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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

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For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

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OR

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For the transition period from:         to:        

Commission file number: 001-33675

RIOT PLATFORMS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (303) 794-2000

Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act:

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act: None.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act: Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act: Yes ☐ No ☒

Note - Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act from their obligations under those Sections.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the shares of common stock, no par value, held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2022, was approximately $0.6 billion, based on the closing sale price per share of the registrant’s common stock as reported by the Nasdaq Capital Market on such date.

As of March 1, 2023, the registrant had 166,979,322 shares of its common stock, no par value per share, outstanding, which was the only class of its registered securities outstanding as of that date.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Part III incorporates information by reference to the registrant’s definitive proxy statement, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the close of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.

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RIOT PLATFORMS, INC.

INDEX TO ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

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RIOT PLATFORMS, INC.

As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (this “Annual Report”), the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company,” the “Registrant,” “Riot Platforms,” and “Riot” mean Riot Platforms, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless otherwise indicated.

Effective December 30, 2022, we changed our name from Riot Blockchain, Inc. to Riot Platforms, Inc.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report and the documents incorporated by reference herein contain forward-looking statements which provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that may not materialize or prove to be correct, which could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements concerning: our plans, strategies and objectives for future operations; new equipment, systems, technologies, services or developments, such as our development and implementation of industrial-scale immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining hardware and our one-gigawatt data center development outside of Corsicana, Texas; future economic conditions, performance, or outlooks; future political conditions; the outcome of contingencies; potential acquisitions or divestitures; the number and value of Bitcoin rewards and transaction fees we earn from our Bitcoin mining operations; expected cash flows or capital expenditures; our beliefs or expectations; activities, events or developments that we intend, expect, project, believe, or anticipate will or may occur in the future; and assumptions underlying or based upon any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology, such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “should,” “would,” “will,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “projects” and similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our management’s opinions only as of the date the statements are made and are not guarantees of future performance or actual results. We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events, or otherwise, except as required by law or by the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Forward-looking statements are made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.The following are some of the risks, factors, and uncertainties we believe could cause our actual results to differ materially from our historical results or our current expectations or projections expressed in such forward-looking statements:

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Additional details and discussions concerning some of the various risks, factors, and uncertainties that could cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements in this Annual Report can be found under Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and under Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Annual Report, which may be updated, supplemented, and amended by our subsequent disclosures contained in the reports and other filings we make with the SEC.

The risks, factors and uncertainties disclosed herein and in our other filings are not exhaustive. Additional risks and uncertainties not known to us or that we currently believe not to be material as of the date hereof may adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. It is not possible for our management to accurately and completely predict all risks, factors, and uncertainties that may be applicable to our business, nor can we know the extent of the impact of such risks, factors, and uncertainties on our business. Should any of the risks, factors, or uncertainties we discuss in this Annual Report or the documents incorporated by reference herein, or any of those risks, factors, and uncertainties which we do not foresee or which we do not believe to be material as of the date hereof occur, our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements we may make, and they could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

The forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report speak only as of the date on which they are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report or to reflect new information, actual results, revised expectations, or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations expressed in our forward-looking

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statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements.

Industry and Market Data

Information regarding market and industry statistics contained in this Annual Report has been obtained from industry and other publications that we believe to be reliable, but that are not produced for purposes of securities filings. We have not independently verified any market, industry or similar data presented in this Annual Report and cannot assure you of its accuracy or completeness. Further, we have not reviewed or included data from all sources. Forecasts and other forward-looking information obtained from third-party sources are subject to the same qualifications and the additional uncertainties accompanying any estimates of future market size, revenue and market acceptance of products and services. As a result, investors should not place undue reliance on any such forecasts and other forward-looking information.

EXPLANATORY NOTE REGARDING RESTATEMENT

This Annual Report restates the following previously issued Consolidated Financial Statements, data, and related disclosures:

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We are restating the previously issued Consolidated Financial Statements, data, and related disclosures described above because, during the preparation of this Annual Report, we determined we have not been appropriately calculating our impairment of Bitcoin. We determined that our method of calculating impairment of its Bitcoin assets, on a daily basis using a spot price at a standard cutoff time, was not in compliance with the ASC 350-30-35-19 requirement to recognize impairment whenever carrying value exceeds fair value. Effectively, we determined that ASC 350-30-35-19 calls for the intraday low price of Bitcoin to be utilized in calculating impairment of our Bitcoin held as that metric is the most accurate indicator of whether it is more likely than not that the asset is impaired. After applying the revised impairment methodology to our prior financial statements, we determined, for the periods indicated in this explanatory note, that the resulting changes to our financial statements, data, and related disclosures described above were material. Accordingly, we are filing these restatements to correct these material errors.

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The financial information for the periods indicated above that are included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and earnings, press releases and similar communications issued prior to the filing of this Annual Report should not be relied on and are superseded by this Annual Report.

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PART I

ITEM 1.  BUSINESS

General

We are a vertically integrated Bitcoin mining company principally engaged in enhancing our capabilities to mine Bitcoin. We also provide comprehensive and critical mining infrastructure for institutional-scale hosted clients to mine Bitcoin at our Bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas (the “Rockdale Facility”). Our Rockdale Facility currently provides 700 megawatts in total developed capacity for our Bitcoin mining and data center hosting services for institutional-scale hosted clients. Our Rockdale Facility is believed to be the largest Bitcoin mining facility in North America, as measured by developed capacity, and we are currently growing its capacity. Additionally, we are developing a second large-scale Bitcoin mining and data center facility outside of Corsicana, Texas (the “Corsicana Facility”), which, upon completion, is expected to have approximately one gigawatt of capacity available for our own Bitcoin mining and data center hosting services for institutional-scale hosted clients.

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We operate in an environment that is consistently evolving based on the market outlook, and demand of, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. A significant component of our strategy is to effectively and efficiently allocate capital between opportunities that we believe will generate the highest return on our investment.

We are organized and operate in three reportable business segments: Bitcoin Mining, Data Center Hosting, and Engineering, which are organized based on purpose and services performed. Each of our business segments is further discussed herein.

Amounts disclosed in this Annual Report are in thousands except for share, per share, Bitcoin, and miner amounts, or as otherwise noted.

Business Segments

Bitcoin Mining

As of December 31, 2022, our Bitcoin Mining business segment operated 88,556 miners, with a hash rate capacity of 9.7 exahash per second (“EH/s”). In 2022, we mined 5,554 Bitcoin, which represented an increase of 45.7% over the 3,812 Bitcoin we mined in 2021. Based on our existing operations and expected deliveries and deployment of miners we have purchased, we anticipate having approximately 111,216 miners in operation by the end of 2023.

Our Bitcoin Mining operations are focused on maximizing our ability to successfully mine Bitcoin by growing our hash rate (the amount of computer power we devote to supporting the Bitcoin blockchain) to increase our chances of successfully finding cryptographic hashes that create new blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain (a process known as “solving a block”). Generally, the greater share of the Bitcoin blockchain’s total network hash rate (the aggregate hash rate deployed to solving a block on the Bitcoin blockchain) represented by a miner’s hash rate, the greater the miner’s chances of solving a block and therefore earning the block reward, which is currently 6.25 Bitcoin plus transaction fees per block. As additional miner operators enter the market in response to increased demand for Bitcoin, the Bitcoin blockchain’s network hash rate grows. As we expect this trend to continue, we will need to continue to grow our hash rate to compete in our dynamic and highly competitive industry.

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A key component of the Bitcoin Mining segment is to acquire highly specialized computer servers (known in the industry as “miners”) built to operate application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) chips designed specifically to mine Bitcoin and deploying them at-scale in our Rockdale Facility and Corsicana Facility, including in immersion-cooled environments. The Rockdale Facility has a dedicated best-in-class team that supports our Bitcoin Mining operations and, along with our Corsicana Facility, provide the necessary infrastructure and available power capacity for us to further scale our Bitcoin Mining business in the future. We believe ASIC miners are the most effective and energy-efficient miners available today, and we believe deploying them at-scale, including in immersion-cooled environments, with its more efficient heat dissipation and reduced wear-and-tear versus traditional air-cooled hardware, will enable us to continue to grow our hash rate and optimize the output and longevity of our miners once they are deployed.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we executed purchase orders totaling $480 million with Bitmain Technologies Limited (“Bitmain”) for 82,500 ASIC miners, including 30,000 of Bitmain’s latest generation Antminer model S19XP (140 TH/s) miners, and 52,500 S19j and S19j Pro miners, including 43,500 model S19j (90 TH/s) miners and 9,000 model S19j Pro (100 TH/s) miners. All miners subject to these purchase orders were delivered through December 31, 2022, except for 5,130 miners, which were delivered in January 2023. For additional discussion of our purchase orders with Bitmain, see the discussion under the heading

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“Mining Operations” in Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Annual Report, as well as the purchase orders themselves, which are incorporated by reference as exhibits to this Annual Report.

The Company monitors the level of Bitcoin retained from our monthly production in consideration of operational and expansion cash requirements. Bitcoin is classified on our balance sheet as a current asset due to our ability to sell it in a highly liquid marketplace and its intent to liquidate its Bitcoin to support operations when needed. We constantly evaluate our Bitcoin retention policy to determine the most efficient use of that asset.

Data Center Hosting

Our Data Center Hosting business segment is operated at our Rockdale Facility and focuses on providing co-location services for institutional-scale Bitcoin mining companies. The Rockdale Facility provides the critical infrastructure and workforce necessary for institutional-scale miners to deploy and operate their miners. We provide our clients with licensed space in specifically designed buildings to operate large quantities of miners with access to electricity to operate those miners under colocation agreements.

In pursuit of achieving the most efficient power strategy, we combine fixed low-cost power agreements, real-time spot power procurement, and income from ancillary power services revenue. We benefit from this low-cost energy by maximizing production margins.

As of December 31, 2022, our 400 MW expansion at the Rockdale Facility had achieved multiple progress milestones while navigating the challenges with the current state of the global supply chain, including the completion of the substation expansion to 700 MW, successful installation of the substation busbar, and 400 MW of high-voltage transformers. We also completed construction of three new buildings in 2022, and a fourth is nearing completion in the first quarter of 2023, which, when completed, will finalize our Rockdale Facility expansion. Two of the four buildings are self-mining buildings dedicated to immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining. The construction completion timeline is currently on track, despite global supply chain shortages and delays.

Engineering

Our Engineering business segment designs and manufacturers power distribution equipment and custom engineered electrical products that provide us with the ability to vertically integrate many of the critical electrical components and engineering services necessary for our Rockdale and Corsicana facilities’ expansions and to reduce our execution and counter-party risk in ongoing and future expansion projects. Our engineering talent   also allow us to continue to explore new methods to optimize and develop a best-in-class Bitcoin mining operation and have been instrumental in the development of our industrial-scale immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining hardware.

Our Engineering business segment also provides electricity distribution product design, manufacture, and installation services primarily focused on large-scale commercial and governmental customers and serves a broad scope of clients across a wide range of markets including data center, power generation, utility, water, industrial, and alternative energy. Products are custom built to client and industry specifications under customers’ own Underwriters Laboratories, or UL, files; the bulk of these products consist of medium and low voltage switchgear as well as power distribution centers. Additionally, we utilize an in-house field service and repair department.

Mining Pools

A “mining pool” is a service operated by a mining pool operator that pools the resources of individual miners to share their processing power over a network. Mining pools emerged in response to the growing difficulty and network hash rate competing for Bitcoin rewards on the Bitcoin blockchain as a way of lowering costs and reducing the risk of an individual miner’s mining activities. The mining pool operator provides a service that coordinates the computing power of the independent mining enterprises participating in the mining pool. Mining pools are subject to various risks such as disruption and down time. In the event that a pool experiences down time or is not yielding returns, our results may be impacted.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we utilized two types of mining pools:

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Competition

Our business is highly competitive and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on a global basis. The primary drivers of competition are demand for Bitcoin, sufficient capital resources to acquire large quantities of high-quality miners, the ability to secure these miners from a limited number of suppliers on rapid delivery schedules, and the ability to execute on those miner deployments with the best-in-class mining infrastructure to generate the highest returns while incurring the lowest costs to mine.

Our competition in the Bitcoin mining space fluctuates due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the value of Bitcoin rewards for mining and public perception. In 2022, we saw a decrease in the number of Bitcoin miners attempting to expand their mining operations at scale, however, we anticipate that over the long-term there will be a significant increase in the number of Bitcoin miners attempting to enter into, and expand, their Bitcoin mining activities as market demand recovers. Our main competitors generally include other large Bitcoin mining companies, both publicly listed and private, as well as other Bitcoin miners who participate in mining pools. As more Bitcoin miners enter the space, we expect additional pressure on the industry, with greater competition for access to miners and high-quality industrial scale mining infrastructure which is in limited supply.

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Data center hosting, particularly in relation to Bitcoin mining, is also highly competitive. Institutional Bitcoin mining customers demand access to mining infrastructure that can supply large amounts of reliable, low-cost electricity, with best-in-class teams that can execute on deploying miners on compressed timelines. In order to ensure this supply of large amounts of low-cost electricity, we have entered into long-term power purchase agreements with our energy supplier at the Rockdale Facility, which allows us to control our power costs and project them over a long-term, enabling us to focus on developing best-in-class mining infrastructure and delivering best-in-class services.

Research and Development

During 2021, we announced the first industrial scale deployment of 200 MW of immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining at the Rockdale Facility, and during 2022, we completed the deployment of miners.

During 2022, we announced plans for the development of an additional 400 MW of immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining at the Corsicana Facility. We anticipate immersion-cooling technology will present many unique opportunities to increase efficiencies in Bitcoin mining and are constantly evaluating new and emerging technologies in the Bitcoin ecosystem to make our mining operations more efficient.

Materials and Suppliers

We maintain several key supplier relationships that are important to our business to secure mining hardware and infrastructure components and other materials. Given the complexity of developing mining hardware, there are few suppliers that can produce miners at scale. For example, our historic purchase orders with Bitmain had future delivery schedules that extended out many months before those miners are delivered to our Rockdale Facility. These fluctuations in delivery timelines require us to plan to purchase miners well in advance of when we anticipate deploying those miners.

Our expansion at the Rockdale and Corsicana facilities requires large quantities of electrical infrastructure components and construction materials. We seek to procure these materials from our suppliers in sufficient quantities so that we can deploy miners at scale on accelerated timelines. Further, our immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining activities require large volumes of specialized non-conductive fluid, for which there are limited manufacturers.

Regulatory

Cryptocurrency mining is largely an unregulated activity at both the state and federal level. We anticipate that cryptocurrency mining will be a focus for increased regulation in the near- and long-term, and we cannot predict how future regulations may affect our business or operations.

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State regulation of cryptocurrency mining is important with respect to where we conduct our mining operations. Our Rockdale Facility and our Corsicana Facility are both located in the State of Texas. To the extent that there is any state regulation, Texas is one of the most favorable regulatory environments for cryptocurrency miners.

