“Actually, I’d say a collapse has already happened. For 50 years we’ve said we’re great property and sharemarket investors, but the issue is the money supply has grown 8 per cent year-on-year and these assets are just keeping pace with the amount of new money in the economy, so all you’re really seeing is a crash, but a crash higher in asset prices.”
At lunchtime on Thursday, the world’s largest cryptocurrency widely regarded as a risk and liquidity bellwether changed hands for $US26,280 to mark a 9.9 per cent fall over the past month.
Mixed record
Iris floated at $US28 a share at the peak of the cryptocurrency bubble in November 2021, but its valued has since crashed 84.2 per cent. Shares were at $US4.43 on Thursday.
It posted adjusted EBITDA (operating income) of $US1.4 million in financial 2023 after subtracting power bills of $US35.8 million and other cash operating costs of $US38.3 million from bitcoin mining revenue up 21.9 per cent to $US75.5 million in financial 2023.
Mr Roberts, a Young Rich Lister, said the business could reverse its sharemarket slump by investing in artificial intelligence chips produced by Nvidia and the construction of new wind- or solar-powered bitcoin mining facilities in the US state of Texas, which suffered record heat waves in August.
As at June 30, Iris had no debt, and cash on hand of $US69.1 million. Mr Roberts said it could finance growth plans totalling $US626 million via an at the market (ATM) share issuance facility worth $US300 million, and an additional $US200 million in capital raised via share or debt issuance.
