and April 21, the company issued more than 6 million Class A shares, raising $118.8 million in net proceeds, according to its annual report.

The financing highlights Bitdeer’s capital-intensive strategy to scale its ASIC manufacturing division, including investments in in-house chip development, as it seeks to challenge incumbents Bitmain and MicroBT. In 2024, Bitdeer generated a gross margin of about $147 million from its existing proprietary mining and hosting businesses, excluding depreciation and amortization expenses.

Bitdeer launched its SEALMINER line in 2023 as part of a strategic move beyond hosting and proprietary mining into the ASIC supply chain. As previously disclosed, the company paid $190 million to TSMC for SEAL02 chip production and $52.8 million for SEAL03 tapeout costs. It also reported $310 million in prepayments to TSMC for SEAL02 mass production as of year-end 2024.