Michael Novogratz

German asset manager DWS joins Galaxy to issue euro stablecoin

AllUnity, a new joint venture by DWS, Galaxy, and Flow Traders, plans to issue the euro stablecoin on all major public permissionless L1s and L2s, as well as DeFi use cases.

Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm, DWS, is forming a new venture with Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital and Flow Traders to jointly issue a euro-denominated stablecoin.

DWS Group officially announced on Dec. 13 the plan to form AllUnity as part of a new partnership between DWS, Flow Traders, and Galaxy to launch a “fully collateralized” euro stablecoin.

AllUnity’s operations will be regulated by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, the announcement notes. AllUnity’s longer-term focus will be to accelerate mass adoption of digital assets and tokenization.

Argo Blockchain sells top mining facility to Galaxy Digital for $65M

Argo Blockchain reduces its total debt by $41 million by selling its flagship Helios mining facility and getting a $35 million loan from Galaxy.

Cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain has taken a difficult decision to sell its flagship mining facility Helios in order to survive the ongoing bear market.

Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall officially announced on Dec. 28 a deal with Mike Novogratz’s crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital to sell the Helios facility for $65 million. Argo has already been cashing its mined Bitcoin (BTC) to reduce the loan to Galaxy.

Additionally, Galaxy will also provide Argo with a new $35 million equipment finance loan to help the troubled miner reduce its debt. “We’ve used the proceeds of that sale in a new Galaxy loan to pay off the debt that we owed to NYDIG and a tiny bit to another secured lender,” Wall noted.

The new transactions aim to reduce Argo’s total debt by $41 million and improve liquidity and operating structure, allowing the firm to continue its mining operations, the CEO said.

Wall noted that the deal was the “only viable path forward” through the bear market amid pressure from high energy costs coupled with the low Bitcoin price.

The CEO also emphasized that despite Argo selling Helios, the firm has not sold any of its mining machines. “Those are going to continue to mine at Helios facility,” Wall said, adding that Argo has also signed an agreement to keep running their mining machines at Helios. He stated:

“Staying at Helios will also allow us to continue to access power through the Texas grid and participate in the ancillary services, which are provided by Ercot.”

The deal comes just six months after Argo officially launched Helios in May 2022. Located in Dickens County, Helios facility is the largest Argo mining facility, supporting 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity. In comparison, another Argo facility, Baie Comeau, operates around 15 MW.

The news comes amid Argo’s struggle to secure financing after failing to raise $27 million via subscription for ordinary shares. In October, Argo said that it was at risk of closing due to failing to raise new financing. In mid-December, Argo announced that it was negotiating to sell its assets and trying to “engage in an equipment financing transaction” in order to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

Argo did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

BitGo sues Galaxy Digital for acquisition breach, seeks $100M in damages

BitGo has accused Galaxy of “improper repudiation” and “intentional breach” of the merger in a lawsuit filed with Delaware Chancery Court.

Digital asset custodian BitGo has filed a lawsuit against Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital for terminating the former’s acquisition.

BitGo took to Twitter on Tuesday to disclose details of its lawsuit against Galaxy after the latter terminated the $1.2 billion acquisition deal with BitGo in mid-August.

Filed on Monday, the lawsuit seeks more than $100 million in damages, accusing Galaxy of “improper repudiation” and “intentional breach” of its acquisition agreement with BitGo, the firm said.

BitGo said they filed the lawsuit with Delaware Chancery Court, stressing that the court documents are expected to become public on Thursday evening. That is in “an abundance of caution” in the event Galaxy wants to “redact some of the allegations before the complaint becomes public,” BitGo noted in a tweet.

As previously reported, Galaxy terminated the BitGo acquisition on Aug. 15. The company argued that it exercised its right to drop the deal in line with the merger agreement after BitGo failed to deliver audited financial statements for 2021.

Galaxy CEO Novogratz said that it was still pursuing its path to the United States listing on Nasdaq. Galaxy also stated that they plan to vigorously defend the firm in a potential case as Galaxy believed that BitGo’s claims were “without merit.”

Both BitGo and Galaxy declined to provide additional comments regarding the lawsuit to Cointelegraph.

The news comes amid BitGo continuing to develop more products and services. The company on Tuesday announced the launch of its Wealth Management platform, aiming to allow registered investment advisors and broker-dealers to have direct access to digital assets.

Founded in 2013, BitGo is a major global digital currency firm focusing exclusively on serving institutional clients, providing custody, liquidity, and security solutions. Last year, the firm reported over $64 billion in assets under custody.

Argo Blockchain keeps cashing out BTC to pay the debt to Galaxy Digital

After selling 887 Bitcoin in July, Argo cut its outstanding balance under the BTC-backed loan to just $6.72 million.

Cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain continues to sell its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to cut its debt to Michael Novogratz’s crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital.

Argo sold another 887 Bitcoin in July to reduce obligations under a BTC-backed loan agreement with Galaxy Digital, the firm announced on Friday.

With the average BTC price of $22,670, the sales totaled $20.1 million, accounting for a significant part of the maximum outstanding loan balance of $50 million in Q2 2022. As of July 31, 2022, Argo held an outstanding balance of just $6.72 million under the BTC-backed loan, the announcement notes.

The latest sale comes shortly after Argo sold another 637 BTC in June 2022 for $15.6 million. The firm reported that by the end of June 30, Argo had an outstanding balance of $22 million on the loan.

Despite actively cashing out its Bitcoin over the past few months, Argo still holds a notable stash of Bitcoin. As of July 31, 2022, Argo held a total of 1,295 BTC, with 227 of those represented by BTC equivalents.

In the latest operational update, Argo mentioned that the company significantly increased its mining volumes in July. During the month of July, Argo mined 219 BTC or BTC equivalents, compared to 179 BTC in the previous month. Based on daily foreign exchange rates and cryptocurrency prices during the month, mining revenue in July amounted to $4.73 million, while revenues in June amounted to $4.35 million.

Focused on cryptocurrency mining, the Argo blockchain firm is a public company listed on Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange. Argo is one of many crypto mining companies that opted to sell self-mined Bitcoin amid the bear market of 2022, including firms like Bitfarms, Core Scientific and Riot Blockchain.

In contrast, crypto mining firms like Marathon, Hut 8 and Hive Blockchain Technologies have still preferred to stick with a long-standing HODL strategy despite extreme market conditions.