Argo Blockchain PLC (ARBK) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Argo blockchain PLC Q3 update investor presentation. Towards recorded presentation investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged can be submitted at any time for the Q&A tab situated in the right-hand corner of your screen.

下午好，歡迎來到 Argo 區塊鏈 PLC 第三季更新投資人演示會。對於錄製的演示文稿，投資者將處於僅收聽模式。我們鼓勵您隨時向螢幕右上角的「問答」標籤提交問題。

Click Q&A and type your question and present. Given the large attendance on today's call, the Company will not be in a position to answer every question received during the meeting itself, however review all questions submitted today, But will publish responses where it's appropriate to do so. Before we begin, we'd like to submit the following poll.

點擊“問答”並輸入您的問題並進行演示。鑑於今天電話會議的出席人數眾多，公司無法回答會議期間收到的所有問題，但會審查今天提交的所有問題，但會在適當的時候發布答复。在開始之前，我們想提交以下民意調查。

I'd now like to hand over to Tom Divine, Vice President, Investor Relations, good afternoon.

現在我想請投資人關係副總裁 Tom Divin 發言，大家下午好。

Thank you, Bob. Before we begin I'd like to remind everyone that today's presentation and remarks may contain forward looking statements for our full risk factors. Please see our Form 20F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the year 2022. With us today for our discussion of Q3 2023 results are Seif El-Bakly, Argo's Interim Chief Executive Officer; and Jim MacCallum, Argo's Chief Financial Officer. And now I'll turn it over to Seif.

謝謝你，鮑伯。在開始之前，我想提醒大家，今天的演示和評論可能包含針對我們全部風險因素的前瞻性陳述。請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的 2022 年 20F 表格。今天與我們一起討論 2023 年第三季業績的是 Argo 臨時執行長 Seif El-Bakly；以及 Argo 財務長 Jim MacCallum。現在我將把它交給賽義夫。

Thanks, Tom. Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us today to discuss our Q3 results. It was a strong quarter for us, and I'm excited to dive into the numbers. Just a quick reminder for everyone, our three key priorities that help guide us on a daily basis. We continue to focus on financial discipline and deleveraging operational excellence, growth and strategic partnerships for the sustainable future of this company. I hope you're seeing how these priorities have been manifested in the performance of the business over the last couple of quarters.

謝謝，湯姆。大家好。感謝您今天加入我們討論我們的第三季業績。這對我們來說是一個強勁的季度，我很高興能深入研究這些數字。只是向大家快速提醒一下，我們的三個關鍵優先事項有助於指導我們每天的工作。我們繼續專注於財務紀律和去槓桿化卓越營運、成長和策略合作夥伴關係，以實現公司可持續的未來。我希望您看到這些優先事項在過去幾季的業務績效中是如何體現的。

Before we dive into the Q3 results, I want to take a few minutes to discuss the current macroenvironment and some recent trends that we're seeing. The network hash rate continues to increase at a fairly rapid pace. The global network started the year at roughly [270 hash per second], and it has grown approximately 70% over the course of the year.

在我們深入研究第三季的結果之前，我想花幾分鐘時間討論當前的宏觀環境和我們看到的一些近期趨勢。網路哈希率繼續以相當快的速度增長。今年年初，全球網路的速度大約是[每秒 270 次哈希]，並且在這一年中增長了約 70%。

Over the last two years, we've seen some seasonality emerge in hash rate and network difficulty, partly due to the large amount of hatch rate going online in Texas. During the summer months, we saw instances where hash rate decreased as Texas miners curtailed operations in response to high power prices. This is something we experienced at Helios, which generated significant proceeds in form of power credits. I'll go into more detail on that a little bit late.

在過去的兩年裡，我們看到算力和網路難度出現了一些季節性，部分原因是德州有大量的算力上線。在夏季的幾個月裡，我們看到了由於德克薩斯州礦工因高電價而減少運營而導致哈希率下降的情況。這是我們在 Helios 經歷過的事情，它以電力積分的形式產生了可觀的收益。我稍後會詳細介紹這一點。

But that seasonality does have an impact on network difficulty in hash price. So it's something that we monitor closely, especially as we head into winter months where cold weather can also impact grid conditions and power prices.

但這種季節性確實會對哈希價格的網路難度產生影響。因此，我們會密切注意這一點，尤其是在進入冬季時，寒冷的天氣也會影響電網狀況和電價。

Overall, the third quarter saw hash price trend down, bottoming out at around $60 per penthouse per day during August and September, but it's rebounded strongly in late October and so far into November, rising to over $90 per house per day. We've historically seen those temporary spikes from ordinal means before which drive up transaction fees. We do expect cash price to stabilize as the backlog of transactions is processed.

