Riot sees lower 2022 revenue despite more BTC mined; delays annual filing on Bitcoin impairment calculation issue
The company's accounting practices affected its calculation of impairments on Bitcoin.
Crypto mining firm Riot Platforms published its 2022 financial results on March 2 and reported that it would delay its 10-K filing with regulators.
Riot saw significant growth in 2022
In its annual report, Riot reported “record results” for the year of 2022. The company said that it brought in $259.2 million in total revenue over the course of the year. It also ended the year with $230 million of cash, 6,974 BTC ($116 million), and no long-term debt.
The company also saw heightened mining performance, producing 5,554 BTC and reaching a record hash rate of 9.7 exahashes per second (EH/s) in 2022.
The company additionally said that it generated more than $27 million in power credits through various contracts that saw it limit its energy use.
Much of that data represents an increase from the previous year. In 2021, Riot saw $213.2 million in total revenue, produced 3,812 BTC, and achieved a hash rate of 3.1 EH/s.
In spite of higher overall revenue, Riot produced less Bitcoin mining revenue in terms of dollar value. It produced just $156.9 million of mining revenue in 2022 after producing $184.4 million of mining revenue in 2021. It achieved higher overall revenue in 2022 by mining more Bitcoin and through greater engineering and data hosting revenue.
The company also reported a net loss in 2022 amounting to $509.6 million — a loss much greater than the $15.4 million loss it reported in 2021. Its loss in 2022 was largely due to impairment costs on two acquisitions, its crypto holdings, and its miners.
Riot delays 10-K filing
Riot also announced today that it will delay its 10-K financial filing, as indicated in a document that the company submitted to the U.S. SEC on March 2.
Riot and its accounting firm discovered that the existing method of calculating Bitcoin impairment charges did not meet the requirements of an accounting rule. The company said that the intraday low price of Bitcoin should be used in those calculations. Previously, the company calculated impairments based on daily spot prices.
In light of those issues, Riot said that it will not file its 10-K Annual Report by the expected deadline. It expects to file that report within the standard 15-day extension.
Two other companies also delayed their 10-K this week. Marathon, a competing mining company, delayed its 10-K filing for similar reasons. Silvergate Bank also delayed its 10-K this week due to regulatory inquiries as well as auditing reasons.
Riot’s share price has been minimally impacted and is up 0.65% over 24 hours on Mar. 2.