Bitcoin and AI data center company Bitfarms has secured a debt facility of up to $300 million from Macquarie Equipment Capital, Inc., to help fund its Panther Creek High-Performance Computing (HPC) project in Pennsylvania.
The loan is set to be structured in two parts, with an initial $50 million to be delivered at the parent company level, followed by a potential $250 million at the project level once development milestones are met at Bitfarms’ Panther Creek site.
Each loan is set to last for two years from the date it’s signed, with an interest rate of eight percent per year. For the first three months, the interest on the initial $50 million doesn’t have to be paid in cash, and will instead be added to the loan balance.
“This partnership marks the beginning of our investment in the near-term development of our Panther Creek data center, strategically located in Pennsylvania's PJM region within close proximity to Philadelphia and NYC metropolitan areas. Panther Creek alone has a potential capacity of nearly 500MW, supported by multiple power sources,” said Bitfarms CEO, Ben Gagnon.
Panther Creek is one of the two sites that Bitfarms recently acquired amid its takeover of Stronghold Digital, along with the Scrubgrass site. The two sites, located next to coal plants, have the potential for nearly 1GW of energy for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads.
“Amidst the surging AI revolution and the growing demand for power and infrastructure, this financing arrives at a pivotal time following the close of our transformational acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining,” added Gagnon.
Gagnon foresees the potential for the deal to not only help expand Panther Creek, but also Scrubgrass, and Sharon - all of which are poised for operational expansion in 2025. The combined landmass of the three sites equals nearly 1,800 acres, all situated within the PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland) region.
Bitfarms currently has 15 Bitcoin mining data centers operating across the United States, Canada, and Argentina. It recently sold a site in Paraguay to HIVE Digital.