總體而言，第三季哈希價格呈下降趨勢，在8 月和9 月觸底，約為每套頂層公寓每天60 美元，但在10 月底和11 月至今強勁反彈，升至每套公寓每天90 美元以上。從歷史上看，我們已經看到了序數平均值的暫時峰值，在此之前推高了交易費用。我們確實預計隨著積壓交易的處理，現金價格將會穩定。

Hash price takes into account the price of bitcoin, the network difficulty and transaction fees at any given time it's a metric that we pay close attention to. Every $10 increase in the dollar per pet has per day has the potential to generate approximately an incremental $840,000 of revenue per month or $2.5 million per quarter based on Argo's total hash rate capacity.

哈希價格考慮了比特幣的價格、網路難度和任何給定時間的交易費用，這是我們密切關注的指標。根據 Argo 的總算力容量，每隻寵物每天的收入每增加 10 美元，每月就有可能增加約 84 萬美元的收入，或每季增加 250 萬美元的收入。

We're also paying close attention to some upcoming events that we believe will impact our business for one, if approved by the SEC, we believe that a spot Bitcoin ETF will bring large institutional cash inflow into the space and will ultimately increase demand for Bitcoin.

我們也密切關註一些即將發生的事件，我們認為這些事件將影響我們的業務，其中之一是，如果獲得SEC 批准，我們相信現貨比特幣ETF 將為該領域帶來大量機構現金流入，並最終增加對比特幣的需求。

And of course, we have the 2024 having approaching in late April of next year. As everyone knows, that having is a feature of the bitcoin protocol, whereby the block reward is reduced by 50%. As we approach the halving, our key focuses on three things fleet efficiency, cost structure and the strength of our balance sheet.

當然，2024 年將於明年 4 月下旬臨近。眾所周知，擁有是比特幣協議的一個特點，區塊獎勵會減少 50%。隨著減半的臨近，我們的重點放在三件事：機隊效率、成本結構和資產負債表的實力。

Argo has a strong fleet efficiency of right around 30 joules per peta hash. And we've had attractive power and hosting costs at an average of $0.045 per kilowatt hour so far this year. This combination of fleet efficiency, low power costs and hosting costs makes us well positioned for the halving.

Argo 擁有強大的車隊效率，每 peta 哈希值約為 30 焦耳。今年到目前為止，我們的電力和託管成本平均為每千瓦時 0.045 美元，極具吸引力。機隊效率、低電力成本和託管成本的結合使我們為減半做好了準備。

On the balance sheet front, we have said this time and again that that one of our main priorities is reducing our debt and interest payments in order to strengthen the balance sheet be well positioned for that having.

在資產負債表方面，我們一再表示，我們的主要優先事項之一是減少債務和利息支付，以加強資產負債表，為此做好準備。

Turning to our third quarter results, we mined 370 bitcoin and generated revenue of $10.4 million, which is a decrease of 17% compared to our revenue from Q2. This decrease was primarily driven by economic curtailment. We experienced that Helios during August and September. However, through this curtailment, we accrued $4.4 million of power credits to power trading activities at Helios, which more than offset our decrease in revenue versus Q2.

轉向我們第三季的業績，我們開採了 370 個比特幣，產生了 1,040 萬美元的收入，與第二季的收入相比下降了 17%。這一下降主要是由於經濟緊縮造成的。我們在八月和九月經歷了赫利俄斯。然而，透過這次限電，我們為 Helios 的電力交易活動累積了 440 萬美元的電力信用，這足以抵消我們與第二季度相比收入的下降。

On the next slide, I'll go into some more details about economic curtailment and how that benefits us since we've gotten a lot of questions from investors pertaining to this source of net revenue. Put simply the power credits we accrued helped us achieve an overall power and hosting cost of less than $0.04 per kilowatt hour. For the quarter, our mining margin was 58%, translating into an average direct cost per bitcoin of $11,736.

在下一張投影片中，我將詳細介紹有關經濟縮減的更多細節，以及這對我們有何好處，因為我們收到了投資者關於這一淨收入來源的許多問題。簡而言之，我們累積的電力積分幫助我們實現了每千瓦時 0.04 美元以下的整體電力和託管成本。本季度，我們的挖礦利潤率為 58%，相當於每個比特幣的平均直接成本為 11,736 美元。

We also continued to focus on cost reduction and we reduced our non-mining operating expenses by 11%. Our adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $3.1 million, which is an improvement from the $1.1 million of adjusted EBITDA that we generated in Q2. In July, we strengthened our balance sheet by raising $7.5 million in gross proceeds through an equity raise with primarily institutional investors in the UK and also reduced our Galaxy debt by $5 million. And at the end of September, our cash balance was $8 million.