In January 2022, we received a letter from a group of Members of Congress requesting information about our current and planned energy usage. On February 24, 2022, we replied to the letter and provided the Senators and members of Congress with the information they requested.

In March 2022, the United States announced plans to establish a unified federal regulatory regime for cryptocurrency, and a group of United States Senators sent a letter to the United States Treasury Department asking Treasury Secretary Yellen to investigate Treasury’s ability to monitor and restrict the use of cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions imposed by the United States. We are unable to predict the impact that any new regulations may have on our business at the time of filing this Annual Report. We continue to monitor and proactively engage in dialogue on legislative matters related to our industry.

On August 17, 2022, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the U.S. House of Representatives sent letters to Riot and three other public companies with Bitcoin mining operations requesting information related to the environmental impact and energy consumption of the recipients. The letter addressed to Riot contained inquiries concerning our energy usage and sources, curtailment practices, and electronic waste. Riot submitted a written response to the Committee replying to its inquiries on September 14, 2022.

In September 2022, the White House issued a report regarding the Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets in the United States. The report states that the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency should initiate a process to solicit data and develop environmental performance and energy conservation standards for crypto-asset technologies, including mining equipment. Should such measures prove ineffective at achieving the Administration’s environmental goals, the report calls for the Administration to explore executive actions and legislation to limit or eliminate the use of high energy intensity consensus mechanisms for crypto-asset mining.

We are unable to predict the impact that any new standards, legislation, or regulations may have on our business at the time of filing this Annual Report. We continue to monitor and proactively engage in dialogue on regulatory and legislative matters related to our industry.

Further, in December 2022 the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued guidance advising companies to disclose exposure and risk to the cryptocurrency market. While the focus is on digital asset managers and exchanges, and not Bitcoin miners, the failure of such large asset managers and exchanges may create increased price volatility of Bitcoin. Riot does not store our Bitcoin on such exchanges; however, we may be impacted by such failures.

In January 2023, the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a joint statement discouraging banks from doing business with clients in crypto-asset industries. In January 2023, the Federal Reserve also issued a policy statement broadening its authority to cover state-chartered banks.

Also in January 2023, the House of Representatives announced its first ever Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets and the intention to develop a regulatory framework for the digital asset industry. Bipartisan leadership of the Senate Banking Committee announced that goal as well.

As the regulatory and legal environment evolves, we may become subject to new laws, such as further regulation by the SEC and other agencies, which may affect our mining and other activities. For additional discussion regarding our belief about the potential risks existing and future regulation pose to our business, see Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report.

Environmental

There are increasing concerns over the quantity of energy, particularly from non-renewable sources, used for Bitcoin mining and its effects on the environment. Many media reports focus exclusively on the energy requirements of Bitcoin mining and cite it as an environmental concern. However, those reports tend to omit discussion of the positive contributions associated with Bitcoin mining to other customers on the electrical grid. Bitcoin mining operations present a stable demand for energy and can be quickly curtailed, uniquely positioning businesses that engage in Bitcoin mining to respond to increased electricity demand in emergency situations. In February 2021 and throughout 2022, Riot voluntarily reduced our operations and curtailed our energy consumption to allow our energy provider to redirect our power allotment back into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”) market during extreme weather events. By taking such actions, we immediately helped to stabilize the grid by allowing our power allotment to be delivered to the areas of greatest need, such as heating homes and powering hospitals. Overall, our operations incentivize new power

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generation development and our actions help to reduce the frequency and impact of power failures and electricity price surges. In exchange for powering down our systems in response to high electricity demand, we receive benefits associated with the difference between our contractual cost of power and the price at which such power is sold on the ERCOT market (less any applicable fees payable to our consultants who assist with our participation in the ERCOT Demand Response Services Program). Additionally, we voluntarily participate in load response programs operated by ERCOT, whereby we temporarily give ERCOT the right to curtail a set portion of our power load at their discretion in exchange for a fee. Ultimately, these benefits are shared between us, other consumers participating in the ERCOT market, and the overall health of the Texas grid.

Human Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2022, we had a total workforce of approximately 489 employees across our entire organization, including professionals in engineering, information and technology, operations, construction, manufacturing. finance, legal, communications, and Bitcoin mining operations. Of our total workforce, approximately 410 employees were in engineering, construction, manufacturing, and Bitcoin mining operations and approximately 79 employees were in a general or administrative support function, such as information and technology, finance, legal or communications. Approximately 42% of our workforce was in Colorado and 56% was in Texas.

Our strategy with human capital resources is to align the interests of our employees with our key long-term success drivers. In execution of this strategy, we adopted a long-term performance incentive plan, under which all eligible employees are granted performance-based restricted stock awards that vest based on the Company’s achievement of specific performance milestones. Certain employees under the long-term performance plan are eligible to receive cash in lieu of restricted shares of the Company’s common stock awards based on achievement of these same performance milestones. We believe our performance plan is a key incentive for our employees that aligns their long-term interests with our long-term objectives as an organization.

At Riot, we seek to attract a pool of diverse, best-in-class candidates and foster their career growth by hiring the best talent available, rather than relying solely on educational background. In support of such initiative, we look for candidates in local communities and large cities alike, and from a variety of backgrounds. Our goal is a long-term, growth-oriented career for each employee. We also believe that our ability to retain our workforce is dependent on our ability to foster an environment that is sustainably safe, respectful, fair, and inclusive of everyone, and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion both inside and outside of our business.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At Riot, we support diversity and inclusion in a workplace where employees can thrive. Diverse backgrounds, experiences and opinions are encouraged and welcomed. In support of such diversity and inclusion, we act in accordance with our Code of Conduct and Ethics to create a safe environment free from discrimination or harassment that respects the human rights of our employees. We strive to achieve a workplace where opportunities for success are created and available for all employees. In support of this goal, in 2022 we deployed to all employees unconscious bias and harassment trainings.

Compensation and Benefits

Riot’s compensation programs are designed to provide incentives to attract, retain, and motivate employees to achieve the Company’s long-term goals. Specifically, we compare salary and wages against quantitative benchmarks and adjust monetary compensation to ensure wages are competitive and consistent with employee positions, skill levels, experience, and geographic location. We maintain a robust process for ensuring pay equity across the Company and increases in incentives and compensation based on merit and performance.  

We provide a comprehensive range of benefits options, including medical, dental and vision insurance for employees and family members, paid and unpaid leaves, and life and disability/accident coverage. Benefits for employees outside of the United States are provided based on country-specific practices and are intended to support the health and well-being of our employees and their families.

Immersion-cooling

During 2021, we announced the first industrial scale deployment of 200 MW of immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining at the Rockdale Facility, and during 2022, we completed deployment. During 2022, we also announced plans to develop an additional 400 MW of immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining operations at the Corsicana Facility. We anticipate immersion-cooling technology will present many unique opportunities to increase efficiencies in Bitcoin mining, and are constantly evaluating new and emerging technologies in the Bitcoin ecosystem to make our mining operations more efficient.

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When miners are immersion-cooled, they operate in a more stable environment that is better able to dissipate the heat generated by the miners’ operation, allowing the equipment to run at sustained higher productivity rates for longer periods of time. We are continuing to test our immersion-cooling mining operations and, if our desired performance metrics are achieved, we plan to leverage our infrastructure development capabilities to expand the implementation of our immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining hardware to increase our Bitcoin mining hash rate without relying solely on purchasing additional new miners and mining equipment, which we believe will result in increased operating efficiencies, and, thus, improved capital efficiencies.

Bitcoin Mining Results

Bitcoin Mining Production and Bitcoin Sales

One way the Company measures the success of its operations is by the number and U.S. Dollar value of the Bitcoin rewards it earns from its Bitcoin Mining activities. The following table presents information regarding our Mining operations, including Bitcoin production and sales of the Bitcoin the Company mines.

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We increased the quantity of Bitcoin rewards earned from our Bitcoin Mining operations from 3,812 Bitcoin mined in 2021, to 5,554 Bitcoin mined in 2022, representing an increase of approximately 45.7%. Revenue recognized from our Bitcoin Mining activities decreased from approximately $184.4 million during fiscal year 2021 to $156.9 million during fiscal year 2022, representing a decrease of approximately 14.9%. The decrease was due to lower values for Bitcoin mined in 2022, averaging $28,245 per coin, as compared to $45,744 per coin in 2021, and an increase in the global network hash rate, partially offset by an increase in Bitcoin rewards earned as a result of an increase in the number of miners deployed from 30,907 as of December 31, 2021, to 88,556 as of December 31, 2022.

Factors Affecting Profitability

Market Price of Bitcoin

Our business is heavily dependent on the spot price of Bitcoin. The prices of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, have experienced substantial volatility, meaning that high or low prices may be based on speculation and incomplete information, subject to rapidly changing investor sentiment, and influenced by factors such as technology, regulatory void or changes, fraudulent actors, manipulation, and media reporting. Bitcoin (as well as other cryptocurrencies) may have value based on various factors, including their acceptance as a means of exchange by consumers and producers, scarcity, and market demand which are beyond our control.

Halving

Further affecting the industry, and particularly for the Bitcoin blockchain, the Bitcoin reward for solving a block is subject to periodic incremental halving. Halving is a process designed to control the overall supply and reduce the risk of inflation in Bitcoin using a

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Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm. At a predetermined block, the mining reward is cut in half, hence the term “halving.” For Bitcoin the reward was initially set at 50 Bitcoin currency rewards per block. The Bitcoin blockchain has undergone halvings three times since its inception as follows: (1) on November 28, 2012, at block height 210,000; (2) on July 9, 2016, at block height 420,000; (3) on May 11, 2020, at block height 630,000, when the reward was reduced to its current level of 6.25 Bitcoin per block. The next halving for the Bitcoin blockchain is currently anticipated to occur in April 2024 at block height 840,000. Halvings will continue to occur until the total amount of Bitcoin currency rewards issued reaches approximately 21 million and the theoretical supply of new Bitcoin is exhausted, which is expected to occur around the year 2140. Many factors influence the price of Bitcoin, and potential increases or decreases in prices in advance of or following a future halving is unknown.

Network Hash Rate and Difficulty

Generally, a Bitcoin miner’s chance of solving a block on the Bitcoin blockchain and earning a Bitcoin reward is a function of the miner’s hash rate, relative to the global network hash rate (i.e., the aggregate amount of computing power devoted to supporting the Bitcoin blockchain at a given time). As demand for Bitcoin has increased, the global network hash rate has increased rapidly, and as greater adoption of Bitcoin occurs, we expect the demand for new Bitcoin will likewise increase as more mining companies are drawn into the industry by this increased demand. Further, as a greater number of increasingly powerful miners have been deployed, the network difficulty for Bitcoin has consequently also increased. Network difficulty is a measure of how difficult it is to solve a block on the Bitcoin blockchain, which is adjusted every 2,016 blocks (approximately every 2 weeks) so that the average time between each block validation remains approximately ten minutes. A high difficulty means that more computing power will be required in order to solve a block and earn a new Bitcoin reward, which, in turn, makes the Bitcoin network more secure by limiting the possibility of one miner or mining pool gaining control of the network. Therefore, as new and existing miners deploy additional hash rate, the global network hash rate will continue to increase, meaning a miner’s share of the global network hash rate (and therefore its chance of earning Bitcoin rewards) will decline if it fails to deploy additional hash rate at pace with the industry.

For further discussion of the factors affecting our profitability, see the discussion under Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” under the heading “Summary of Mining Results” of this Annual Report, as well as the discussion of various risks, factors, and uncertainties we believe may affect our revenue and results of operations under Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report.

Performance Metrics

We seek to mine Bitcoin by using our miners to solve complex cryptographic algorithms to support the Bitcoin blockchain (in a process known as “solving a block”). In return for solving a block, we receive the Bitcoin reward, which we can hold or sell on the market to generate cash.

Hash rate

Bitcoin miners generally measure their capability in terms of hash rate, which is measured in terms of the number of cryptographic hashing algorithms solved (or “hashes”) per second. Generally, miners (or mining pools) with a greater hash rate relative to the global Bitcoin network hash rate at a given time will, over time, have a greater chance of earning a Bitcoin reward, as compared to miners with relatively lower total hash rates.

However, as the relative market price for Bitcoin increases, more miners are encouraged to attempt to mine Bitcoin, which increases Bitcoin’s global network hash rate. Therefore, to remain competitive, miners seek to continually increase their total hash rate, creating a feedback loop: as Bitcoin gains popularity and its relative market price increases, more miners attempt to mine Bitcoin and its network hash rate is increased; in response, existing miners and new miners devote more and more hash rate to the Bitcoin blockchain by adding more, and increasingly powerful, miners to attempt to ensure their ability to earn additional Bitcoin rewards, and, in response, the network difficulty of the Bitcoin network is increased to maintain the pace of new block additions, spurring miners to seek to deploy yet further hash rate to earn the same relative number of new Bitcoin rewards. In theory, this process should continually replicate itself until the supply of available Bitcoin is exhausted.

In response, miners have attempted to achieve greater hash rate by deploying increasingly sophisticated miners in ever greater quantities. This has become the Bitcoin mining industry’s great “arms race.” There are very few manufacturers of miners capable of producing a sufficient number of miners of adequate quality to meet this need, and scarcity results, leading to higher prices. Compounding this phenomenon, it has been observed that some manufacturers of Bitcoin miners may increase prices for new miners as the market price of Bitcoin increases. Further, these manufacturers have also been impacted by the ongoing global supply chain crisis resulting from COVID-19, both in terms of increased prices for the components of these new miners resulting from the constrained supply of the semiconductors used in the production of the highly specialized ASIC chips miners rely on, and in terms

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of labor costs to manufacture new miners as workforces are affected by increased absenteeism due to COVID-19 restrictions and employee burnout. Thus, miner manufacturers are subject to increasing price pressures due to both increased demand for new miners and decreased supply of necessary components and labor, ultimately leading to higher prices for new miners.

Intellectual Property

We actively use specific hardware and software for our Bitcoin mining operations. The Bitcoin blockchain is generally built on open-source code and, in certain cases, the source code and other software assets we use in our mining operations may be subject to an open-source license. For these works, we adhere to the terms of any license agreements that may be in place. We also rely upon the intellectual property rights of others in certain respects in connection with our immersion-cooling technology.

We currently rely upon trade secrets, trademarks, service marks, trade names, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights, and to license the use of such intellectual property rights owned and controlled by others. In addition, we have developed and may further develop certain proprietary software and hardware applications in connection with Bitcoin mining operations, including our immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining developments.

Information About Our Executive Officers

The following sets forth the name, age, and position of each of the persons who were serving as executive officers as of the filing of this annual report on Form 10-K. There are no immediate familial relationships among our executive officers and any directors. There are no arrangements or understandings between any of our executive officers and any other person pursuant to which any of such executive officers were selected.

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Jason Les (age 37) has served as our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) since February 2021 and as a member of the Board since October 2017. He has been deeply involved with Bitcoin since 2013, with significant experience in cryptocurrency mining, as an engineer studying protocol development, and contributing to open-source projects. Mr. Les was previously a founding partner of Binary Digital from May 2017 to November 2020, a software-development company where he led the engineering team and coordinated project development for artificial intelligence, reverse engineering, and inter-software compatibility projects. Additionally, his background includes over a decade of unique experience as a former professional heads-up poker player. He holds a Bachelor of Science, Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.

