Argo Blockchain plc

Argo Blockchain plc investor presentation. Throughout this recording meeting, investors will be in this lonely mode. Questions are encouraged and can be submitted at any time by the Q&A tab situated on the right hand corner of your screen. Simply type in your questions and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives during the meeting itself. However, the company can review all questions submitted today. Before we begin, I'd like to submit the following poll. And I'd now like to hand over to the management team from Argo Blockchain plc. Markella, good afternoon.

Thank you very much. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that today's presentation and remarks may contain forward-looking statements. Please see our Form 20-F file with the Securities and Exchange Commission for our full risk disclosure. With us today for our discussion of Q2 2024 results are Thomas Cheapas, Argos Chief Executive Officer, and Jim MacCallum, Argos Chief Financial Officer. and now I'll turn it over to Thomas for some introductory remarks.

Thanks Markella and thank you to everyone for joining us today. I'm excited to update you on our progress so far this quarter and over the first half of the year. Financial discipline into leveraging, operational excellence and growth continue to remain Argos' three priorities and guide us on a daily basis for the sustainable future of this company. By concentrating on these goals, we are increasingly positioning the company to take advantage of opportunities for growth and development. Our clear objective is delivering enhanced shareholder value and I'm thrilled to continue the great work that the team has been doing and tell you more about what we have accomplished. A few comments on the macro environment. In second quarter 2024, the macroeconomic environment significantly influenced the Bitcoin mining sector. Central banks, particularly the US Federal Reserve, have, until recently, indicated a potential pause in interest rate hikes, providing some respite to risk assets like Bitcoin. The shift in policy created a more stable environment for miners as borrowing caused for infrastructure expansion and energy pricing became less volatile. Thank you for joining us. Bitcoin's post-ETF surge in the first half of the year did provide short-term relief to miners. However, as market conditions corrected and the price settled, miners faced narrow profit margins. Despite these pressures, we have observed growth in total network hash rate as the industry continues to deploy new, more efficient rigs, leading to lower post-having hash prices. Network hash rate Thank you for watching. In Q2, we mined 188 Bitcoin, or about 2 Bitcoin per day, and traded a revenue of $12.4 million and $0.8 million in power credits from economic curtailment in Texas. Our mining profit this quarter was $5 million, with a mining margin of 41%, and an average direct cost per Bitcoin mined of $38,989. Additionally, we reduced our debt by $7.2 million and fully repaid Galaxy during our post-quarter period. We ended the quarter with $4 million in cash and completed an $8.3 million equity raise post-quarter. Let's now move to the next slide and Jim can discuss the comparison of our quarterly results and lend some comments on our capital structure. Over to you, Jim.