我們也持續專注於降低成本，非採礦營運費用減少了 11%。本季調整後 EBITDA 為 310 萬美元，比第二季調整後 EBITDA 110 萬美元有所改善。 7 月份，我們透過向英國主要機構投資者進行股權融資籌集了 750 萬美元的總收益，從而增強了我們的資產負債表，同時也減少了 500 萬美元的 Galaxy 債務。截至 9 月底，我們的現金餘額為 800 萬美元。

Given our strategic decision to mine in Texas, I'd like to give a little more color on economic curtailment there. So on the screen is a slide that came out of an Ercot presentation during the September meeting of its large flexible load task force. That's the group within Ercot that is tasked with integrating large power demand such as bitcoin mining into the Texas grid.

鑑於我們在德克薩斯州採礦的戰略決定，我想對那裡的經濟限制進行更多的闡述。螢幕上顯示的是 Ercot 大型彈性負載工作小組 9 月會議期間簡報中的一張投影片。這是 Ercot 內部的一個團隊，負責將比特幣挖礦等大量電力需求整合到德克薩斯州電網中。

This slide shows the impact of elevated power prices in the use of power by bitcoin miners on September sixth. If you follow the screen, Bitcoin mining usage is in blue and the green line shows the power price throughout the day. So you can see a very strong negative correlation between the price of power and the consumption of power from bitcoin miners, as power prices increased, it became less profitable to mine incentivizing miners to curtail their operations.

這張投影片顯示了 9 月 6 日電價上漲對比特幣礦工用電的影響。如果您按照螢幕操作，比特幣挖礦使用情況會顯示為藍色，綠線顯示全天的電價。因此，您可以看到電價與比特幣礦工的電力消耗之間存在非常強的負相關性，隨著電價上漲，挖礦激勵礦工減少營運的利潤變得越來越少。

From this chart, it demonstrates how the majority of miners were shut off during peak hours of power price. As power prices came down in the evening, you can see my miners ramp-up, their operations and their consumption increasing again. So this data is important as it demonstrates how flexible bitcoin miners are and how quickly they can reduce power consumption when demand is high. As soon as prices spike above their breakeven point miners are turning off. This is what has meant by flexible load.

從這張圖可以看出，大多數礦機是如何在電價高峰時段關閉的。隨著晚上電價的下降，你可以看到我的礦工開始增加，他們的運作和消耗再次增加。因此，這些數據很重要，因為它展示了比特幣礦工的靈活性以及在需求高時他們可以多快地降低功耗。一旦價格飆升至損益平衡點以上，礦商就會關閉。這就是靈活負載的意思。

When the market price of power spikes to a maximum amount of $5,000 per megawatt hour as it did on September sixth miners who are not hedged, will simply shut down and stop mining. But miners who have locked in their power prices can make a decision, they can either use that power for their operations and continue to mine or they can sell that power on the open market and make a profit from the difference in the prevailing market price and the price which they've locked in their power.

當市場電價像 9 月 6 日一樣飆升至每兆瓦時最高 5,000 美元時，沒有對沖的礦工將直接關閉並停止挖礦。但是鎖定電價的礦工可以做出決定，他們可以使用該電力進行運營並繼續挖礦，也可以在公開市場上出售該電力並從現行市場價格和他們鎖定的價格。

In other words, when the price is high enough, it makes economic sense to sell that power in the open market rather than to use it and mine Bitcoin. In essence, that's what happens at Helios and through our hosting agreement, we share in those proceeds. And for this quarter, those power credits amounted to $4.4 million.

換句話說，當價格足夠高時，在公開市場上出售該電力而不是使用它來開採比特幣具有經濟意義。本質上，這就是 Helios 發生的事情，透過我們的託管協議，我們分享這些收益。本季度，這些電力信用額達到 440 萬美元。

That being said, let me turn it over to Jim to provide some additional comments on our financial results for the quarter. Jim?

話雖這麼說，讓我把它交給吉姆，並對我們本季的財務表現提供一些額外的評論。吉姆？

Thank you, Seif. As you mentioned, we generated $10.4 million of revenue for the quarter, a decrease of 17% from Q2 resulting from economic curtailment. However, the power credits that we generated from the curtailment reduced our net power costs significantly and increased our mining profit to $6.1 million.

