The mining arm of bankrupt lending firm Celsius will temporarily store 20,000 rigs it's retrieving from Core Scientific and is optimistic about finding new hosting locations.

The company has already started the process of taking back the 37,500 machines after a judge allowed Core Scientific to turn them off earlier this month. It expects to finish the process by mid-March, said Chris Ferraro, who is operating as chief restructuring officer and interim CEO.

"There are options for hosting in the market that will allow us to continue mining with positive operating cash flows and significant upside," Ferraro said in the hearing.

Celsius had been in conflict with Core Scientific — which also filed for bankruptcy last month — over the terms of a hosting agreement, with the former filing a motion to enforce an automatic stay in September. Core, however, claimed that Celsius was "using its Chapter 11 proceeding to withhold payment of certain charges."