A New Jersey bankruptcy judge was said to have approved struggling cryptocurrency lender BlockFi's proposal Monday to set up an auction for its crypto mining assets in an effort to repay creditors. The company, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on Nov. 28, 2022, has already received a number of bids for some of its assets and more bids are expected, Bloomberg reported, citing BlockFi attorney Francis Petrie in a court hearing. Bids are due Feb. 20 and an auction will take effect about one week later. Within its crypto mining business, Jersey City, New Jersey-based BlockFi is offloading computer equipment in the midst of a broader market rally that's persisted since the start of 2023, according to the report . Any proposed deal resulting from the auction will be up for court approval in March. BlockFi did not immediately respond to Seeking Alpha's request for comment. Last year's demise of BlockFi, a once-prominent financier for bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) miners, came as depressed bitcoin prices combined with high electricity prices damaged miners' profitability. That dynamic forced some miners to file for bankruptcy , including Core Scientific ( OTCPK:CORZQ ), one of the largest publicly-traded producers of BTC. In December 2020, BlockFi filed a motion to let users withdraw digital assets.