謝謝你，賽義夫。正如您所提到的，由於經濟緊縮，我們本季的營收為 1,040 萬美元，比第二季下降了 17%。然而，我們從限電中產生的電力信用顯著降低了我們的淨電力成本，並將我們的採礦利潤增加到 610 萬美元。

Our mining margin percentage was 58% for Q3, an increase over the 36% mining margin we achieved in Q2. During the quarter, we recorded a onetime noncash provision of $1.2 million related to prior year sales tax expected to be received from the Canadian tax authorities. This is the majority of the $1.5 million of nonrecurring expenses that we added back to adjusted EBITDA.

第三季我們的挖礦利潤率為 58%，比第二季的 36% 增加。本季度，我們記錄了 120 萬美元的一次性非現金準備金，該準備金與預計從加拿大稅務機關收到的上一年銷售稅有關。這是我們添加回調整後 EBITDA 的 150 萬美元非經常性費用的大部分。

We generated adjusted EBITDA of $3.1 million, which is a strong improvement from the second quarter. For the nine month period ended September 30, we generated $5.3 million of adjusted EBITDA. At the end of the quarter we had $8 million of cash on hand. As Seif mentioned, we've seen a significant increase in hash price in October and so far into November with our total hash rate capacity every $10 increase in hash price results in approximately $2.5 million of incremental revenue per quarter, which dramatically improves our profitability and cash flow.

我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 310 萬美元，較第二季大幅改善。截至 9 月 30 日的九個月期間，我們產生了 530 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA。截至本季末，我們手頭上有 800 萬美元現金。正如Seif 所提到的，我們看到10 月和截至11 月的哈希價格顯著上漲，哈希價格每上漲10 美元，我們的總哈希率容量就會導致每季約250 萬美元的增量收入，這極大地提高了我們的盈利能力和現金週轉。

This slide shows our cash flow from the end of June to the end of September, our cash flow from operations, excluding working capital changes, was $1.5 million. As Seif mentioned, we raised $7.5 million in gross proceeds from the sale of equity, and we paid down $7.8 million in principal and interest on our debt. At the end of the quarter. We had a net power receivable of $2.8 million. Adding that to the $8 million closing cash balance would have given us $10.8 million at September 30, compared to $9.1 million at June 30.

這張投影片顯示了我們從 6 月底到 9 月底的現金流，我們的營運現金流（不包括營運資金變動）為 150 萬美元。正如 Seif 所提到的，我們透過出售股權籌集了 750 萬美元的總收益，並償還了 780 萬美元的本金和債務利息。在季度末。我們的應收淨電力為 280 萬美元。加上 800 萬美元的期末現金餘額，截至 9 月 30 日將達到 1,080 萬美元，而 6 月 30 日為 910 萬美元。

We are pleased that we continue to improve our operating cash flow with our focus on operations and cost reduction. As we've shown in prior quarters. We continue to scrutinize all of our non-mining operating expenses and find ways to reduce costs. In Q3, we reduced our recurring non-mining operating expenses by 11% as compared to Q2. Since the second half of 2022, we've cut our non-mining operating expenses by more than 70%. This cost reduction is important because it improves our overall margin and cash flow generation.

我們很高興能夠透過專注於營運和降低成本來繼續改善營運現金流。正如我們在前幾個季度所展示的那樣。我們繼續審查所有非採礦營運費用，並尋找降低成本的方法。第三季度，我們的經常性非採礦營運費用比第二季度減少了 11%。自2022年下半年以來，我們已將非礦業營運支出削減了70%以上。這種成本降低很重要，因為它提高了我們的整體利潤和現金流的產生。

Again, one of our key priorities is to reduce debt, which is critically important as we approach the having in Q3, we reduced our debt owed to Galaxy by $5 million to $27 million, and we ended the quarter with $70 million in debt. We are also in advanced discussions to sell certain non-core assets, which is an important part of our deleveraging strategy. We anticipate announcing further details by the end of the year.

同樣，我們的首要任務之一是減少債務，這一點至關重要，因為我們即將進入第三季度，我們將欠Galaxy 的債務減少了500 萬美元，達到2700 萬美元，而本季度結束時我們的債務為7000 萬美元。我們也正在就出售某些非核心資產進行深入討論，這是我們去槓桿策略的重要組成部分。我們預計在今年年底前公佈更多細節。

With that, I'll pass it back to Seif.

這樣，我會將其傳回給 Seif。

Thanks, Jim. In Quebec, we've now completed the deployment of our Epic block miners numbering around 2,700. This represents around 300 peta hash of additional capacity, bringing our total hatchery capacity to 2.8 exa hash per second. We're seeing really good performance from these machines, and we're excited to have added them to our fleet just in time they take advantage of the recent run-up and hash price.

