Hut 8’s $7 billion cash balance shrinks to $233 million outside its AI projects

Hut 8 reported over $7 billion of cash, restricted cash, and cash equivalents at June 30, but its Aug. 4 quarterly filing shows that only $233.6 million was unrestricted and available for general corporate use. The other $6.8 billion, or 96.7% of the total, was restricted.

That distinction makes Hut 8’s headline balance a misleading measure of the company’s flexible liquidity if its large AI data-center projects run late or over budget.

The restricted balance principally consists of proceeds from notes issued for the River Bend and Beacon Point AI data-center developments and held in construction and debt-service reserve accounts required by their indentures. It also includes an unquantified amount supporting commercial letters of credit.

That money can fund construction and related debt service, but it cannot be treated like unrestricted parent-company cash.

The financing also limits Hut 8’s direct exposure to the project debt. River Bend’s $3.25 billion of 6.19% notes are obligations solely of Hut 8 DC LLC, while Beacon Point’s $4.25 billion of 6.13% notes belong solely to Beacon Point DC LLC. Each note package remains isolated at the subsidiary level, with Hut 8 Corp entirely outside the guarantee structure.

Both projects begin paying interest in November 2026, with principal scheduled to start in May 2028 for River Bend and in May 2030 for Beacon Point. Hut 8 leaves open what delay or cost-overrun conditions would require it to contribute additional parent equity beyond the restricted accounts. That threshold is the central unaddressed topic.

Hut 8’s $177.1 million second-quarter net loss included a $138.6 million loss on digital assets that the company described as primarily unrealized.

Under its revised non-GAAP definition, which excludes digital-asset mark-to-market changes, adjusted EBITDA was positive $10.4 million, and it was negative $94.6 million when those changes were included. Both figures are non-GAAP presentations, so cash flow requires its separate measure.

Cash flow presents a less dramatic picture. Hut 8 used $32.8 million of operating cash in the first half and $27.2 million in the first quarter, implying second-quarter operating cash use of about $5.6 million.