Benjamin Yi (age 40) has served as our Executive Chairman since May 2021, as a member of the Board since October 2018, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors from November 2020 through May 2021. Prior to joining Riot, Mr. Yi led capital markets and corporate development at IOU Financial, a tech-enabled lender to small businesses and investee company of Neuberger Berman from January 2017 through May 2021. Mr. Yi holds a Bachelor of Commerce, specialist in Finance, major in Economics from University of Trinity College and a Master of Finance from University of Toronto – Rotman School of Management.

Colin Yee (age 47) has served as our Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) since September 2022. He was previously our Head of Corporate and Financial Operations from April 2022 to September 2022. Prior to joining Riot, Mr. Yee founded Clear Capital Management Corporation which has been operating since September 2007. He served as the Chief Operating Financial Officer of Avebury Partners, a leading asset management firm that operates within the real estate and construction sectors, from March 2021 to March 2022. Mr. Yee is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science in Cellular Biology and a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Calgary.

William Jackman (age 39) has served as our Executive Vice President since September 2022, and as General Counsel and Secretary since July 2021. Prior to joining Riot, Mr. Jackman was a Leader of Public Companies and Securities at Roger Towers, P.A., one of Florida’s oldest and most established law firms, from March 2018 to January 2022. Additionally, he was a Senior Corporate Attorney at Holland & Knight LLP, a multinational law firm, from May 2014 through August 2017. Mr. Jackman holds dual Juris Doctorate law degrees from the Universities of Windsor and Detroit, as well as an MBA from Nova Southeastern, and is a member of the New York, Florida and Ontario Bar Associations.

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Ryan Werner (age 43) has served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since September 2022. Previously, he was our Vice President of Finance since joining Riot in March 2021. Prior to joining Riot, Mr. Werner was a Senior Director, Real Estate and Transactions Accounting at UDR, a real estate investment trust, from March 2013 through March 2021. Mr. Werner holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business Administration with an emphasis in finance, and a Master’s in Accounting and Information Systems from the University of Kansas.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive office is located at 3855 Ambrosia Street, Suite 301, Castle Rock, CO 80109, and our telephone number is (303) 794-2000. Our records are kept at our principal executive office.

We were incorporated in the State of Colorado on July 24, 2000, under the name AspenBio, Inc., and have been through a number of subsequent name changes. Effective October 19, 2017, we adopted the corporate name Riot Blockchain, Inc., and changed our state of incorporation to Nevada. Effective December 30, 2022, we adopted our current corporate name, Riot Platforms, Inc., and remain incorporated in Nevada.

Our website address is www.riotplatforms.com.

Restatement of Previously Issued Consolidated Financial Statements

On February 27, 2023, the Audit Committee (the “Audit Committee”) of the Board of Directors of the Company, after consulting with management and the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, Marcum LLP, determined that the Company’s consolidated financial statements included in its 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K as of December 31, 2021 and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, as amended, as well as the Company’s previously issued condensed interim consolidated financial statements as of and for the interim periods in 2022 and 2021 as filed in the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, June 30, 2022 and 2021, and September 30, 2022 and 2021 (together with the financial statements contained in the 2021 Annual Report, the “Impacted Financials”) should no longer be relied upon due to material misstatements that are described in greater detail in Note 2. Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements, and Note 23. Restatement of Previously Issued Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included within this Annual Report.

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Similarly, any previously filed reports, press releases, earnings releases, or investor presentations or other communications describing Riot’s financial statements and other related financial information covering the previously mentioned Impacted Financials should no longer be relied upon.

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Additional Information

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, proxy statements, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, as filed with the SEC, can be accessed, free of charge, on the SEC’s website www.sec.gov. These documents may also be accessed on our website: www.riotplatforms.com through a link in the “Investors” section. The contemplated documents are placed on our website as soon as practicable after their filing with the SEC. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Certain factors may have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, including the risk, factors, and uncertainties described under this Part I, Item 1A, and elsewhere in this Annual Report. This is not an exhaustive list, and there are other factors that may be applicable to our business that are not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material. Any of these risks could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, or prospects, which could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment. You should carefully consider the risks, factors, and uncertainties described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report, as well as the risk, factors, uncertainties, and other information we disclose in other filings we make with the SEC before making an investment decision regarding our securities.

Risks Related to Our Ability to Grow Our Business

If we fail to grow our hash rate, we may be unable to compete, and our results of operations could suffer.

Generally, a Bitcoin miner’s chance of solving a block on the Bitcoin blockchain and earning a Bitcoin reward is a function of the miner’s hash rate (i.e., the amount of computing power devoted to supporting the Bitcoin blockchain), relative to the global network hash rate. As demand for Bitcoin increases, the global network hash rate increase, and as greater adoption of Bitcoin occurs, we expect the demand for Bitcoin will increase further, drawing more mining companies into the industry and further increasing the global network hash rate. As new and more powerful miners are deployed, the global network hash rate will continue to increase, meaning a miner’s chance of earning Bitcoin rewards will decline unless it deploys additional hash rate at pace with the industry. Accordingly, to compete in this highly competitive industry, we believe we will need to continue to acquire new miners, both to replace those lost to ordinary wear-and-tear and other damage, and to increase our hash rate to keep up with a growing global network hash rate.

We plan to grow our hash rate by acquiring newer, more effective and energy-efficient miners. These new miners are highly specialized servers that are very difficult to produce at scale. As a result, there are limited producers capable of producing large numbers of sufficiently effective miners, and, as demand for new miners has increased in response to increased Bitcoin prices, we have observed the price of these new miners has increased. If we are unable to acquire enough new miners or access sufficient capital to fund our acquisitions, the results of operations and financial condition could adversely affect investments in our securities.

We may be impacted by macroeconomic conditions due to global pandemics, epidemics or outbreaks of disease and the resulting global supply chain crisis.

Global trade conditions and consumer trends that originated during the COVID-19 pandemic continue to persist and may also have long-lasting adverse impact on us and our industry. There are continued risks arising from new pandemics, epidemics or outbreaks of disease, and ongoing COVID-19 related issues which have exacerbated port congestion and intermittent supplier shutdowns and delays, resulting in additional expenses to expedite delivery of new miners, as well as critical materials needed for our expansion plans. Further, miner manufacturers have been impacted by the constrained supply of the semiconductors used in the production of the highly specialized ASIC chips miners rely on, and increased labor costs to manufacture new miners as workforces and global supply chains continue to be affected by COVID-19 and may further be affected by global outbreaks of various epidemics or disease, ultimately leading to continually higher prices for new miners. Thus, until the global supply chain crisis is resolved, and these extraordinary pressures are alleviated, we expect to continue to incur higher than usual costs to obtain and deploy new miners and we may face difficulties obtaining the new miners we need at prices or in quantities we find acceptable, if at all, and our business and results of operations may suffer as a result.

In addition, labor shortages resulting from the pandemic may lead to increased difficulty and labor costs in hiring and retaining the highly qualified and motivated people we need to conduct our business and execute on our strategic growth initiatives. Sustaining our growth plans will require the ongoing readiness and solvency of our suppliers and vendors, a stable and motivated production workforce, and government cooperation, each of which may be affected by macroeconomic factors outside of our immediate control.

We cannot predict the duration or direction of current global trends or their sustained impact. Ultimately, we continue to monitor macroeconomic conditions to remain flexible and to optimize and evolve our business as appropriate, and we will have to accurately project demand and infrastructure requirements globally and deploy our workforce and capital resources accordingly. If we experience unfavorable global market conditions, or if we cannot or do not maintain operations at a scope that is commensurate with such conditions or are later required to or choose to suspend such operations again, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

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We expect the cost of acquiring new miners to continue to be affected by the global supply chain crisis.

Similarly, the global supply chain crisis, coupled with increased demand for computer chips, has created a shortfall of semiconductors, resulting in challenges for the supply chain and production of the miners we employ in our Bitcoin mining operations. The miners are highly specialized servers built around ASIC chips, which very few manufacturers are able to produce in sufficient scale and quality to suit our operations. As a result, the cost to produce these miners has increased, and their manufacturers have passed on increased costs of production to purchasers like us. Therefore, until the global supply chain crisis is resolved, and these extraordinary pressures are alleviated, we expect to continue to incur higher than usual costs to obtain and deploy new miners, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We may not be able to timely complete our future strategic growth initiatives or within our anticipated cost estimates, if at all.

As part of our efforts to grow our hash rate and remain competitive in the market, we acquired thousands of new state-of-the-art miners from their manufacturer in 2022, which we started to deploy at our Rockdale Facility. To accommodate these new miners, we expanded the Rockdale Facility’s capacity to 700 MW of electrical power through the construction of four new 100 MW structures and the associated power and facilities infrastructure needed to operate them for industrial-scale Bitcoin mining. Additionally, we are developing our Corsicana Facility, which we expect to complete in 2023. We will require additional new state-of-the-art miners to deploy at the Corsicana Facility as well as associated and infrastructure development. Moreover, we have carried out these expansions amid the ongoing global supply chain crisis and COVID-19, and our costs of supplies, labor, and material have increased as a result. While our present expansion projects are proceeding on track with expectations, we cannot guarantee we will complete these expansions (or any future strategic growth initiatives) on time or within our cost estimates, if at all, due in part to the ongoing effects of the global supply chain crisis related to COVID-19, increased inflation and changing conditions within the United States labor market. If we are unable to complete our planned expansions on schedule and within our anticipated cost estimates, our deployment of newly purchased miners may be delayed, which could affect our competitiveness and our results of operation, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and the market price for our securities.

We may be unable to access sufficient additional capital for future strategic growth initiatives.

The expansion of our miner fleet and of our Rockdale Facility and Corsicana Facility are capital-intensive projects, and we anticipate that future strategic growth initiatives will likewise continue to be capital-intensive. We expect to raise additional capital to fund these and other future strategic growth initiatives; however, we may be unable to do in a timely manner, in sufficient quantities, or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we are unable to raise the additional capital needed to execute our future strategic growth initiatives, we may be less competitive in our industry and the results of our operations and financial condition may suffer, and the market price for our securities may be materially and adversely affected.

Expansion of our Rockdale Facility and Corsicana Facility potentially exposes us to additional risks.

We are expanding and expect to continue to expand our Rockdale Facility, and we are currently constructing our Corsicana Facility, which potentially exposes us to significant risks we may otherwise not be exposed to, including risks related to, among other sources: construction delays; lack of availability of parts and/or labor, increased prices as a result, in part to inflation, and delays for data center equipment; labor disputes and work stoppages, including interruptions in work due to pandemics, epidemics, and other health risks; unanticipated environmental issues and geological problems; delays related to permitting and approvals to open from public agencies and utility companies; and delays in site readiness leading to our failure to meet commitments made in connection with such expansion.

All construction related projects depend on the skill, experience, and attentiveness of our personnel throughout the design and construction process. Should a designer, general contractor, significant subcontractor or key supplier experience financial problems or other problems during the design or construction process, we could experience significant delays, increased costs to complete the project and/or other negative impacts to our expected returns.

If we are unable to overcome these risks and additional pressures to complete our expansion projects in a timely manner, if at all, we may not realize their anticipated benefits, and our business and financial condition may suffer as a result.

Economic and geopolitical events may create increased uncertainty and price changes.

We are subject to price volatility and uncertainty due to geopolitical crises and economic downturns. Such geopolitical crises and global economic downturns may be a result of invasion, or possible invasion by one nation of another, leading to increased inflation and supply chain volatility. Such crises will likely continue to have an effect on our ability to do business in a cost-effective manner.

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Inflation has caused the price of materials to increase leading to increased expenses to our business. Global crises and economic downturns may also have the effect of discouraging investment in Bitcoin as investors shift their investments to less volatile assets. Such shift could have a materially adverse effect on our business, operations and the value of the Bitcoin we mine or the institutional data center clients we host.

Failure to successfully integrate acquired businesses could negatively impact our balance sheet and results of operations.

Strategic acquisitions such as the Whinstone Acquisition and the ESS Metron Acquisition (see Note 5. Acquisitions for further information) are an important element of our growth strategy and the success of any acquisition we make depends in part on our ability to integrate the acquired business and realize anticipated synergies. Integrating acquired businesses may involve unforeseen difficulties and may require a disproportionate amount of our management’s attention and may require us to shift our financial and other resources.

For example, we may encounter challenges in the integration process such as: difficulties associated with managing the resulting larger and more complex company; conforming administrative and corporate structures and standards, controls, procedures and policies, business cultures, hiring and retention of key employees, and compensation and benefits structures, coordinating geographically dispersed operations; and our ability to deliver on our strategy going forward.

Further, our acquisitions may subject us to new liabilities and risks, some of which may be unknown. Although we and our advisors conduct due diligence on the operations of businesses we acquire, there can be no guarantee that we are aware of all liabilities of an acquired company. These liabilities, and any additional risks and uncertainties related to an acquired company not known to us or that we may deem immaterial or unlikely to occur at the time of the acquisition, could negatively impact our future business, financial condition and results of operations.

We can give no assurance that we will ultimately be able to effectively integrate and manage the operations of any acquired business or realize anticipated synergies. The failure to successfully integrate the cultures, operating systems, procedures and information technologies of an acquired business could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We may experience increased compliance costs as a result of our strategic acquisitions.

The financial statements and internal controls of both Whinstone and ESS Metron have not, historically, been required to be in compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The accounting costs of bringing our subsidiaries’ financial records and internal controls in alignment with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act following these strategic acquisitions have been within our expectations; however, we may encounter unanticipated costs. Further, future strategic acquisitions could carry substantial compliance burdens, which may limit our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions, and which may require our management and personnel to shift their focus to such compliance burdens and away from their other functions. Such increased costs and compliance burdens could affect our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of such strategic acquisitions, and our business, results of operations, and financial condition may suffer as a result.

We have financed our strategic growth primarily by issuing new shares of our common stock in public offerings, which dilutes the ownership interests of our current stockholders, and which may adversely affect the market price of our securities.

We have raised capital to finance the strategic growth of our business through public offerings of our common stock, and we expect to need to raise additional capital through similar public offerings to finance the completion of current and future expansion initiatives. We may not be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms, if at all, which could impair our growth and adversely impact our existing operations. If we raise additional equity financing, our stockholders may experience dilution of their ownership interests, and the per share value of our common stock could decline. Furthermore, if we engage in debt financing, the holders of any debt we issue would likely have priority over the holders of shares of our common stock in terms of order of payment preference. We may be required to accept terms that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness or take other actions including terms that require us to maintain specified liquidity or other ratios that could otherwise not be in the interests of our stockholders.

We have a history of operating losses, and we may report additional operating losses in the future.