謝謝，吉姆。在魁北克，我們現在完成了約 2,700 台 Epic 區塊礦工的部署。這意味著大約 300 peta 哈希的額外容量，使我們的孵化場總容量達到每秒 2.8 exa 哈希。我們看到這些機器的性能非常好，我們很高興能夠及時將它們添加到我們的機群中，讓它們充分利用最近的上漲和哈希價格。

So all in all, and in summary, it was a great quarter for Argo. We increased our mining margin, our adjusted EBITDA and our total hatchery capacity. All the while continuing to cut costs and reduce debt. I'm also really optimistic about the trends that we've been seeing in the market with the increases in both bitcoin and hash price. Argo is well positioned to capitalize on these trends as we move forward into 2024.

總而言之，對於 Argo 來說，這是一個很棒的季度。我們提高了採礦利潤率、調整後的 EBITDA 和孵化場總產能。同時繼續削減成本並減少債務。我對我們在市場上看到的比特幣和哈希價格上漲的趨勢也非常樂觀。隨著我們邁入 2024 年，Argo 已做好充分利用這些趨勢的準備。

With that, back to Paul and Tom for any questions thanks everybody.

就這樣，如果有任何問題，請回到保羅和湯姆，謝謝大家。

So thank you very much. Indeed And Jim, thank you indeed for the presentation. (Operator instructions)

非常感謝。確實，吉姆，確實感謝您的演講。 （操作員說明）

As you can see, we've had a number of questions submitted both throughout today's presentation, presubmitted, and thanks to the investors for submitting those. Tom, if I might just hand back to you just to read out those questions where appropriate to do so and I'll pick up from you at the end.

正如您所看到的，我們在今天的演示中收到了許多預先提交的問題，感謝投資者提交這些問題。湯姆，如果我可以將這些問題交還給您，以便在適當的時候宣讀這些問題，最後我會接聽您的電話。

Great. Thanks, Paul. Our first question comes from Bill Papanastasiou at Stifel.

偉大的。謝謝，保羅。我們的第一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Bill Papanastasiou。

Hash price has been rebounding lately with the recent appreciation in the bitcoin spot price. Can you speak to the improvements in Q4 '23 and elaborate on how it is impacting cash flow?

隨著近期比特幣現貨價格的升值，哈希值價格最近一直在反彈。您能否談談 23 年第 4 季的改進並詳細說明它如何影響現金流？

Yes, sure. I'll take that. Thanks, Tom. Thanks, Bill. Yes, hash house price is something that obviously we're paying very close attention to it's come down a bit from it from its most recent peak at $90, but it's still significantly higher than the Q3 average of $67. So I mentioned this during our remarks, but really for every $10 increase in hash price based on our total hash rate capacity of 2.8 ex hash were generating an additional $2.5 million per quarter. So we did just have a difficulty increase of around 3.5%. So that tempers a little bit with that with the hash rate. But it's actually smaller than the difficulty adjustment we were actually back to year-ago -- a week ago, sorry, not a year ago.

是的，當然。我會接受的。謝謝，湯姆。謝謝，比爾。是的，哈希房價顯然是我們非常密切關注的，它比最近的峰值 90 美元有所下降，但它仍然明顯高於第三季度的平均值 67 美元。所以我在發言中提到了這一點，但實際上，基於我們 2.8 ex 哈希的總哈希率容量，哈希價格每增加 10 美元，每季度就會額外產生 250 萬美元。所以我們的難度確實增加了 3.5% 左右。因此，這與哈希率的影響略有緩和。但它實際上比我們實際上回到一年前的難度調整要小——一周前，抱歉，不是一年前。

Our next question comes from Kevin Dede at H.C. Wainwright and this is for Jim. Can you remind me how you reduced the debt by $5 million? Does that come from operating cash flow?

我們的下一個問題來自 H.C. 的 Kevin Dede。溫賴特，這是給吉姆的。你能提醒我你是如何減少 500 萬美元的債務嗎？這是來自經營現金流嗎？

Yes, thanks, Kevin. In July, you'll recall we raised around $7 million of net proceeds. And immediately 25% of that went to reduce the debt. Plus we had another three amortization payments of roughly $1.1 million each and that came out of our operating cash flow and cash on hand. So that's the $3 million plus the $1.7 million is 4.8 million or approximately $5 million. Thanks.

