Photo by André François McKenzie on Unsplash

Digihost Technology Inc. (DGHI) shares surged 8.25% on Monday after the company said it would provide an option to pay dividends in Bitcoin (BITCOMP).

What Happened

The U.S.-based Bitcoin miner said its shareholders could elect to receive future dividends in either Bitcoin or cash, as per a statement on Monday.

“It is expected that the first dividend will be 10% of net income,” said Michel Amar, Chairman and CEO of Digihost.

The dividend will be paid out to shareholders in the third quarter of the year based on the company’s net income for the six months ended June 30, 2022. The remaining 90% of earnings will be reinvested to fund future business opportunities, said Digihost.

In 2021, Digihost produced an adjusted EBITDA of $14.01 million with an average hashrate of 275 Peta Hash per second (PH/s). This year, Digihost expects a fivefold increase in hashrate to 1.5 Exa Hash per second (EH/s).

The company has mined 186.83 BTC in the first quarter which represents an 81.57% increase from the previous one. It also has a digital asset inventory with $39.6 million worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Digihost is not the first Nasdaq-listed company to offer a dividend payable in Bitcoin. In January, blockchain technology firm BTCS Inc. (BTCS) said it would pay 5 cents per share in Bitcoin, based on the Bitcoin price on the ex-dividend date. BTCS saw its shares surge by more than 38% on the day the news was announced.

Price Action

According to data from Benzinga Pro, Bitcoin was trading at $46,670, gaining 1.14% in the last 24 hours.

DGHI shares closed at $4.25 after gaining more than 8% on Monday. Other major Bitcoin-mining stocks such as Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (MARA)

 and Riot Blockchain Inc (RIOT) gained 1.33% and lost 0.19% respectively.