Our primary focus is on vertically integrating our Bitcoin mining, and we have recorded historical losses and negative cash flow from our operations when the value of Bitcoin we mine does not exceed our associated costs. Further, as part of our strategic growth plans, we have made capital investments in expanding and vertically integrating our Mining operations, including the expansion of our Rockdale Facility, increased our employee base, and incurred additional costs associated with owning and operating a self-

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mining facility. However, future market prices of Bitcoin are difficult to predict, and we cannot guarantee that our future Mining revenue will exceed our associated costs.

The lack of regulation of digital asset exchanges which Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, are traded on, may expose us to the effects of negative publicity resulting from fraudulent actors in the cryptocurrency space, and can adversely affect an investment in the Company.

The digital asset exchanges on which Bitcoin is traded are relatively new and largely unregulated. Many digital asset exchanges do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices, or regulatory compliance. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in, or may experience problems relating to, such digital asset exchanges, including prominent exchanges handling a significant portion of the volume of digital asset trading. In 2022, a number of digital asset exchanges filed for bankruptcy proceedings and/or became the subjects of investigation by various governmental agencies for, among other things, fraud, causing a loss of confidence and an increase in negative publicity for the digital asset ecosystem. As a result, many digital asset markets, including the market for Bitcoin, have experienced increased price volatility. The Bitcoin ecosystem may continue to be negatively impacted and experience long term volatility if public confidence decreases.

These events are continuing to develop and it is not possible to predict, at this time, every risk that they may pose to us, our service providers, or the digital asset industry as a whole. A perceived lack of stability in the digital asset exchange market and the closure or temporary shutdown of digital asset exchanges due to business failure, hackers or malware, government-mandated regulation, or fraud, may reduce confidence in digital asset networks and result in greater volatility in cryptocurrency values. These potential consequences of a digital asset exchange’s failure could adversely affect an investment in us.

We depend on attracting and retaining officers, managers, and skilled professionals.

Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to hire, retain and motivate talented officers, leadership, and professionals. We cannot guarantee that such employees may be retained which may inhibit our management functions, strategic development, and other critical functions. Our growth may be constrained by human capital resource limitations as we compete with other companies for skilled employees. We will need to take strategic action to develop our pool of management and skilled employees as well as grow such pool to meet the demands of our corporate functions. If we are not able to do so, our business, and thus our ability to grow, may be materially adversely affected.

Risks Related to the Price of Bitcoin

Our ability to achieve profitability is largely dependent on the price of Bitcoin, which has historically been volatile.

Our primary focus on vertically integrating our Bitcoin mining operations and the associated expansion of our Rockdale Facility is largely based on our assumptions regarding the future value of Bitcoin, which has been subject to significant historical volatility and may be subject to influence from malicious actors, real or perceived scarcity, political, economic, and regulatory conditions, and speculation making its price more volatile or creating “bubble” type risks for the trading price of Bitcoin. Further, unlike traditional stock exchanges, which have listing requirements and vet issuers, requiring them to comply with rigorous listing standards and rules, and which monitor transactions for fraud and other improprieties, markets for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tend to be underregulated, if they are regulated at all. Less stringent cryptocurrency markets have a higher risk of fraud or manipulation and any lack of oversight or perceived lack of transparency could reduce confidence in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which could adversely affect the price of Bitcoin. As disclosed in Part I, Item 1, “Business” of this Annual Report, under the subheading “Regulatory,” Bitcoin and crypto asset markets generally may be subject to increased scrutiny and regulation by the SEC and other U.S. government agencies, and such evolving regulatory and legal environment may impact our mining and other activities.

These factors make it difficult to accurately predict the future market price of Bitcoin and may also inhibit consumer trust in, and market acceptance of, cryptocurrencies as a means of exchange, which could limit the future adoption of Bitcoin and, as a result, our assumptions could prove incorrect. If our assumptions prove incorrect and the future price of Bitcoin is not sufficiently high, our income from our Bitcoin mining operations may not exceed our costs, and our operations may never achieve profitability.

Bitcoin market exposure to financially troubled cryptocurrency-based companies.

The failure of several crypto platforms has impacted and may continue to impact the broader crypto economy; the full extent of these impacts may not yet be known. Bitcoin is part of the cryptocurrency environment and is subject to price volatility resulting from financial instability, poor business practices, and fraudulent activities of players in the cryptocurrency market. When investors in

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cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency-based companies experience financial difficulty as a result of price volatility, poor business practices, and/or fraud, it has, and may cause loss of confidence in the cryptocurrency space, reputational harm to cryptocurrency assets, heightened scrutiny by regulatory authorities and law makers, and a steep decline in the value of Bitcoin, among other material impacts. Such adverse effects have, and may in the future, affect the profitability of our Bitcoin mining operations and our ability to obtain a profit from hosting institutional-scale data center clients.  

Bitcoin is subject to halving, and our mining operations may generate less revenue as a result.

As disclosed in Part I, Item 1, “Business” of this Annual Report, under the subheading “Halving,” the number of new Bitcoin awarded for solving a block is cut in half – hence, “halving” – at mathematically predetermined intervals. While Bitcoin prices have historically increased around these halving events, there is no guarantee that the price change will be favorable or would compensate for the reduction in mining rewards. If a corresponding and proportionate increase in the price of Bitcoin does not follow future halving events, the revenue we earn from our Mining operations would see a decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Transaction fees may decrease demand for Bitcoin and prevent expansion.

As the number of Bitcoin currency rewards awarded for solving a block in a blockchain has decreased, transaction fees have increasingly been used to incentivize miners to continue to contribute to the Bitcoin network. However, high Bitcoin transaction fees may slow the adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment, which may decrease demand for Bitcoin and future prices of Bitcoin may suffer as a result. If Bitcoin prices are not sufficiently high, our Mining revenue may not exceed our associated costs, and our results of operations and financial condition may suffer. Further, because the price of shares of our common stock may be linked to the price of Bitcoin, if demand for Bitcoin decreases, causing future Bitcoin prices to decrease, the market price of our securities may be materially and adversely affected, limiting our ability to raise additional capital to fund our strategic growth plans.

Cryptocurrencies face significant scaling obstacles that can lead to high fees or slow transaction settlement times.

Cryptocurrencies face significant scaling obstacles that can lead to high fees or slow transaction settlement times, and attempts to increase the volume of transactions may not be effective. Scaling cryptocurrencies is essential to the widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, including Bitcoin. Many cryptocurrency networks face significant scaling challenges. For example, cryptocurrencies are limited with respect to how many transactions can occur per second. Participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem debate potential approaches to increasing the average number of transactions per second that the network can handle and have implemented mechanisms or are researching ways to increase scale, such as increasing the allowable sizes of blocks, and therefore the number of transactions per block, and sharding (a horizontal partition of data in a database or search engine), which would not require every single transaction to be included in every single miner’s or validator’s block. However, there is no guarantee that any of the mechanisms in place or being explored for increasing the scale of settlement of cryptocurrency transactions will be effective.

If adoption of Bitcoin (and cryptocurrencies, generally) as a means of payment does not occur on the schedule or scale we anticipate, the demand for Bitcoin may stagnate or decrease, which could adversely affect future Bitcoin prices, and our results of operations and financial condition, which could have a material adverse effect on the market price for our securities.

Risks Related to our Operations

To remain competitive in our industry, we seek to grow our hash rate to match the growing network hash rate and increasing network difficulty of the Bitcoin blockchain, and if we are unable to grow our hash rate at pace with the network hash rate, our chance of earning Bitcoin from our Mining operations would decline.

As the adoption of Bitcoin has increased, the price of Bitcoin has generally appreciated, causing the demand for new Bitcoin rewards for successfully solving blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain to likewise increase. This has encouraged more miners to attempt to mine Bitcoin, which increases the global network hash rate deployed in support of the Bitcoin blockchain.

Because a miner’s relative chance of successfully solving a block and earning a new Bitcoin reward is generally a function of the ratio the miner’s individual hash rate bears to the global network hash rate, as the global network hash rate increases, a miner must increase its individual hash rate to maintain its chances of earning new Bitcoin rewards. Therefore, as new miners enter the industry and as miners deploy greater and greater numbers of increasingly powerful machines, existing miners must seek to continually increase their hash rate to remain competitive. Thus, a feedback loop is created: as Bitcoin gains popularity and its relative market price increases, more miners attempt to mine Bitcoin and the Bitcoin network hash rate is increased; in response, existing miners

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and new miners devote more and more hash rate to the Bitcoin blockchain by deploying greater numbers of increasingly powerful machines in an attempt to ensure their ability to earn additional Bitcoin rewards does not decrease. Compounding this feedback loop, the network difficulty of the Bitcoin network (i.e., the amount of work (measured in hashes) necessary to solve a block) is periodically adjusted to maintain the pace of new block additions (with one new block added to the blockchain approximately every ten minutes), and thereby control the supply of Bitcoin. As miners deploy more hash rate and the Bitcoin network hash rate is increased, the Bitcoin network difficult is adjusted upwards by requiring more hash rate to be deployed to solve a block. Thus, miners are further incentivized to grow their hash rate to maintain their chance of earning new Bitcoin rewards. In theory, these dual processes should continually replicate themselves until the supply of available Bitcoin is exhausted. In response, miners have attempted to achieve greater hash rate by deploying increasingly sophisticated miners and expensive miners in ever greater quantities. This has become the Bitcoin mining industry’s great “arms race.” Moreover, because there are very few manufacturers of miners capable of producing a sufficient number of miners of adequate quality to meet this need, scarcity results, leading to higher prices. Compounding this phenomenon, it has been observed that some manufacturers of Bitcoin miners may increase the prices for new miners as the market price of Bitcoin increases.

Accordingly, to maintain our chances of earning new Bitcoin rewards and remaining competitive in our industry, we must seek to continually add new miners to grow our hash rate at pace with the growth in the Bitcoin network hash rate. However, as demand has increased and scarcity in the supply of new miners has resulted, the price of new miners has increased sharply, and we expect this process to continue in the future as demand for Bitcoin increases. Therefore, if the price of Bitcoin is not sufficiently high to allow us to fund our hash rate growth through new miner acquisitions and if we are otherwise unable to access additional capital to acquire these miners, our hash rate may stagnate and we may fall behind our competitors. If this happens, our chances of earning new Bitcoin rewards would decline and, as such, our results of operations and financial condition may suffer.

Because our miners are designed specifically to mine Bitcoin and may not be readily adaptable to mining other cryptocurrencies, a sustained decline in Bitcoin’s value could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We have invested substantial capital in acquiring miners using ASIC chips designed specifically to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using the SHA-256 algorithm as efficiently and as rapidly as possible on our assumption that we will be able to use them to mine Bitcoin and generate revenue from our operations. Therefore, our Mining operations focus exclusively on mining Bitcoin, and our Mining revenue is based on the value of Bitcoin we mine. Accordingly, if the value of Bitcoin declines and fails to recover, for example, because of the development and acceptance of competing blockchain platforms or technologies, including competing cryptocurrencies which our miners may not be able to mine, the revenue we generate from our mining operations will likewise decline. Moreover, because our miners use these highly specialized ASIC chips, we may not be able to successfully repurpose them in a timely manner, if at all, if we decide to switch to mining a different cryptocurrency (or to another purpose altogether) following a sustained decline in Bitcoin’s value or if Bitcoin is replaced by another cryptocurrency not using the SHA-256 algorithm. This would result in a material adverse effect on our business and could potentially impact our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our reliance primarily on a single model of miner may subject our operations to increased risk of design flaws.

The performance and reliability of our miners and our technology is critical to our reputation and our operations. Because we currently only use Bitmain Antminer type miners, if there are issues with those machines, such as a design flaw in the ASIC chips they employ, our entire system could be affected. Further, we have encountered, and may in the future encounter, software and firmware complications associated with adapting our miners to operate in our immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining hardware, which may delay or otherwise limit the benefits we anticipate from our adoption of immersion-cooled Mining. Any system error or failure may significantly delay response times or even cause our system to fail. Any disruption in our ability to continue mining could result in lower yields and harm our reputation and business. Any exploitable weakness, flaw, or error common to Bitmain miners could affect all our miners; therefore, if a defect or other flaw exists and is exploited, our entire miner fleet could be adversely impacted. Any interruption, delay or system failure could result in financial losses, a decrease in the trading price of our common stock and damage to our reputation.

Our reliance primarily on immersion-cooling exposes us to additional risks.

We are increasingly relying on immersion-cooling for our Bitcoin mining infrastructure, to a large extent at the Rockdale Facility and, and entirely (at this phase) at our Corsicana Facility. Immersion-cooling is an emerging technology in Bitcoin mining, which is not in wide-spread use, and has yet to be deployed at this scale before. As such, there is a risk we may not succeed in deploying immersion-cooling, at such a large scale to achieve sufficient cooling performance. All Bitcoin mining infrastructure, including air-cooling, is an evolving study. Cooling of Bitcoin miners in general is risk to achieving full potential from our hash rate, especially in the state of Texas.

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We require meaningful volumes of water to support cooling of our Bitcoin miners for both immersion-cooling and air-cooling operations. The inability to secure adequate water, or the loss of access to such required water, would impact our ability to sustain efficient mining operations.

Our use of third-party mining pools exposes us to additional risks.

We receive Bitcoin rewards from our mining activity through third-party mining pool operators. Mining pools allow miners to combine their processing power, increasing their chances of solving a block and getting paid by the network. The rewards are distributed by the pool operator, proportionally to our contribution to the pool’s overall mining power, after deducting the applicable pool fee, if any, used to solve a block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Should the pool operator’s system suffer downtime due to a cyber-attack, software malfunction or other issue, it will negatively impact our ability to mine and receive revenue. Furthermore, we are dependent on the accuracy of the mining pool operator’s record keeping to accurately record the total processing power provided to the pool for a given Bitcoin mining application in order to assess the proportion of that total processing power we provided. While we have internal methods of tracking both the hash rate we provide and the total used by the pool, the mining pool operator uses its own record-keeping to determine our proportion of a given reward, which may not match our own. If we are unable to consistently obtain accurate proportionate rewards from our mining pool operators, we may experience reduced reward for our efforts, which would have an adverse effect on our business and operations.

We may not be able to realize the benefits of forks.

The Bitcoin blockchain is subject to modification based on a consensus of the users on its network. When a significant minority of users on the network agree to a modification that is not compatible with the prior network protocol, a “fork” of the network results, with one prong running the pre-modified protocol and the other running the modified protocol. The effect of such a fork would be the existence of two “versions” of the blockchain running in parallel that are not interchangeable, which requires exchange-type transaction to convert between the two forks. Additionally, it may be unclear following a fork which of the two protocols represents the original and which is the new protocol. Different metrics adopted by industry participants to determine which is the original asset include: referring to the wishes of the core developers of a cryptocurrency; determining based on the blockchain with the greatest amount of hash rate contributed by miners or validators; or by reference to the “length” of blockchain (i.e., the time between the first transaction recorded in the blockchain’s distributed ledger, and the date of the most recent transaction). Accordingly, we may not be able to realize the economic benefit of a fork, either immediately or ever, which could adversely affect an investment in our securities.

Cyber-attacks, data breaches or malware may disrupt our operations and trigger significant liability for us, which could harm our operating results and financial condition, and damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business.