是的，謝謝，凱文。您會記得 7 月我們籌集了約 700 萬美元的淨收益。其中 25% 立即用於減少債務。另外，我們還有另外三筆攤銷付款，每筆金額約為 110 萬美元，這些攤銷付款來自我們的營運現金流和手頭現金。因此，300 萬美元加上 170 萬美元就是 480 萬美元，約 500 萬美元。謝謝。

Thanks, Jim. Our next question comes from Chase White at Campus Point. Seif, now that all your machines are installed and operations are going well, do you have any visibility into future growth options? Is there a timeframe for making any decisions?

謝謝，吉姆。我們的下一個問題來自 Campus Point 的 Chase White。 Seif，現在您的所有機器均已安裝並且運營進展順利，您對未來的成長選擇有任何了解嗎？做出任何決定是否有時間表？

Yes, absolutely. Thanks, Chase. And look, we're continuing our discussions with some key strategic partners and hope to share some updates with you on our next call. Right now, we're in parallel to that, we're focused on reducing our debt and cost structure. So it's really going to allow us to be opportunistic when we're thinking about the having.

是的，一點沒錯。謝謝，蔡斯。看，我們正在繼續與一些關鍵策略合作夥伴進行討論，並希望在下次電話會議上與您分享一些最新消息。目前，我們同時致力於減少債務和成本結構。因此，當我們考慮擁有時，這確實會讓我們變得機會主義。

So I think we're going to see a lot of opportunities in the market as a lot of unprofitable miners come offline. And we're basically just going to be ready to take advantage of that, be it from an operational perspective, financial perspective or strategic partnerships perspective.

因此，我認為隨著許多無利可圖的礦商下線，我們將在市場上看到很多機會。我們基本上準備好利用這一點，無論是從營運角度、財務角度還是策略夥伴關係角度。

Our next question was submitted in the chat, how were the non-mining expenses reduced by 11%? And is that reduction stable going forward?

我們的下一個問題是在聊天中提出的，非挖礦費用減少11%是如何實現的？未來這種減少是否穩定？

Yes, I can take that. As I mentioned earlier, we were able to reduce our recurring non-mining OpEx by around 11% from the prior quarter. This was primarily driven by lower insurance costs, lower professional fees and lower salaries as a result of reduce headcount. And so yes, we believe this is going to be an ongoing reduction going forward. Thank you.

是的，我可以接受。正如我之前提到的，我們的經常性非採礦營運支出比上一季減少了約 11%。這主要是由於人員減少導致保險成本降低、專業費用降低、薪資降低。所以，是的，我們相信這將是一個持續的減少。謝謝。

And our next question for Seif, from Kevin Dede. again from H.C. Wainwright.

我們的下一個問題是凱文·德德向賽義夫提出的。再次來自 H.C.溫賴特。

Can you speak a little bit about how the Epic block miner machines are performing in Quebec?

能談談 Epic 區塊礦機在魁北克的表現如何嗎？

Hey, thanks Kevin. Performance is better than expected. We're seeing really good results, especially when we overclock them to about 130 Tera hash per unit. Currently, they're averaging about 114 per hash through the fleet. And there they're representing about 11% of our overall hatchery capacity right now. Efficiencies on par with the S19's J pros, they're capable of achieving good efficiency when we downclock them.

嘿，謝謝凱文。表現優於預期。我們看到了非常好的結果，特別是當我們將它們超頻到每單位約 130 Tera 哈希時。目前，整個艦隊的平均每個哈希值約為 114 個。目前，它們約占我們孵化場總產能的 11%。效率與 S19 的 J pro 相當，當我們降頻時它們能夠實現良好的效率。

So down clocking them, bring them to about 27 joules per tera hash. Uptime is outstanding, thanks to Quebec's reliable power, we're entering our curtailment season in Quebec, so minimal downtime still despite that is to be expected. From our wise, it's stable, it's performing as expected. Epic has been providing us with all the rate updates. And then the installation process was amazing, thanks to attacks.

因此，降低它們的時脈頻率，使它們達到每 tera 哈希值約 27 焦耳。由於魁北克可靠的電力，正常運行時間非常出色，我們正在進入魁北克的限電季節，因此儘管如此，停機時間仍然很短。從我們的角度來看，它很穩定，並且性能符合預期。 Epic 一直向我們提供所有費率更新。然後，由於攻擊，安裝過程非常驚人。

I got up kudos to operations team here. I think the rigs were deployed within 48 hours once they got to the data centers. So all in all, Kevin, I would say that they're performing better than expected.

我對這裡的營運團隊表示敬佩。我認為這些設備在到達資料中心後 48 小時內就完成了部署。總而言之，凱文，我想說他們的表現比預期的還要好。

Thanks, Seif, or next question for Jim. This comes from Jason F asked in the chat. Can you comment on Argo's capital structure and how you plan to continue addressing debt?

