Publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) miner Core Scientific has appointed Adam Sullivan its CEO. Sullivan, who previously served as the company’s president, took the role on Aug. 4, while co-founder and former CEO Mike Levitt remains chairman of the board.
Sullivan has over a decade of financial services experience, particularly in digital assets and infrastructure, with a background that includes strategy, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Before joining Core Scientific, he held roles at XMS Capital Partners, overseeing transactions totaling over $5 billion, including Core Scientific’s merger with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. in 2021.
The switch in leadership comes amid Core Scientific’s restructuring process. After months of financial distress, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2022 due to low Bitcoin prices, increased electricity costs, a rise in the global Bitcoin hash rate and the bankruptcy of crypto lender Celsius.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a business to continue operating until stakeholders agree on a restructuring plan, which may involve downsizing operations to reduce debt or selling assets to repay creditors.
In the bankruptcy plan recently submitted to U.S. courts, Core Scientific claims to have seen a boost in liquidity due to higher Bitcoin prices, increased network hash rate and reduced energy costs. The company is expected to exit proceedings by September. So far this year, the company’s stock has increased over 1,178%, indicating positive investor sentiment. However, Core Scientific remains a penny stock, which means volatility is more likely.
Core Scientific reportedly operates 211,000 Bitcoin miners across its data centers in the United States, with a potential hash rate of 22.2 exahashes per second. Self-mining operations contributed 1,030 BTC in June and 7,768 BTC in the first half of 2023.
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