As a publicly traded company, we experience cyber-attacks, such as phishing, and other attempts to gain unauthorized access to our systems on a regular basis, and we anticipate continuing to be subject to such attempts. There is an ongoing risk that some or all of our cryptocurrencies could be lost or stolen as a result of one or more of these incursions. As we increase in size, we may become a more appealing target of hackers, malware, cyber-attacks or other security threats, and, despite our implementation of strict security measures and frequent security audits, it is impossible to eliminate all such vulnerability. For instance, we may not be able to ensure the adequacy of the security measures employed by third parties, such as our service providers and Whinstone’s colocation customers. Additionally, though we provide cyber-security training for employees, we cannot guarantee that we will not be affected by further phishing attempts. Efforts to limit the ability of malicious actors to disrupt the operations of the internet or undermine our own security efforts may be costly to implement and may not be successful. Such breaches, whether attributable to a vulnerability in our systems or otherwise, could result in claims of liability against us, damage our reputation and materially harm our business.

To date, we have not experienced a material cyber-event; however, we continue to encounter ongoing cyber-attacks and the occurrence of any such event in the future could subject us to liability to our customers, suppliers, business partners and others, give rise to legal and/or regulatory action, which could damage our reputation or otherwise materially harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Incorrect or fraudulent Bitcoin transactions may be irreversible and we could lose access to our Bitcoin.

Bitcoin transactions are not, from an administrative perspective, reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the Bitcoin from the transaction. Because of the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin blockchain, once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to the Bitcoin blockchain, an incorrect transfer of a Bitcoin or a theft thereof generally will not be reversible, and we may not have sufficient recourse to recover our losses from any such transfer or theft. It is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, our cryptocurrency rewards could be transferred in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties, or to uncontrolled accounts. Though recent high profile enforcement actions

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against individuals laundering stolen Bitcoin have demonstrated some means of bringing malicious actors to justice for their theft, the stolen Bitcoin is likely to remain unrecoverable. Furthermore, we utilize a third-party custodian for our Bitcoin, and thus do not maintain a private key. However, if they lose, or if a malicious actor successfully denies the third-party access to our wallet, we may be permanently denied access to the Bitcoin held in the wallet corresponding to the lost, stolen or blocked keys. Though we have taken and continue to take reasonable steps to secure our data and to store our Bitcoin with institutional custodians, if we, or our third-party custodian were to experience data loss relating to our digital wallets, we could effectively lose access to and the ability to use our Bitcoin assets. Moreover, we may be unable to secure insurance policies for our Bitcoin assets at rates or on terms acceptable to us, if at all, and we may choose to self-insure. To the extent that we are unable to recover our losses from such action, error or theft, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The Rockdale Facility may not be adaptable to new technologies.

The market for data centers is characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry and process standards, frequent new product introductions, and changing customer demands. Changes in industry practice or in technology could also reduce demand for the physical hosting space and infrastructure that we provide or make previous improvements in the Rockdale Facility obsolete. Our ability to deliver technologically sophisticated infrastructure at the Rockdale Facility, including power and cooling, is a significant factor in our customers’ decisions to collocate with us at the Rockdale Facility. The Rockdale Facility’s infrastructure may become obsolete due to the development of new systems that deliver power to, or eliminate heat from, the miners or other customer equipment that we house, which may require us to expend significant capital resources to retrofit or otherwise upgrade our current systems to compete with data centers deploying these new systems.

While we believe the Rockdale Facility is primed to be adaptable, new technology can be, by its nature, unpredictable. Moreover, even if we are able to respond, we may not be able to efficiently upgrade or change these systems without incurring significant costs. Operations may be negatively impacted by these upgrades as they are in process. This may impact our customers’ experience in the short term, which may have a negative impact on operating cash flows, liquidity, and financial condition.

The Rockdale Facility is subject to a ten-year ground lease, as amended, and if we are unable to renew its term, we may be unable to fully realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisition of Whinstone and the ongoing development of the site.

The Rockdale Facility is subject to a ground lease with an initial term of ten years, followed by three ten-year renewal periods at our option, unless terminated earlier. The long-term success of our plans for the Rockdale Facility is largely based on our ability to maintain the lease in effect and to renew it going forward. If we fail to maintain the lease or renew it once its initial term expires and the landlord requires Whinstone to vacate the premises, we will likely incur significant costs in relocating Whinstone’s operations, if we could do so at all, and our Bitcoin Mining and Data Center Hosting operations would be interrupted during such relocation. Further, if we fail to renew the lease on terms favorable to us, and our costs are increased, then we may not realize the anticipated benefits of our investment in the Whinstone Acquisition or any future development of its remaining available capacity. Any disruptions or changes to Whinstone’s present relationship with the landlord for the Rockdale Facility could disrupt our business and our results of operations negatively.

Our business could be harmed by prolonged power and internet outages, shortages, or capacity constraints.

Our operations require a significant amount of electrical power and access to high-speed internet to be successful. If we are unable to secure sufficient electrical power, or if we lose internet access for a prolonged period, we may be required to reduce our operations or cease them altogether. If this occurs, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We are subject to risks associated with our need for significant electrical power.

Our operations have required significant amounts of electrical power, and, as we continue to expand our mining fleet and our Rockdale Facility and begin to operate our Corsicana Facility, we anticipate our demand for electrical power will continue to grow. The fluctuating price of electricity we require for our operations, and to power our expansion, may inhibit our profitability. If we are unable to continue to obtain sufficient electrical power on a cost-effective basis, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of our significant capital investments.

Additionally, our operations could be materially adversely affected by prolonged power outages. Although certain critical functions of our Rockdale Facility may be powered by backup generators on a temporary basis, it would not be feasible or cost-effective to run miners on back-up power generators for extended periods of time. Therefore, we may have to reduce or cease our operations in the event of an extended power outage, or as a result of the unavailability or increased cost of electrical power. If this were to occur, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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Our operations could be adversely affected by events outside of our control, such as natural disasters.

We may be impacted by natural disasters, wars, health epidemics, weather conditions, the long-term effects of climate change, power outages or other events outside of our control. For example, we voluntarily halted operations at our Rockdale Facility during the severe winter storms in the first quarter of 2022 and 2021 that had a widespread impact on utilities and transportation. In the future, regulators or power providers may, under new or revised rules, require us to power down the Rockdale Facility and/or the Corsicana Facility, once it begins operations, during such events. If major disasters such as earthquakes, floods or other climate-related events occur, the Rockdale Facility or our other offices are severely damaged, or our information system or communications could break down or operate improperly, which may interrupt our operations. We may incur expenses or delays relating to such events outside of our control, which may not be covered by insurance, and such events could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Increased scrutiny and changing expectations from stakeholders with respect to our ESG practices and the impacts of Climate Change may result in additional costs or risks.

Companies across many industries are facing increasing scrutiny related to their environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) practices. Investor advocacy groups, certain institutional investors, investment funds and other influential investors are also increasingly focused on ESG practices and in recent years have placed increasing importance on the non-financial impacts of their investments. Furthermore, increased public awareness and concern regarding environmental risks, including global climate change, may result in increased public scrutiny of our business and our industry, and our management team may divert significant time and energy away from our operations and towards responding to such scrutiny and reassuring our employees.

In addition, the physical risks of climate change may impact the availability and cost of materials and natural resources, sources and supply of energy, demand for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and could increase our insurance and other operating costs, including, potentially, to repair damage incurred as a result of extreme weather events or to renovate or retrofit facilities to better withstand extreme weather events. If environmental laws or regulations or industry standards are either changed or adopted and impose significant operational restrictions and compliance requirements on our operations, or if our operations are disrupted due to physical impacts of climate change, our business, capital expenditures, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position could be negatively impacted.

Risks Related to Governmental Regulation and Enforcement

Changing environmental regulation and public energy policy may expose our business to new risks.

Our Bitcoin mining operations require a substantial amount of power and can only be successful, and ultimately profitable, if the costs we incur, including for electricity, are lower than the revenue we generate from our operations. As a result, any mine we establish can only be successful if we can obtain sufficient electrical power for that mine on a cost-effective basis, and our establishment of new mines requires us to find locations where that is the case. For instance, our plans and strategic initiatives for the Rockdale Facility and future Corsicana Facility are based, in part, on our understanding of current environmental and energy regulations, policies, and initiatives enacted by federal and Texas regulators. If new regulations are imposed, or if existing regulations are modified, the assumptions we made underlying our plans and strategic initiatives may be inaccurate, and we may incur additional costs to adapt our planned business, if we are able to adapt at all, to such regulations.

In addition, there continues to be a lack of consistent climate legislation, which creates economic and regulatory uncertainty for our business because the cryptocurrency mining industry, with its high energy demand, may become a target for future environmental and energy regulation. New legislation and increased regulation regarding climate change could impose significant costs on us and our suppliers, including costs related to increased energy requirements, capital equipment, environmental monitoring and reporting, and other costs to comply with such regulations. Further, any future climate change regulations could also negatively impact our ability to compete with companies situated in areas not subject to such limitations.

For example, in September 2022, the White House issued a report regarding the Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets in the United States. The report states that the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency should initiate a process to solicit data and develop environmental performance and energy conservation standards for crypto-asset technologies, including mining equipment. Should such measures prove ineffective at achieving the Administration’s environmental goals, the report calls for the Administration to explore executive actions and legislation to limit or eliminate the use of high energy intensity consensus mechanisms for crypto-asset mining in the United States.

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Moreover, in the state of Texas, we currently participate in energy demand response programs to curtail operations, return capacity to the electrical grid, and receive funds to offset foregone operational revenue when necessary, such as in extreme weather events.

Given the political significance and uncertainty around the impact of climate change and how it should be addressed, and energy disclosure and use regulations, we cannot predict how legislation and regulation will affect our financial condition and results of operations in the future in the United States and the state of Texas. Further, even without such regulation, increased awareness and any adverse publicity in the global marketplace about potential impacts on climate change or energy use by us or other companies in our industry could harm our reputation. Any of the foregoing could result in a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

The compliance costs of responding to new and changing regulations could adversely affect our operations at our Rockdale Facility and our future operations at our Corsicana Facility.

We (along with those from whom we purchase electricity) are subject to various federal, state, local, and international environmental laws and regulations, including those relating to the generation, storage, handling, and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. Certain of these laws and regulations also impose joint and several liability, without regard to fault, for investigation and cleanup costs on current and former owners and operators of real property and persons who have disposed of or released hazardous substances into the environment. Our operations may involve the use of hazardous substances and materials, such as petroleum fuel for emergency generators, as well as batteries, cleaning solutions, and other materials.

Electricity costs could also be affected due to existing or new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, whether such regulations apply to all consumers of electricity or just to specified uses, such as Bitcoin mining. These regulations may be federal, or we may be exposed to such regulations due to the acquisition of Texas-based Whinstone. There has been interest in the U.S. federal government and in the state government of Texas in addressing climate change, including through regulation of Bitcoin mining. Past policy proposals to address climate change include measures ranging from taxes on carbon use or generation to energy consumption disclosure regimes to federally imposed limits on greenhouse gas emissions or energy use restrictions specific to Bitcoin mining. Further, although Texas has historically sought to maintain some degree of energy independence from the United States as a whole, it is unclear how future legislation and regulation will affect the Rockdale Facility and the future Corsicana Facility. The course of future legislation and regulation in the United States and in Texas remains difficult to predict, and potential increased costs associated with new legislation or regulation cannot be estimated at this time.

Regulatory changes or actions may alter the nature of an investment in us or restrict the use of cryptocurrencies in a manner that adversely affects our business, prospects, or operations.

As cryptocurrencies have grown in both popularity and market size, governments around the world have reacted differently to cryptocurrencies; certain governments have deemed them illegal, and others have allowed their use and trade without restriction, while in some jurisdictions, such as in the United States, subject the mining, ownership and exchange of cryptocurrencies to extensive, and in some cases overlapping, unclear and evolving regulatory requirements.

For example, in January 2023, the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a joint statement effectively discouraging banks from doing business with clients in crypto-asset industries, which could potentially create challenges regarding access to financial services. In January 2023, the Federal Reserve also issued a policy statement broadening its authority to cover state-chartered institutions. Moreover, in January 2023, the White House issued a statement cautioning deepening ties between crypto-assets and the broader financial system. Meanwhile, the SEC has announced several actions aimed at curtailing activities it deems sales of unregistered securities.

However, also during January of 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives announced its first ever Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets and the intention to develop a regulatory framework for the use and trade of digital assets and related financial services products in the United States. Bipartisan leadership of the Senate Banking Committee announced a similar objective.

Given the difficulty of predicting the outcomes of ongoing and future regulatory actions and legislative developments, it is possible that they could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.

Our interactions with a blockchain may expose us to SDN or blocked persons and new legislation or regulation could adversely impact our business or the market for cryptocurrencies.

The Office of Financial Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the U.S. Department of Treasury requires us to comply with its sanction program and not conduct business with persons named on its specially designated nationals (“SDN”) list. However, because of the

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pseudonymous nature of blockchain transactions we may inadvertently and without our knowledge engage in transactions with persons named on OFAC’s SDN list. Our Company’s policy prohibits any transactions with such SDN individuals, and we take all commercially reasonable steps to avoid such transactions, but we may not be adequately capable of determining the ultimate identity of the individual with whom we transact with respect to selling cryptocurrency assets. Moreover, there is a risk that some bad actors will continue to attempt to use cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, as a potential means of avoiding federally imposed sanctions, such as those imposed in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We are unable to predict the nature or extent of new and proposed legislation and regulation affecting the cryptocurrency industry, or the potential impact of the use of cryptocurrencies by SDN or other blocked or sanctioned persons, which could have material adverse effects on our business and our industry more broadly. Further, we may be subject to investigation, administrative or court proceedings, and civil or criminal monetary fines and penalties as a result of any regulatory enforcement actions, all of which could harm our reputation and affect the value of our common stock.

Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining, as well as cryptocurrencies generally, may be made illegal in certain jurisdictions, including the ones we operate in, which could adversely affect our business prospects and operations.

It is possible that state or federal regulators may seek to impose harsh restrictions or total bans on cryptocurrency mining which may make it impossible for us to do business without relocating our mining operations, which could be very costly and time consuming. Further, although Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining, as well as cryptocurrencies generally, are largely unregulated in most countries (including the United States), regulators could undertake new or intensify regulatory actions that could severely restrict the right to mine, acquire, own, hold, sell, or use cryptocurrency or to exchange it for traditional fiat currency such as the United States Dollar. Such restrictions may adversely affect us as the large-scale use of cryptocurrencies as a means of exchange is presently confined to certain regions globally. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, and thus harm investors.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

The trading price of shares of our common stock has been subject to volatility.

The trading price of our common stock has been, and is likely to continue to be, volatile, and may be influenced by including the risks, uncertainties and factors described in this Annual Report and our other filings with the SEC, as well as factors beyond our control or of which we may be unaware. If these risks come to pass and our business and results of operation suffer as a result, the market price of our securities may decline, which could have a material adverse effect on an investment in our securities.

