Riot could free up to 1,500 BTC as Bitcoin nears $78,000

Riot Platforms added 1,825 BTC to a $200 million loan from Coinbase in February after Bitcoin fell. A recent rally that pushed Bitcoin close to $78,000 could allow Riot to recover a portion of that pledged collateral without paying down the loan principal, depending on which contract schedule applies and on required procedural steps.

Riot started 2026 with 3,977 BTC pledged against the facility. The February price drop raised the pledged balance to about 5,802 BTC; filings show the disclosed pledged total at 5,821 BTC as of June 30. Riot reported 11,380 BTC in total holdings at quarter-end, leaving roughly 5,559 BTC outside the Coinbase collateral account in that snapshot.

At a $78,000 reference price, 5,821 BTC would be worth about $454 million and the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) would be roughly 44.1% (the $200 million debt divided by $454 million in collateral value). Riot’s April credit agreement sets three possible release schedules. The standard schedule allows releases at a 50% LTV and resets at 60%. The first deleveraging schedule sets a 45% release and a 55% reset. The second deleveraging schedule requires a 40% release and a 50% reset. Which schedule governs depends on how the contract’s benchmarks align with the collateral market value.

If the standard schedule applies, the current price would put Riot below the 50% release line and the company could request the return of enough collateral to bring the facility back to the 60% reset level. At $78,000 per BTC that would lower pledged collateral to about 4,274 BTC and free roughly 1,547 BTC, worth about $121 million. Under the first deleveraging schedule the release test is 45% and the reset is 55%; at the same reference price Riot could reclaim about 1,159 BTC, worth roughly $90.4 million. The second deleveraging schedule would require Bitcoin near $85,896 for a release; the current rally does not meet that threshold.

The credit agreement requires Riot to meet the applicable LTV for two consecutive days, submit a written release request, and have no active blocking event. Coinbase conducts its own real-time LTV calculation using prices from a New York-regulated venue and, if the ratio still qualifies, instructs the custodian to return enough additional collateral to reach the reset LTV. Riot’s public filings do not show a current release request and do not specify which schedule Coinbase is applying.

Riot’s pledged balance has moved several times. The February decline added 1,825 BTC to the collateral account. An April refinancing released 1,544 BTC and reduced pledged coins to about 4,258 BTC. By June 30 the reported pledged balance was back at 5,821 BTC; the filings do not explain that increase.

Other miners have used similar structures at larger scale. Marathon Digital Holdings pledged 18,750 BTC to secure $750 million of combined borrowing. At $78,000 per BTC those coins would be worth about $1.46 billion. Using Riot’s and Marathon’s disclosed figures, the rally to $78,000 has added roughly $376 million of market value to the two miners’ pledged Bitcoin holdings, measured from their own reported starting values.

Riot’s filings note separate development and financing items that could affect how the company uses any returned coins. The company disclosed a 20-year lease to build 191 megawatts for an AI tenant and a separate financing facility of up to $573 million for equipment and project costs. Second-quarter results showed $113.7 million in mining revenue and $23.2 million from data-center operations. The filings do not indicate whether Riot plans to sell any newly released coins; management could hold them, use them in other financing, or sell them.

The contract mechanics mean that rising Bitcoin prices can reduce the amount of collateral a lender controls without changing a miner’s reported total holdings. A lender-controlled collateral account can therefore move more than 1,000 BTC between restricted and available status as market prices shift, subject to the contract’s release conditions and lender calculations.