Companies

Cipher Starts Black Pearl Rent Two Months Early

The Tip Desk · August 4, 2026 · 4 min read

The HPC developer booked $25 million of second-quarter revenue and an $810 million Stingray bond at a 6.000% coupon.

Cipher Digital Inc. (CIFR), a developer, owner and operator of industrial-scale data centers, amended its Black Pearl campus lease with an investment-grade hyperscale tenant and began delivering its first data-center capacity in August, two months ahead of the original schedule, with rent commencing.

Chief Executive Officer Tyler Page said the company was proud to have delivered its first HPC data-center capacity ahead of schedule and that rent had started at the site. Remaining Phase I data halls were moving through MEP fit-out, while Phase II concrete foundations, building steel and underground electrical work continued. The company said about 96% of equipment was secured.

That delivery sits on a portfolio the company described as 907 MW of operating and contracted capacity, including three data-center campus leases with hyperscalers, plus a grid pipeline it put at about 4.4 GW expected to be energized across 2027 through 2030 and later. Contracted capacity is expected to generate about $793 million of average annualized net operating income from October 2026 through September 2036, through the end of the Barber Lake base lease term.

Barber Lake is the next campus to convert to rent. The tenant has commenced beneficial use, including partial occupancy of the building and deployment of network racks. The company said 100% of equipment was secured, with initial delivery and rental payments expected in October 2026.

Stingray construction continued on schedule, with earthwork, grading, pad preparation and underground electrical work underway and concrete foundations and steel erection slated for the third quarter of 2026. Expected delivery is in the first half of 2027. About 75% of equipment was secured.

In the quarter, Cipher completed an $810 million high-yield bond offering that fully funded Stingray through substantial completion and reimbursed the company for $56.7 million of previously funded project expenditures. The notes carry a 6.000% coupon. Page said the company accessed capital markets to fund another lease, secured a new site option and delivered accelerated capacity, and that it looks forward to carrying that momentum into the third quarter, where it expects to make significant additional progress.

Cipher also acquired an option on a site called Apollo for up to 900 MW, on about 288 acres within 25 miles of San Antonio, Texas. The site was submitted as a studied load in Batch Zero through ERCOT’s updated process. The company said the terrain is flat and buildable and that proximity to San Antonio positions the site for fiber connectivity.

Bitcoin mining remained a smaller, still-operating line. Odessa mined about 346 BTC in the second quarter at 11.6 EH/s of hashrate on 207 MW, with fleet efficiency of about 17.2 J/TH and power cost of about 2.8 cents per kilowatt-hour under a fixed-price PPA with Luminant. HPC lease discussions were active at the site.

Second-quarter revenue was $25 million, down from $35 million in the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $30 million, improving from negative $48 million in the first quarter. Beginning with the three months ended March 31, 2026, the company changed its primary non-GAAP measure from Adjusted Earnings (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA and said it does not intend to report the older measure in future periods.

For the three months ended June 30, 2026, bitcoin-mining revenue was $24.8 million, versus $43.6 million a year earlier. Net loss was $267.5 million, or $0.65 a share, versus a $45.8 million loss, or $0.12 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA for that year-ago quarter was positive $32.3 million.

Cash and cash equivalents were $831.8 million at June 30, 2026. Current restricted cash was $3.19 billion. Long-term borrowings, net, were $5.45 billion. Property and equipment, net, was $2.13 billion.

The company hired Bill Blevins as Head of Grid Strategies and Mohamed Abouelella as Head of Engineering. Grid-pipeline sites include Reveille at 70 MW and Ulysses at 200 MW, both with interconnections approved and substation development initiated, plus Colchis, McLennan and Mikeska at 1,000 MW, 500 MW and 500 MW, respectively, with deposits funded and studies submitted for Batch Zero.

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