Bitcoin is part of the cryptocurrency environment and is subject to price volatility resulting from financial instability, poor business practices, fraudulent activities of players in the cryptocurrency market, and other factors outside of our control. Such factors may cause a decline in the price of Bitcoin, which may affect the trading price of our shares of common stock.

We have a classified board of directors; therefore, only approximately one-third of the Board is up for election at each annual stockholders’ meeting, which could limit stockholders’ ability to influence directors’ decision making.

Our Bylaws provide for a classified board of directors consisting of three classes of directors serving staggered three-year terms, and each year our stockholders elect one class of our directors. We believe that a classified board structure facilitates continuity and stability of leadership and policy by helping ensure that, at any given time, a majority of our directors have prior experience as directors of our Company and are familiar with our business and operations. In our view, this permits more effective long-term planning and helps create long-term value for our stockholders. The classified board structure, however, could prevent a party who acquires control of a majority of our outstanding voting stock from obtaining control of our board of directors until the second annual stockholders’ meeting following the date that party obtains control of a majority of our voting stock. The classified board structure may discourage a third party from initiating a proxy contest, making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us, as the structure makes it more difficult for a stockholder to replace a majority of our directors.

Article XIV of our Bylaws, as amended, designates the courts of the State of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our shareholders, and therefore may limit our stockholders’ ability to choose a forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees, or agents.

Article XIV of our Bylaws, as amended, provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, and unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the state and federal courts in and for the State of New York shall be the sole and exclusive forum for the

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resolution of certain actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, and that, by purchasing our securities, our stockholders are deemed to have notice of and consented to this forum selection clause. Under Article XIV of our Bylaws, the following claims are subject to this forum selection clause: (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company; (b) any action or proceeding asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director or officer of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders; (c) any action or proceeding asserting a claim against the Company arising pursuant to any provision of the Nevada Revised Statutes or the Company’s Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws (as either might be amended from time to time); or (d) any action or proceeding asserting a claim against the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine.

By its terms, the forum selection clause in our Bylaws applies to the foregoing claims to the fullest extent permitted by law, and, as such, should not be interpreted as precluding our stockholders from bringing claims under the Exchange Act in the appropriate federal court with jurisdiction over such claims, as provided by Section 27 of the Exchange Act. Likewise, the forum selection clause in our Bylaws should not be interpreted as precluding our stockholders from bringing claims under the Securities Act in the appropriate state or federal court with jurisdiction over such claims, as provided by Section 22 of the Securities Act.

We believe the choice-of-forum provision in our Bylaws will help provide for the orderly, efficient, and cost-effective resolution of legal issues affecting us by designating courts located in the State of New York as the exclusive forum for cases involving such issues. However, this provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it believes to be favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees, or agents, which may discourage such actions against us and our directors, officers, employees, and agents.

Nevada revised statutes permit us to make this selection in our Bylaws, and, while there is no New York case law addressing the enforceability of this type of provision, New York courts have on prior occasion found persuasive authority in Delaware case law in favor of the enforceability of forum selection clauses in the absence of statutory or case law specifically addressing an issue of corporate law. However, if a court were to find the choice-of-forum provision in our Bylaws inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Nevada law contains provisions that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company, prevent attempts to replace or remove current management and reduce the market price of our stock.

Certain provisions of Nevada law described below may make us a less attractive candidate for acquisition, which may adversely impact the value of the shares of our capital stock held by our stockholders. We have not opted out of these provisions in our Bylaws, as permitted under the Nevada Revised Statutes.

Nevada Revised Statutes Sections 78.411 through 78.444 (the “Nevada Combinations Statute”) generally prohibit “combinations” including mergers, consolidations, sales and leases of assets, issuances of securities and similar transactions by a Nevada corporation having a requisite number of stockholders of record (of which we are one) with any person who beneficially owns (or any affiliate or associate of the corporation who within the previous two years owned), directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting power of the outstanding voting shares of the corporation (an “interested stockholder”), within two years after such person first became an interested stockholder unless (i) the board of directors of the corporation approved the combination or transaction by which the person first became an interested stockholder before the person first became an interested stockholder or (ii) the board of directors of the corporation has approved the combination in question and, at or after that time, such combination is approved at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders of the target corporation, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of holders of stock representing at least 60% of the outstanding voting power of the target corporation not beneficially owned by the interested stockholder or the affiliates or associates of the interested stockholder.

Two years after the date the person first became an interested stockholder, the Nevada Combinations Statute prohibits any combination with that interested stockholder unless (i) the board of directors of the corporation approved the combination or transaction by which the person first became an interested stockholder before the person first became an interested stockholder or (ii) such combination is approved by a majority of the outstanding voting power of the corporation not beneficially owned by the interested stockholder or any affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder. The Nevada Combinations Statute does not apply to combinations with an interested stockholder after the expiration of four years from when the person first became an interested stockholder.

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Because we do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock, our stockholders will not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell them.

We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Unless we pay dividends, our stockholders will not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell them. There is no assurance that stockholders will be able to sell shares when desired.

We, and some of our current officers and directors, have been named as parties to various lawsuits arising out of, or related to, allegedly false and misleading statements made in prior securities filings, and those lawsuits could adversely affect us, require significant management time and attention, result in significant legal expenses or damages, and cause our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows to suffer.

A number of securities class action complaints and a stockholder derivative action have been filed against us and certain of our current officers and directors, as described more fully in Item 3, “Legal Proceedings”. Stockholders have filed three class action complaints against us in three states, accusing us of violations of the federal securities laws based on purported material misrepresentations or omissions allegedly made by the Company. Each class action complaint seeks unspecified money damages and other relief on behalf of a putative class of persons who purchased or otherwise acquired our common stock between November 13, 2017 and February 15, 2018. The stockholder derivative case alleges similar disclosure violations and seeks unspecified monetary damages and corporate governance reforms. If these matters cannot be resolved expeditiously, management’s attention may be diverted to this matter and there can be no assurance that the litigation would be settled. If the current litigation proceeds or if additional claims are filed, the legal and other costs associated with the defense of these actions and their ultimate outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. While we expect insurance to cover many of the costs associated with defending such litigation, including claims for indemnification made by our existing and former management team and members of our Board of Directors, insurance coverage may be insufficient and could require a diversion of our resources. There also may be adverse publicity associated with litigation that could negatively affect customer perception of our business, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether we are ultimately found liable.

Because there has been limited precedent set for financial accounting of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets, the determination that we have made for how to account for cryptocurrency assets transactions may be subject to change.

Because there has been limited precedent set for the financial accounting of cryptocurrencies and related revenue recognition and no official guidance has yet been provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) or the SEC, it is unclear how companies may in the future be required to account for cryptocurrency transactions and assets and related revenue recognition. A change in regulatory or financial accounting standards could result in the necessity to change our accounting methods and restate our financial statements. Such a restatement could adversely affect the accounting for our newly mined cryptocurrency rewards and more generally negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Such circumstances would have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our new strategy at all, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations as well as and potentially the value of any cryptocurrencies we hold or expect to acquire for our own account and harm investors.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and may identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, which may result in material misstatements of our financial statements or cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations.

We are required to comply with certain provisions of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Section 404 requires that we document and test our internal control over financial reporting and issue management’s assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022. In making this assessment, we used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Based on our assessment, as of December 31, 2022, we concluded that our internal control over financial reporting contained material weaknesses. To remediate these material weaknesses, our management has been implementing and continues to implement measures designed to ensure that control deficiencies contributing to the material weakness are remediated, such that these controls are designed, implemented, and operating effectively.

We believe that these actions will remediate the material weakness. However, the remediation cannot be deemed successful until the applicable controls operate for a sufficient period of time and our management has concluded, through testing, that these controls

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are operating effectively. If we fail to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the accuracy and timeliness of the filing of our annual and quarterly reports may be materially adversely affected and could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. In addition, a material weakness in the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could result in an increased chance of fraud and the loss of customers, reduce our ability to obtain financing and require additional expenditures to comply with these requirements, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We have issued new shares of our common stock, which has a dilutive effect.

We have, primarily, financed our strategic growth through our ATM offerings and issuances of common stock. The issuance of common stock by the Company dilutes the ownership interest of current stockholders.

ITEM 1B.  UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

None.

ITEM 2.  PROPERTIES.

Leased Property

As of December 31, 2022, we leased our corporate offices in Castle Rock, Colorado, Austin, Texas and Costa Mesa, California, offices and manufacturing facilities in Denver, Colorado, temporary office space at our Corsicana Facility, and had a long-term ground lease for the land upon which the Rockdale Facility is constructed.

Property Owned

As of December 31, 2022, we owned the Rockdale Facility and the land upon which the Corsicana Facility is being constructed. We will own the Corsicana Facility once it is constructed.

In our opinion, our facilities, whether owned or leased, are suitable and adequate for their intended purposes, are well-maintained and generally in regular use and have capacities adequate for current and projected needs. Other than the ground lease for the Rockdale Facility noted above, there are no material encumbrances on any of our owned facilities.

ITEM 3.  LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

The Company, and our subsidiaries, are subject at times to various claims, lawsuits and governmental proceedings relating to our business and transactions arising in the ordinary course of business. We cannot predict the final outcome of such proceedings. Where appropriate, we vigorously defend such claims, lawsuits and proceedings. Some of these claims, lawsuits and proceedings seek damages, including, direct, consequential, exemplary, and/or punitive damages, in amounts that could, if awarded, be significant. Certain of the claims, lawsuits and proceedings arising in ordinary course of business are covered by our insurance program. We maintain property, and various types of liability insurance in an effort to protect ourselves from such claims. In terms of any matters where there is no insurance coverage available to us, or where coverage is available and we maintain a retention or deductible associated with such insurance, we may establish an accrual for such loss, retention or deductible based on current available information. In accordance with accounting guidance, if it is probable that an asset has been impaired or a liability has been incurred as of the date of the financial statements, and the amount of loss is reasonably estimable, then an accrual for the cost to resolve or settle these claims is recorded by us in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. If it is reasonably possible that an asset may be impaired as of the date of the financial statement, then we disclose the range of possible loss. Paid expenses related to the defense of such claims are recorded by us as incurred and paid. Management, with the assistance of outside counsel, may from time to time adjust such accruals according to new developments in the matter, court rulings, or changes in the strategy affecting our defense of such matters. On the basis of current information, we do not believe there is a reasonable possibility that, other than with regard to the Class Action described below, any material loss, if any, will result from any claims, lawsuits and proceedings to which we are subject to either individually, or in the aggregate.

Northern Data Working Capital Dispute

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On September 7, 2022, the Company filed a complaint against Northern Data AG (“Northern Data”) in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking declaratory relief and specific performance under the Stock Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”) that Northern Data entered into with Riot for the purchase of Whinstone.  The SPA requires a post-closing true-up of the purchase price and provides

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specific procedures to resolve disputes over the same, including a mechanism for submitting any objections to an independent accounting expert for resolution.  The complaint alleges that Northern Data failed to engage in a contractually prescribed process to resolve disputes over the acquisition price.  Accordingly, the Company seeks an order affirmatively declaring that it is entitled to initiate the engagement of an independent accounting expert pursuant to the terms of the SPA, as well as an order compelling specific performance from Northern Data to engage an accounting expert or through the court’s appointment of one of the experts proposed by the Company.

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On September 26, 2022, Northern Data filed its Answer, Affirmative Defenses, and Verified Counterclaims and Third-Party Claims, alleging that Riot and Whinstone breached the SPA by withholding certain energy credit payments.  Northern Data further alleges that Riot is improperly seeking to introduce indemnification claims into the contractual process to resolve the parties’ dispute over purchase price.  Northern Data seeks damages in an unspecified amount, a declaration that Riot may not withhold payments for energy credits pending the resolution of the purchase price dispute, and specific performance that Riot may not introduce indemnification claims into the purchase price dispute.  On November 10, 2022, the Company timely filed its answer and affirmative defenses denying Northern Data’s counterclaims.

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Northern Data filed a motion for partial summary judgment on its claims for specific performance of the SPA’s provision for payment of certain energy credits by the Company.  The Company filed its answering brief in opposition to the motion on February 3, 2023. Northern Data in turn must file any reply on or before March 10, 2023.

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Whinstone Customer Dispute

On June 13, 2022, GMO Gamecenter USA, Inc., a California corporation, and GMO Internet, Inc., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Tokyo, Japan (collectively “GMO”), filed a complaint against Whinstone US, Inc. in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York: Commercial Division, Index No.: 656762/2022, subsequently removed to the United States District Court, S.D.N.Y., Case No. 1:22-cv-05974-JPC (the “Complaint”). GMO alleges Whinstone breached the W Colocation Services Agreement (Texas), entered into by GMO and Whinstone on October 16, 2019 (the “Colocation Services Agreement”), by failing to indemnify GMO for certain contractual loss of profit and causing additional damages including loss of revenue, lost profits and loss of savings. GMO is seeking – without substantiation – compensatory damages in excess of $50 million, and pre- and post-judgment interest.

Whinstone’s Answer and Counterclaims were filed on August 22, 2022. On September 12, 2022, GMO filed its answer and affirmative defenses to Whinstone’s counterclaims, which included additional claims against Whinstone, as permitted under the applicable local rules. On November 1, 2022, Whinstone filed supplementary answers and counterclaims to GMO’s answer and affirmative defenses.

Whinstone denies the substantive allegations of the Complaint and has asserted counterclaims seeking a declaratory judgment due to GMO’s failure to negotiate in good faith in accordance with the terms of the Colocation Services Agreement, as well as compensatory damages in excess of $25 million, including damages from loss of revenue, breach of contract, pre- and post-judgment interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs in connection with GMO’s breach of the Colocation Services Agreement. The Company intends to vigorously defend Whinstone against GMO’s claims, and to vigorously enforce Whinstone’s claims against GMO.

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Class Actions and Related Claims

On February 17, 2018, Creighton Takata filed an action asserting putative class action claims on behalf of the Company’s stockholders in the United District Court for the District of New Jersey, Takata v. Riot Blockchain Inc., et al., Case No. 3: 18-cv-02293. The complaint asserts violations of federal securities laws under Section 10(b) and Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act on behalf of a putative class of stockholders that purchased stock from November 13, 2017 through February 15, 2018. The complaint alleges that the Company and certain of its officers and directors made, caused to be made, or failed to correct false and/or misleading statements in press releases and public filings regarding its business plan in connection with its cryptocurrency business. The complaint requests damages in unspecified amounts, costs and fees of bringing the action, and other unspecified relief.

On April 18, 2018, Joseph J. Klapper, Jr., filed a complaint against Riot Blockchain, Inc., and certain of its officers and directors in the United District Court for the District of New Jersey (Klapper v. Riot Blockchain Inc., et al., Case No. 3: 18-cv-8031). The complaint contained substantially similar allegations and the same claims as those filed by Mr. Takata, and requests damages in unspecified amounts, costs and fees of bringing the action, and other unspecified relief.

