Riot Platforms Frees 5,821 Bitcoin (BTC) With $200 Million Coinbase Loan Repayment

Riot Retakes 5,821 BTC From Coinbase

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms has regained unrestricted control of 5,821 BTC after paying off a $200 million credit facility secured through Coinbase Custody, per an 8-K submitted to the SEC on Friday. The settlement covered principal and interest on September 21, extinguished Coinbase's claim over the pledged collateral the same day, and carried no early-repayment fee — notable, since the facility bore a fixed 6.15% rate and was not due until April 2027, seven months after payoff. Riot had pledged bitcoin, USDC and cash against the debt, and the proof-of-work mining company's collateral requirements had swung with the Bitcoin market: a February price slide forced it to post 1,825 additional coins, lifting the pledge from 3,977 at the end of 2025 to 5,802. The 5,821 coins just released represent just over half of the 11,380 BTC Riot held as of June 30, when the pledged stack was valued at $340.7 million. At a price near $84,800, that same stack is now worth roughly $494 million, turning Riot into one of the larger freely disposable whale wallets among public miners. The company's June quarterly filing showed only 5,559 coins were unrestricted before payoff, so the release roughly doubles that pool. What the filing does not disclose is how Riot raised the cash — or what it intends to do with the coins.

AI Pivot Draws Down the Treasury

The repayment lands against a backdrop of heavy selling. In the first quarter, Riot sold 3,778 bitcoin for $289.5 million while mining just 1,473, its own production update shows. The drawdown continued into Q2: holdings fell from 15,680 to 11,380 coins even as the miner produced 1,587 more. The proceeds are funding a sweeping pivot — in August, Riot signed a 20-year, $9.1 billion lease covering 191 megawatts of computing capacity at its Rockdale, Texas campus, with the tenant described only as a leading frontier AI lab. Morgan Stanley has provided a $573 million interim loan for early construction, and a longer-term credit backstop is being finalized, per the company's second-quarter disclosure. Whether Riot chooses to HODL the freed 5,821 coins or sell them into strength remains the open question; the filing is silent, and its next quarterly report will show whether the stack stayed on the books. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on MEXC.

$87,350 Ceiling Meets Strong Support

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine rates the $87,349 resistance at 78/100, driven by the confluence of the Fibonacci 0.000 projection, Donchian Upper, prior swing high and Bollinger Upper — the day's key ceiling. First support sits at $84,084, scoring 77/100 on the Ichimoku Tenkan, S2 and a fresh MACD cross, with spot at $84,460, up 0.38% over 24 hours. Funding is mildly positive at 0.0027%, open interest near $15.9 billion and 57% of accounts long, while a Fear & Greed reading of 70 signals greed. RSI at 65 with a bullish MACD keeps the uptrend intact: a hold at $84,084 targets the $87,350 test, while losing that level invalidates the setup and opens $82,264.