謝謝，賽義夫，或是吉姆的下一個問題。這是 Jason F 在聊天中問到的。您能否評論一下 Argo 的資本結構以及您計劃如何繼續解決債務問題？

Yes. Thanks, Jason. Yeah, we continue to focus on paying down our debt. We've made significant progress in paying down our Galaxy debt, especially, and we are continuing to look for other ways to strengthen the balance sheet. Some of the avenues we're exploring include noncore asset sales and potential refinancing of our existing debt.

是的。謝謝，傑森。是的，我們繼續專注於償還債務。特別是，我們在償還銀河債務方面取得了重大進展，我們正在繼續尋找其他方法來加強資產負債表。我們正在探索的一些途徑包括非核心資產出售和現有債務的潛在再融資。

We have seen with the improvement in bitcoin mining economics over the past month have more appetite for debt and equity financing from the capital markets. So we're having lots of conversations on that front as well. Thank you.

我們看到，隨著過去一個月比特幣挖礦經濟的改善，人們對資本市場的債務和股權融資有了更大的興趣。因此，我們在這方面也進行了許多對話。謝謝。

Another question that we've received several times in the chat, on how do you plan on it -- do you plan on expanding the mining capabilities in Canada and do we plan on renewing our contract with Galaxy and continuing to my Helios once the two-year contract expires?

我們在聊天中多次收到的另一個問題是關於您如何計劃的——您是否計劃擴大加拿大的採礦能力，我們是否計劃與 Galaxy 續簽合同，並在兩者到期後繼續使用我的 Helios一年合約到期？

es, I'll take that. So good question. I think having our history or Argo's history beginning in Canada, I mean, we know it. We understand it. We love the reliability of the power here, but we're also nimble, we're flexible and most importantly, we're mobile. So which really makes us geographically agnostic.

是的，我會接受的。好問題。我認為我們的歷史或阿爾戈的歷史始於加拿大，我的意思是，我們知道這一點。我們明白。我們喜歡這裡電力的可靠性，但我們也很靈活，我們很靈活，最重要的是，我們是移動的。這確實讓我們在地理上變得不可知論。

When we're thinking about growth and opportunity, we're really looking at anywhere from hydropower or in Quebec or Texas or the deserts of Oman. So we're really open and having these discussions accordingly and remain opportunistic. And again, geographically agnostic.

當我們考慮成長和機會時，我們實際上關注的是水力發電、魁北克、德克薩斯州或阿曼沙漠等任何地方。因此，我們非常開放，並進行相應的討論，並保持機會主義。再說一遍，地理上不可知論。

Thanks, Seif. And another question that we received several times, including from [set VRB tigor SN and THP. ] Should we expect to hear more about the discussions mentioned on the asset sales.

謝謝，賽義夫。我們多次收到另一個問題，包括來自[set VRB tigor SN 和 THP]。 ] 我們是否應該期待聽到更多關於資產出售的討論。

Yeah, thanks, [Sotirios chigor] and everybody else. I mean, I appreciate everybody's patience on this. As Jim mentioned, we're still in advanced discussions with partners who are genuinely making good progress here and we anticipate check something and hopefully by the end of the year.

是的，謝謝 [Sotirios chigor] 和其他人。我的意思是，我感謝大家對此的耐心。正如吉姆所提到的，我們仍在與真正取得良好進展的合作夥伴進行深入討論，我們預計在今年年底前進行一些檢查。

Thanks. Our next question comes from Bill Papanastasiou is to ask you what are your network hash rate forecast post having? And how will ARBK remain competitive?

謝謝。我們的下一個問題來自 Bill Papanastasiou，是問您的網路雜湊率預測貼文有哪些內容？ ARBK 將如何保持競爭力？

Yes. Good question, Bill. Thanks. I mean we're expecting to see a lot of hash rate come offline as miners with older generation machines and an older fleet know mining as mining gets more expensive and power contracts are good. Power contracts is just more difficult to find and to mine profitably So as we've seen in past halving cycles, I think that difficult the adjustment will fluctuate back and forth as the network fleshes out the miners that are just right on margin or below.

是的。好問題，比爾。謝謝。我的意思是，我們預計會看到很多哈希率離線，因為擁有老一代機器和老舊車隊的礦工知道採礦，因為採礦變得更加昂貴，而且電力合約也很好。電力合約更難找到，也更難開採，因此正如我們在過去的減半週期中所看到的那樣，我認為隨著網路充實那些恰好處於保證金或低於保證金的礦工，調整的難度將會來回波動。

And I'm going to say this again, I mean, really our focus is what we can control. And it's why in my initial comments, I say that we're so focused on efficiency and cost. So relative to the entire network, we have an efficient fleet. We're competitive from a power and hosting cost perspective, year to date and you know, our power hosting has been all in there at around $0.045 per kilowatt hour or so.