On November 6, 2018, the court in the Takata action issued an order consolidating Takata with Klapper into a single putative class action. The court also appointed Dr. Golovac as Lead Plaintiff and Motely Rice as Lead Counsel of the consolidated class action.

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Lead Plaintiff filed a consolidated complaint on January 15, 2019. Defendants filed motions to dismiss on March 18, 2019. In lieu of opposing defendants’ motions to dismiss, Lead Plaintiff filed another amended complaint on May 9, 2019. Defendants filed multiple motions to dismiss the amended complaint starting on September 3, 2019. On April 30, 2020, the court granted the motions to dismiss, which resulted in the dismissal of all claims without prejudice.

On December 24, 2020, Lead Plaintiff filed another amended complaint. Defendants filed multiple motions to dismiss the amended complaint starting on February 8, 2021, which were fully briefed. On February 28, 2022, the court issued an order instructing the parties to submit supplemental briefing by March 14, 2022 on particular issues raised in the motions to dismiss. On May 27, 2022, Lead Plaintiff filed the third amended consolidated complaint. Defendants submitted motions to dismiss on July 18, 2022. Briefing on the motions to dismiss was completed in October 2022. Because this litigation is still at this early stage, we cannot reasonably estimate the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome or the magnitude of such an outcome, if any.

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Shareholder Derivative Cases

On April 5, 2018, Michael Jackson filed a shareholder derivative complaint on behalf of the Company in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Nassau, against certain of the Company’s officers and directors, as well as against an investor (Jackson v. Riot Blockchain, Inc., et al., Case No. 604520/18). The complaint contains similar allegations to those contained in the shareholder class action complaints and seeks recovery for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, waste of corporate assets, abuse of control and gross mismanagement. The complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages and corporate governance changes. At the last preliminary conference, the court adjourned the conference until June 27, 2023 in lieu of staying the action. Defendants do not anticipate any other activity on this case until the next preliminary conference.

On May 22, 2018, two additional shareholder derivative complaints were filed on behalf of the Company in the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada in and for the County of Clark (Kish v. O’Rourke, et al., Case No. A-18-774890-B & Gaft v. O’Rourke, et al., Case No. A-18-774896-8). The two complaints make identical allegations, which are similar to the allegations contained in the shareholder class action complaints. The shareholder derivative plaintiffs also seek recovery for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, waste of corporate assets, and aiding abetting a breach of fiduciary duty. The complaints seek unspecific monetary damages and corporate governance changes.

On September 24, 2018, the court entered an order consolidating the Gaft and Kish actions, which is now styled as In re Riot Blockchain, Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation, Case No. A-18-774890-B. The plaintiffs filed a consolidated complaint on March 15, 2019. The consolidated action has been temporarily stayed until the resolution of the motion(s) to dismiss in the securities class action pending in the United District Court for the District of New Jersey.

On October 9, 2018, another shareholder derivative complaint was filed on behalf of the Company in the United District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Rotkowitz v. O’Rourke, et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-05632). As with the other shareholder derivative actions, the shareholder plaintiff alleges breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, and unjust enrichment against certain of the Company’s officers, directors, and an investor. The complaint’s allegations are substantially similar to those made in the other securities class action and shareholder derivative complaints filed in 2018. The complaint seeks unspecific monetary damages and corporate governance changes. The parties filed a motion with the court to temporarily stay this action until the resolution of the motion(s) to dismiss in the securities class action pending in the United District Court for the District of New Jersey. In response, the court dismissed the action without prejudice with leave to refile a complaint following the resolution of the motion(s) to dismiss in the securities class action pending in the United District Court for the District of New Jersey.

On October 22, 2018, another shareholder derivative complaint was filed on behalf of the Company in the United District Court for the Southern District of New York (Finitz v. O’Rourke, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-09640). The shareholder plaintiffs allege breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, and unjust enrichment against certain of the Company’s officers, directors, and an investor. The complaint’s allegations are substantially similar to those made in the other securities class action and shareholder derivative complaints filed in 2018. The complaint seeks unspecific monetary damages and corporate governance changes. Upon the parties’ stipulation, the court issued an order temporarily staying this action until the resolution of the motion(s) to dismiss in the securities class action pending in the United District Court for the District of New Jersey.

On December 13, 2018, another shareholder derivative complaint was filed on behalf of the Company in the United District Court for the Northern District of New York (Monts v. O’Rourke, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-01443). The shareholder plaintiffs allege claims for violation of Section 14(a) of the Exchange Act, breach of fiduciary duties, unjust enrichment, waste of corporate assets, and aiding and abetting against certain of the Company’s officers, directors, and an investor. The complaint’s allegations are substantially similar to those made in the other securities class action and shareholder derivative complaints filed in 2018. The complaint seeks unspecific monetary damages and corporate governance changes. Upon the parties’ stipulation, the court issued an order temporarily

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staying this action until the resolution of the motion(s) to dismiss in the securities class action pending in the United District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Defendants intend to vigorously contest plaintiffs’ allegations in the shareholder derivative actions and plaintiffs’ right to bring the action in the name of Riot Blockchain. But because this litigation is still at this early stage, we cannot reasonably estimate the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome or the magnitude of such an outcome, if any.

ITEM 4.  MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not applicable.

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PART II

ITEM 5.  MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

Market Information

Our common stock trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “RIOT”.

Holders of our Common Stock

As of March 1, 2023, there were approximately 1,253 holders of record of our common stock. The actual number of stockholders is greater than this number of record holders and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners but whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees.

Dividend Policy

We have historically not declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. Any future determination regarding the declaration and payment of dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on then-existing conditions, including our financial condition, operating results, contractual restrictions, capital requirements, business prospects, and other factors our board of directors may deem relevant.

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Stock Performance Graph

This performance graph shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or incorporated by reference into any filing of Riot Platforms, Inc. under the Securities Act, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.

The following graph shows a comparison over a five year period from December 31, 2017 through December 31, 2022, of the cumulative total return on our common stock, the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Russell 2000 Index. Due to the infancy of our industry, we have not compared our performance against a self-constructed peer group or used a Published Industry Index. Such returns are based on historical results and are not intended to suggest future performance. Data for the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Russell 2000 Index assumes an investment of $100 on December 31, 2017 and reinvestment of dividends. We have historically not declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock.

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Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

On December 1, 2021, we issued 715,413 shares of our common stock, subject to a holdback of 70,165 shares to the sellers in connection with the ESS Metron Acquisition. The shares of common stock in connection with the ESS Metron Acquisition were issued in reliance upon an exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Subsequently, we registered for resale the 645,248 shares issued to the sellers at the closing of the ESS Metron Acquisition.

On May 26, 2021, at the closing of the Whinstone Acquisition, we issued 11.8 million shares of our common stock to Northern Data in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding equity interests of Whinstone. These shares were issued in reliance upon an exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Subsequently, we registered the shares issued to Northern Data for resale pursuant to registration rights granted under the shareholders’ agreement we entered into with Northern Data in connection with closing of the Whinstone Acquisition.

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ITEM 6.  [RESERVED]

Not applicable.

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ITEM 7.  MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

Forward Looking Statements:

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand our results of operations and financial condition. The MD&A is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Item 8 - Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. Our discussion includes forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, such as our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. We use words such as anticipate, estimate, plan, project, continuing, ongoing, expect, believe, intend, may, will, should, could, and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. See “Forward-Looking Statements.”

As discussed in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, in Note 2. Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements, we have restated our previously issued audited Consolidated Financial Statements as of December 31, 2021, and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, and our unaudited quarterly financial information for the quarterly periods ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2022 and 2021. Accordingly, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations have been revised for the effects of the restatement.

Business Overview:

We are a vertically integrated Bitcoin mining company principally engaged in enhancing our capabilities to mine Bitcoin in support of the Bitcoin blockchain. We also provide comprehensive and critical mining infrastructure for institutional-scale hosted clients to mine Bitcoin at our Rockdale Facility. The Rockdale Facility currently provides 700 megawatts in total developed capacity for our Bitcoin mining and data center hosting services for institutional-scale hosted clients. Our Rockdale Facility is believed to be the largest Bitcoin mining facility in North America, as measured by developed capacity, and we are currently further growing its capacity. Additionally, we are developing the Corsicana Facility, a second large-scale Bitcoin mining data center facility, which, upon completion, is expected to have approximately one gigawatt of capacity available for our own Bitcoin mining and data center hosting services for institutional-scale hosted clients.

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We operate in an environment which is consistently evolving based on the proliferation of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. A significant component of our strategy is to effectively and efficiently allocate capital between opportunities that generate the highest return on investment.

As discussed further in this Annual Report, we operate in three business segments: Bitcoin Mining, Data Center Hosting, and Engineering.

Strategic Acquisitions

Corsicana

During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company initiated a large-scale development to expand its Bitcoin mining and data center hosting capabilities with the acquisition of a 265-acre site in Navarro County, Texas, strategically located next to the Navarro switch, where the anticipated one-gigawatt Corsicana Facility will be constructed. The initial phase of the development of the Corsicana Facility involves the construction of 400 megawatts of immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining and data center hosting infrastructure spread across multiple buildings, as well as a high-voltage power substation and transmission facilities to supply power to the facility. Construction of the substation and the data centers is expected to be carried out concurrently, with self-mining and data center hosting operations expected to commence by the fourth quarter of 2023, following the commissioning of the substation, which is also expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Industry Trends

During 2022, we observed several companies in the Bitcoin ecosystem experience significant challenges and initiate bankruptcy proceedings due to the significant decline in the price of Bitcoin and other national and global macroeconomic factors. We anticipate this trend will likely continue as companies attempt to shift their business models to operate on significantly compressed margins. The dramatic increase in the price of Bitcoin observed in the market during prior years caused many companies to over-leverage themselves, thus operating in an unsustainable way given the recent instability in the price of Bitcoin. Riot chose to refrain from

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engaging in debt-financing activities during this period and, as a result, has not been subject to the significant debt-service shortfalls some of its competitors are experiencing. Despite such challenges in the ecosystem, Riot continues to focus on building long-term stockholder value by taking strategic action to vertically integrate its business, expanding the Rockdale Facility and developing the Corsicana Facility. Management believes this focus will positively affect each of Riot’s three business segments by providing more capacity for its Bitcoin Mining and Data Center Hosting, and by capitalizing on supply chain efficiencies garnered through its Engineering segment. As we grow our business, we continue to focus on deploying our efficient Bitcoin mining fleet, at scale, while realizing the benefits of being an owner and operator of our Bitcoin Mining and Data Center Hosting facilities.

We anticipate that other companies in the industry will continue to experience challenges and that 2023 will continue to be a period of consolidation in the Bitcoin mining industry, and we believe that, given our relative position, liquidity and absence of long-term debt, in the competitive landscape, we are likely positioned to benefit from this consolidation. As a result of any strategic action undertaken by us, our business and financial results may change significantly. We are continuously evaluating strategic opportunities which we may decide to undertake as part of our strategic growth initiatives; however, we can offer no assurances that any strategic opportunities which we decide to undertake will be achieved on the schedule or within the budget we anticipate, if at all, in our competitive and evolving industry. See Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report for additional discussion regarding potential impacts our competitive and evolving industry may have on our business.

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Bitcoin Mining

The Company’s current focus is on its Bitcoin Mining operations, and during the year ended December 31, 2022, we continued to deploy miners at our Rockdale Facility and continued development activities at the Corsicana Facility, with the objective of increasing the Company’s operational efficiency and performance.

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As of December 31, 2022, our Bitcoin Mining business segment operated 88,556 ASIC miners, with a hash rate capacity of 9.7 EH/s. In 2022, we mined 5,554 Bitcoin, which represented an increase of 45.7% over the 3,812 Bitcoin we mined in 2021. We anticipate we will have 111,216 miners in operation by the end of 2023.

Miner Purchases and Deployments

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we purchased, received, and/or deployed the following:

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As of December 31, 2022, the Company had outstanding executed purchase agreements for the purchase of miners from Bitmain for a total of 5,130 S19 series miners, which were shipped in January 2023. Pursuant to these agreements, as of December 31, 2022, no amounts remain payable to Bitmain.

To take advantage of our low-cost power supply agreement at our Rockdale Facility and eliminate third-party hosting fees, during the year ended December 31, 2022, we elected to not renew our co-location mining services agreement with Coinmint, which therefore terminated automatically per its terms as of July 8, 2022. Upon termination of the agreement, we fully exited our Bitcoin Mining operations at Coinmint. We believe this transition will lower our overall cost of revenues for the Bitcoin Mining business as new miners will be deployed at the Rockdale Facility.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, Bitcoin Mining revenue was approximately $156.9 million.

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Data Center Hosting

Upon completion of the Whinstone Acquisition, we commenced an expansion of our Rockdale Facility to 700 MW, from its initial 300 MW of developed capacity. As of December 31, 2022, our 400 MW expansion at the Rockdale Facility had achieved multiple progress milestones while navigating the challenges with the current state of the global supply chain, including the completion of the substation expansion to 700 MW, successful installation of the substation busbar, and 400 MW of high-voltage transformers. We also completed construction of three new buildings in 2022, and a fourth is nearing completion in the first quarter of 2023, which, when completed, will finalize our Rockdale Facility expansion. Two of the four buildings are self-mining buildings dedicated to immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining.

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The expansion of our Rockdale Facility has provided capacity to enable us to deploy our current fleet of miners (including those expected to be delivered in future shipments pursuant to our purchase orders with Bitmain) in a self-hosted facility, while allowing Whinstone to continue to operate and grow its existing Data Center Hosting business segment. We believe deploying our miners at the expanded Rockdale Facility has many advantages for our mining operations, including allowing us to operate our miners without incurring third-party colocation services fees and to do so at the fixed low energy costs available to the Rockdale Facility under its long-term power supply agreement.

The Rockdale Facility currently hosts Bitcoin Mining operations for institutional-scale mining customers.

Data Center Hosting revenue includes upfront payments, which we record as deferred revenue and generally recognize as services are provided. We provide energized space and operating and maintenance services to third-party mining companies who locate their mining hardware at our Rockdale Facility under long-term contracts. We account for these agreements as a single performance obligation for services being delivered in a series with delivery being measured by daily successful operation of the mining hardware. As such, we recognize revenue over the life of the contract as its series of performance obligations are met. The contracts are recognized in the amount for which we have the right to invoice because we elected the “right to invoice” practical expedient.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, Data Center Hosting revenue was approximately $36.9 million.

Engineering

Our Engineering business segment designs and manufacturers power distribution equipment and custom engineered electrical products that provide us with the ability to vertically integrate many of the critical electrical components and engineering services necessary for our Rockdale Facility expansion and to reduce our execution and counter-party risk in ongoing and future expansion projects. Our engineers also allow us to continue to explore new methods to optimize and develop a best-in-class Bitcoin mining operation and have been instrumental in the development of our industrial-scale immersion-cooled Bitcoin mining hardware.

Our Engineering business segment also provides electricity distribution product design, manufacture, and installation services primarily focused on large-scale commercial and governmental customers and serves a broad scope of clients across a wide range of markets including data center, power generation, utility, water, industrial, and alternative energy. Products are custom built to client and industry specifications Additionally, we utilize an in-house field service and repair department.

