Troubled bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) miner Core Scientific ( OTCPK:CORZQ ) raised about $500M from its convertible notes that were purchased by high-profile asset managers BlackRock ( NYSE: BLK ) and Apollo Global Management as well as other creditors, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing a court filing. Core ( OTCPK:CORZQ ) filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 21, 2022, as miners' profitability margins suffered last year from falling bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) prices as well as rising electricity/computing costs and a high network hashrate. In August 2022, BlackRock ( BLK ), the world's largest asset manager, purchased $38M of convertible notes through funds and accounts managed by its subsidiaries, according to the report, and recently provided $17M to Core's ( OTCPK:CORZQ ) debtor-in-possession facility to keep the company operational. Similarly, Apollo ( NYSE: APO ) bought $22.6M of convertible notes in April 2022 followed by an $11M purchase in August 2022 and a $6M contribution to CORZQ's debtor-in-possession loan, which has a cap of $75M. Ibex Investors was the largest holder of CORZQ's notes, followed by fellow investment firms Gullane Capital, ICG Advisors and MassMutual. Previously, (Dec. 21, 2022) Core Scientific was said to explore a sale of up to one gigawatt worth of its mining facilities under development.