我要再說一遍，我的意思是，我們的重點其實是我們可以控制的。這就是為什麼在我最初的評論中，我說我們如此關注效率和成本。所以相對於整個網路來說，我們擁有一支高效率的機隊。從電力和託管成本的角度來看，我們具有競爭力，今年迄今為止，我們的電力託管價格約為每千瓦時約 0.045 美元。

We're looking at we're looking at again, efficiency and operations, and we're also looking at potential hedging opportunities using derivatives, which I think everyone in this space should be looking into. And so I think those factors, the ones at least that are in our control, should enable us to remain competitive and continue to mine profitably after the halving.

我們正在考慮再次考慮效率和運營，我們也在考慮使用衍生性商品的潛在對沖機會，我認為這個領域的每個人都應該考慮這一點。因此，我認為這些因素，至少是我們可以控制的因素，應該使我們能夠保持競爭力，並在減半後繼續獲利。

So thanks for the question Bill. It's a good one and we're conscious of all.

謝謝比爾提出的問題。這是一件好事，我們都意識到這一點。

Thanks. And then this will be our last question from Kevin Dede, H.C. Wainwright.

謝謝。這將是 H.C. Kevin Dede 提出的最後一個問題。溫賴特。

And say, can you clarify when you reach 2.8 hexa hash that come from the block minor machines?

並說，你能澄清一下，當你達到來自塊小機器的 2.8 六進制哈希值時嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Kevin. Thanks, have. In our September monthly operational update, we announced that we had completed the deployment of our Epic blockchain machine, so they represent around 300 peta hash of hatchery capacity. And so that essentially enabled us to grow from 2.5 to 2.8 hexa hash. So block miners have been online and hashing since the end of September.

是的。謝謝，凱文。謝謝，有。在我們 9 月的每月營運更新中，我們宣布我們已經完成了 Epic 區塊鏈機器的部署，因此它們代表了大約 300 peta 哈希的孵化場容量。因此，這基本上使我們能夠從 2.5 十六進位哈希增長到 2.8。所以從九月底開始，區塊礦工就已經上線並進行哈希處理。

Great. Thank you Seif. And Paul?

偉大的。謝謝賽義夫。保羅呢？

Fantastic, thank you very much indeed for addressing these questions. And of course, the Company review all questions submitted and published responses on the Investor Meet Company platform for redirect investors to provide you with the feedback is particularly important to the company and Seif, if I could just ask you just for a few closing comments, please?

太棒了，非常感謝您回答這些問題。當然，公司會審查在投資者見面公司平台上提交的所有問題和發布的答复，以重定向投資者，為您提供反饋，這對公司和 Seif 尤為重要，如果我可以請您提供一些結束語，請？

Yes. Thank you, Paul. I just want to thank everyone around the world for tuning into our earnings call today. Again, it was a great quarter for Argo with improvements in mining margin, adjusted EBITDA and hash rates. So we really continue to focus on deleveraging and reducing costs and looking forward to our next call to give everybody some more updates. So thank you, everybody, be well. Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Jim. Thanks.

是的。謝謝你，保羅。我只想感謝世界各地的每個人收聽我們今天的財報電話會議。同樣，對於 Argo 來說，這是一個偉大的季度，採礦利潤率、調整後的 EBITDA 和哈希率都有所改善。因此，我們確實繼續專注於去槓桿化和降低成本，並期待我們的下一次電話會議為大家提供更多最新消息。所以謝謝大家，祝大家一切順利。謝謝你，保羅。謝謝你，湯姆。謝謝你，吉姆。謝謝。

Thank you all for updating investors today. I please ask investors not to close the session. As you'll be automatically redirected to provide your feedback to the team can better understand your views and expectations. So I take a few moments to complete and as a greatly valued by the company behalf of the management team of Argo blockchain plc.

感謝大家今天向投資者通報最新情況。我請投資者不要閉會。由於您將被自動重新導向以向團隊提供回饋，因此可以更好地了解您的觀點和期望。因此，我花了一些時間來完成，並代表 Argo 區塊鏈 plc 的管理團隊受到公司的高度重視。

We'd like to thank you for attending today's presentation, and good afternoon to you all.

我們感謝您參加今天的演示，祝大家下午好。