Engineering revenue is derived from the sale of custom products built to customers’ specifications under fixed-price contracts with one identified performance obligation. Engineering revenues are recognized over time as performance creates or enhances an asset with no alternative use, and for which the Company has an enforceable right to receive compensation as defined under the contract.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, Engineering revenue was approximately $65.3 million.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 global pandemic has been unprecedented and unpredictable; its impact is likely to continue to result in significant national and global economic disruption, which may adversely affect our business. Based on our current assessment, however, we do not expect any material impact on our long-term development, our operations, or our liquidity due to the worldwide spread of COVID-19, other than the potential impact of COVID-19 on global logistics discussed below. We are actively monitoring this situation and the possible effects on our financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, and industry.

In addition, nationally, we have experienced and are experiencing varying degrees of inflation, resulting in part from various supply chain disruptions, increased shipping, and transportation costs, and increased raw material and labor costs, as well as other disruptions resulting from the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and general global economic conditions. This inflationary impact on our cost structure has contributed to adjustments in operations, ability to obtain materials and retain talent, despite a continued focus on reducing our costs where possible.

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Global Logistics

Global supply logistics have caused delays across all channels of distribution. Similarly, we have also experienced delays in certain of our miner delivery schedules and in our infrastructure development schedules due to constraints on the globalized supply chains for miners, electricity distribution equipment and construction materials. Through the date of this Annual Report, we have been able to effectively mitigate any delivery delays to avoid materially impacting our miner deployment schedule, however, there are no assurances we will be able to continue to mitigate any such delivery delays in the future. Additionally, the expansion of the Rockdale

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Facility and the development of our new Corsicana Facility requires large quantities of construction materials, specialized electricity distribution equipment and other component parts that can be difficult to source. We have procured and hold many of the required materials to help mitigate global supply logistic and pricing concerns. We continue to monitor developments in the global supply chain and assess their potential impact on our expansion plans.

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Summary of Bitcoin Mining Results

The following table presents additional information about our Bitcoin Mining activities, including Bitcoin production and sales of the Bitcoin mined:

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Results of Operations Comparative Results for the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:

Revenues:

Total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, was $259.2 million and $213.2 million, respectively, and consisted of our Bitcoin Mining revenue, Data Center Hosting revenue, Engineering revenue, and other revenue.

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, Bitcoin Mining revenue was $156.9 million, and $184.4 million, respectively. The decrease of $27.6 million in Bitcoin Mining revenue was due to lower values of Bitcoin mined in 2022, averaging $28,245 per coin, as compared to $45,744 per coin in 2021, partially offset by a higher number of Bitcoin mined in 2022, which totaled 5,554, as compared to 3,812 in the 2021 period, and an increase in miners deployed. The primary reason for the increase in the number of Bitcoin mined was due to the Company’s effective employment of its proprietary power strategy to significantly reduce overall power costs. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company earned $27.3 million in power curtailment credits, to be credited against its power invoices, as a result of temporarily pausing its operations. The power curtailment credits are recorded as an offset against operating expenses and equate to approximately 1,815 Bitcoin, as computed by using the average daily closing BTC prices on a monthly basis. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company earned $6.5 million in power credits, or the equivalent of approximately 251 Bitcoin.

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, Data Center Hosting revenue was $36.9 million and $24.5 million, respectively. The increase of $12.3 was primarily attributable to 2021 only including activity subsequent to the acquisition of Whinstone in May 2021.

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, Engineering revenue was $65.3 million and $4.2 million, respectively. The increase of $61.2 was primarily attributable to 2021 only including activity subsequent to the acquisition of ESS Metron in December 2021.

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Costs and expenses:

Cost of revenues for Bitcoin Mining for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $74.3 million and $45.5 million, respectively, representing an increase of approximately $28.8 million. As a percentage of Mining revenue, cost of revenues totaled 47.4% and 24.7% for each of the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Bitcoin Mining cost of revenues consist primarily of direct production costs of mining operations, including electricity, labor, insurance and, for a portion of 2022, the variable Coinmint hosting fee, but excluding depreciation and amortization, which are separately stated. The increase of $28.8 million is primarily due to the increase in mining capacity at the Rockdale Facility, which requires more headcount and direct costs necessary to maintain and support the mining operations. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company earned $27.3 million and $6.5 million, respectively, in power credits, to be credited against its power invoices, as a result of temporarily pausing its operations. These credits are recognized in power curtailment credits in the statements of operations, outside of cost of revenues, but significantly reduce the Company’s overall cost to mine Bitcoin. When netting the power curtailment credits with the costs of revenues, the net costs as a percentage of Mining revenue were 39.7% and 24.7% for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Cost of revenues for Data Center Hosting for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $61.9 million and $33.0 million, respectively. The 2022 costs consisted primarily of direct power costs, with the balance primarily incurred for compensation and rent costs. The increase in costs was primarily attributable to 2021 only including activity subsequent to the acquisition of Whinstone in May 2021.

Cost of revenues for Engineering for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $57.5 million and $3.6 million, respectively. The 2022 costs consisted primarily of $40.3 million for direct materials and labor, as well as indirect manufacturing costs. The increase in costs was primarily attributable to 2021 only including activity subsequent to the acquisition of ESS Metron in December 2021.

Selling, general and administrative expenses during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 totaled $67.5 million and $87.4 million, respectively. The decrease of $20.0 million was primarily attributable to a decrease in stock-compensation expense of  approximately $43.9 million resulting from the adoption of the performance-based stock plan in August 2021, combined with lower grant date values of our common stock, partially offset by increases in compensation expense, which increased by $12.4 million, and other expenses, due to 2022 including a full year’s of activity related to the operations of Whinstone and ESS Metron.

Depreciation and amortization expense during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 totaled $108.0 million and $26.3 million, respectively. The increase of $81.6 million was primarily due to higher depreciation expense recognized for the Rockdale Facility, our recently acquired miners, and depreciation of the assets acquired as part of the Whinstone and ESS Metron acquisitions not impacting all of 2021.

Changes in fair value of our derivative asset for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were gains of $71.4 and $12.1 million, respectively. The gains were primarily due to the increase in the forward power market curve compared to the fixed-rate in our power purchase agreement.

Power curtailment credits during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, were $27.3 and $6.5 million, respectively, from power sales to ERCOT through its Demand Response Services Programs. Depending on the spot market price of electricity, we opportunistically sell electricity back to ERCOT in exchange for cash payments or credits against future invoices, rather than using the power for the Company’s operations during these peak times. These peak times and spot market prices can vary significantly depending on consumer demand for electricity, the time of day and extreme weather.

Realized gain on sale/exchange of Bitcoin for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $30.3 million and $0.3 million, respectively. Beginning in March 2022, the Company began selling a portion of its monthly Bitcoin production to fund its operations and expansion cash requirements. The Company sold, or transferred for employee compensation, 3,464 Bitcoin during 2022 compared to only six during 2021.

Gain on exchange of equipment for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $16.3 million and zero, respectively. The gain was a result of the exchange of miners with a third-party Bitcoin mining company.

Casualty-related charges (recoveries), net during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $9.7 million and zero, respectively. In December 2022, the Rockdale Facility was damaged during severe winter storms in Texas, impacting approximately 2.5 EH/s of our hash rate capacity.

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Impairment of Bitcoin for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $147.4 million and $44.0 million, respectively, attributable to the decline in Bitcoin values and increase in Bitcoin mined in 2022 as compared to 2021.

Impairment of goodwill for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $335.6 million due to adverse changes in our business climate, including decreases in the price of Bitcoin and increased volatility of equity markets, increased weighted-average costs of capital, primarily driven by an increase in interest rates, and market concerns related to inflation, supply chain disruption issues and other macroeconomic factors indicating a triggering event had occurred. Testing performed indicated the fair value of the reporting units did not exceed their carrying amounts, including goodwill, in excess of the carrying value of the goodwill. As a result, the entire carrying amount of the goodwill was recognized as a non-cash impairment charge.

Impairment of miners for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $55.5 million and was entirely attributable to our miners. Adverse changes in our business climate, including decreases in the price of Bitcoin and related decreases in market prices of miners indicated a triggering event had occurred. Testing performed indicated the estimated fair value of our miners to be less than their net carrying value as of December 31, 2022, and the carrying value of miners was written down to their estimated fair value.

Other Income (Expense):

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, total other income (expense) was ($8.6) million and $14.7 million, respectively. The $8.6 million loss incurred in 2022 primarily consisted of realized losses on marketable equity securities of $9.0 million upon the sale of all of our marketable equity securities. The income of $14.7 million in 2021 primarily consisted of $26.3 million of realized gain on the sale/exchange of long-term investments, partially offset by $13.7 million of unrealized losses on marketable equity securities.

Income Taxes:

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 the Company recorded total income tax benefit (expense) of $11.7 million and ($0.3) million, respectively. The increase in tax benefit of $12.0 million was primarily attributable to the change in the contingent consideration liability.

Results of Operations Comparative Results for the Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:

Revenues:

Total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, was $213.2 million and $12.1 million, respectively, and consisted of our Bitcoin Mining revenue, Data Center Hosting revenue, Engineering revenue, and Other revenue.

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, Bitcoin Mining revenue was $184.4 million, and $12.0 million, respectively. The increase of $172.4 million in mining revenue was due to higher Bitcoin values in the 2021 period, averaging $45,744 per coin as compared to $11,461 per coin in the 2020 period, combined with a higher number of Bitcoin mined in 2021, which totaled 3,812, as compared to 1,033 in the 2020 period.

For the period from the acquisition of Whinstone on May 26, 2021 to December 31, 2021, Data Center Hosting revenue was $24.5 million; there was no Data Center Hosting revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020.

For the period from the acquisition of ESS Metron on December 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, Engineering revenue was $4.2 million; there was no Engineering revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Costs and expenses:

Cost of revenues for Mining for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $45.5 million and $6.3 million, respectively, representing an increase of approximately $39.2 million. As a percentage of Mining revenue, cost of revenues totaled 24.7% and 52.2% for each of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Cost of revenues consist primarily of direct production costs of mining operations, including electricity, labor, insurance and, in 2020, rent for the Oklahoma City facility and, in 2021, the variable Coinmint hosting fee, but excluding depreciation and amortization which are separately stated. The increase of $39.2 million in cost of revenues is primarily due to the increases in variable mining costs, including the variable hosting fees associated with increases in mining revenues.

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Cost of revenues for Data Center Hosting for the period from the acquisition of Whinstone on May 26, 2021 to December 31, 2021 was $33.0 million; there were no Data Center Hosting costs for the year ended December 31, 2020. The 2021 costs consisted primarily of direct power costs, with the balance primarily incurred for compensation and rent costs.

Cost of revenues for Engineering for the period from the acquisition of ESS Metron on December 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 was $3.6 million; there were no Engineering costs for the year ended December 31, 2020. The 2021 costs consisted primarily of $3.6 million for direct materials and labor, as well as indirect manufacturing costs.

Acquisition-related costs for the year ended December 31, 2021 totaled $21.2 million and consisted of expenses incurred in connection with our acquisitions of Whinstone and ESS Metron. There were no acquisition-related costs for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Selling, general and administrative expenses during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 totaled $87.4 million and $10.3 million, respectively. Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of stock-based compensation, legal and professional fees and other personnel and related costs. The increase of $77.2 million is primarily due to an increase in stock-compensation expense of $65.1 million resulting from additional awards (including the performance-based plan announced in August 2021), compensation expense, which increased by $5.7 million due to additional employees to support the Company’s growth, and an increase in consulting fees of $2.6 million resulting primarily from assistance on internal control systems and procedures.

Depreciation and amortization expense during the year ended December 31, 2021 totaled $26.3 million, which is an increase of approximately $21.8 million, as compared to $4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase is primarily due to higher depreciation expense recognized for the Rockdale Facility and our recently acquired miners.

Change in fair value of our derivative asset for the period from the acquisition of Whinstone to December 31, 2021, was $12.1 million, recorded to adjust the fair value of our Power Supply Agreement, which was classified as a derivative asset and measured at fair value on the date of our acquisition of Whinstone. There were no derivative assets for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Power curtailment credits during the year ended December 31, 2021 totaled $6.5 million and were from power sales to ERCOT through its Demand Response Services Programs. Depending on the spot market price of electricity, we opportunistically sell electricity back to ERCOT in exchange for cash payments, rather than using the power for the Company’s operations during these peak times. These peak times and spot market prices can vary significantly depending on consumer demand for electricity, the time of day and extreme weather. There were no power curtailment credits for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Impairment of long-term investments of $9.4 million recognized during the year ended December 31, 2020 was recorded in connection with the impairment of our investment in Coinsquare Ltd., a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange (“Coinsquare”).

Impairment of Bitcoin for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $44.0 million and $3.6 million respectively, arising from the decline in Bitcoin prices during the periods.

Other Income:

Other income for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $14.7 million and $1.4 million, respectively. The increase of $13.3 million is primarily related to a $26.3 million realized gain on the sale/exchange of long-term investment recognized in connection with the exchange of our shares of Coinsquare, partially offset by a $13.7 million unrealized loss on the decline in fair value our marketable equity securities.

Income Taxes:

For the year ended December 31, 2021 the Company recorded an income tax expense of $0.3 million. There was no income tax expense or benefit recorded for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to financial measures presented under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”), we consistently evaluate our use of and calculation of the non-GAAP financial measures, “Adjusted EBITDA” and Adjusted earnings per share (“Adjusted EPS”). Adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure defined as our EBITDA, adjusted to eliminate the effects of certain non-cash and/or non-recurring items, that do not reflect our ongoing strategic business operations. EBITDA is computed as net income before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA further

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adjusted for certain income and expenses, which management believes results in a performance measurement that represents a key indicator of the Company’s core business operations of Bitcoin mining. The adjustments include fair value adjustments such as derivative power contract adjustments, equity securities value changes, and non-cash stock-based compensation expense, in addition to financing and legacy business income and expense items. We exclude impairments and gains or losses on sales or exchanges of Bitcoin from our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA for all periods presented.

Adjusted EPS is a financial measure defined as our Adjusted EBITDA divided by our diluted weighted-average shares outstanding.

We believe Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS can be important financial measures because they allow management, investors, and our board of directors to evaluate and compare our operating results, including our return on capital and operating efficiencies, from period-to-period by making such adjustments.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS are provided in addition to, and should not be considered to be a substitute for, or superior to, net income, the comparable measure under GAAP for Adjusted EBITDA, and to diluted net income (loss) per share, the comparable measure under GAAP for Adjusted EPS. Further, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS should not be considered as an alternative to revenue growth, net income, diluted earnings per share or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP, or as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider such measures either in isolation or as substitutes for analyzing our results as reported under GAAP.

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The following table reconciles Adjusted EBITDA to Net income (loss), the most comparable GAAP financial metric:

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The following table reconciles Adjusted EPS to Diluted net income (loss) per share, the most comparable GAAP financial metric:

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