The deal marks one of crypto’s largest acquisitions, allowing more businesses to deal in stablecoins.
Payment processing giant Stripe has reportedly acquired stablecoin platform Bridge in a $1.1 billion deal, according to TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington.
The deal had been in “advanced stages” from at least Oct. 17, according to reports at the time, which representatives from both organizations did not address.
“This deal is done. $1.1b,” Arrington wrote in an Oct. 20 X post.
Cathedra Bitcoin said Bitcoin mining simply hasn’t provided enough shareholder value on a Bitcoin basis over the last three years, which prompted a change in strategy.
Canadian Bitcoin miner Cathedra Bitcoin is taking the gas pedal off its seven-year mining operation in favor of a new strategy: Buying as much Bitcoin as possible in the open market à la MicroStrategy.
In a Sept. 16 “Bitcoin Treasury Strategy Memo,” Cathedra explained its new plan will see “all capital allocation decisions” now geared toward maximizing the firm’s Bitcoin reserves on a per share basis — the “most important” metric for many of its largest shareholders.
“This represents the formalization of a policy we have always held loosely in our minds but have not always allowed to guide our decisions in a disciplined way.”
Microsoft and OpenAI face similar scrutiny as Europe and the UK seek to identify the line between investment and acquisition.
Amazon and artificial intelligence research firm Anthropic are being investigated as a de facto merger in the United Kingdom.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a formal notice on Aug. 8 announcing the inquiry’s commencement. According to documentation published on the UK government website, this marks the beginning of a “phase 1” investigation.
As Cointelegraph previously reported, UK authorities announced they were conducting preliminary investigations into partnerships between Amazon and Anthropic, Microsoft and Mistral AI, and Microsoft and OpenAI to determine whether any of the relationships had run afoul of EU regulations.
Fold Inc., a bitcoin financial services firm, is set to go public through a merger with FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, will see Fold listed on Nasdaq under a new ticker symbol. Fold to Go Public Through Merger with […]
Expanding the number of Bitcoin machines or facilities “makes no sense” if profitability margins don’t increase, TeraWulf’s Kerri Langlais stressed.
Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm TeraWulf says it would consider a merger if there’s an opportunity to widen profit margins—but not if it’s merely for “empire building,” according to its chief strategist.
It comes amid expectations of more mergers and acquisition offers in the mining sector following the latest Bitcoin halving.
“We will certainly consider inorganic growth opportunities through M&A [but] expanding merely for growth’s sake, or ‘empire building,’ without considering profitability makes no sense,” explained Kerri Langlais, TeraWulf’s chief strategy officer in an interview with Cointelegraph.
In a significant expansion move, Cleanspark, a leading U.S. bitcoin mining company, has announced the acquisition of its rival firm Griid for $155 million. This strategic all-stock transaction aims to enhance Cleanspark’s mining capacity, particularly in the aftermath of Bitcoin’s fourth halving event which has increased the pressure on mining profitability. Cleanspark Acquires Griid in […]
It adds to a prior agreement in which Riot bought 33,280 miners from MicroBT. The term sheet was also updated, allowing Riot to buy another 265,000 miners in the future.
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms is buying 66,560 Bitcoin mining rigs from manufacturer MicroBT, in one of its largest orders of hash-rate in the firm’s history — ahead of the Bitcoin halving scheduled for April 2024.
The additional purchase agreement totaled $290.5 million, Riot stated in a Dec.
$Riot Exercises Purchase Option on 18 EH/s of Latest Generation Immersion Miners from MicroBT, and Secures Additional Purchase Options Providing a Path to Exceed 100 EH/s.
(@RiotPlatforms) December 4, 2023
- Riot places order for 18 EH/s of latest generation MicroBT Bitcoin miners, primarily consisting of the… pic.twitter.com/tEEudV6Z8n
The right-to-purchase option was included in Riot’s initial agreement with MicroBT when it agreed to buy 33,280 machines from MicroBT in June.
Riot’s CEO Jason Les said the purchase order is “the largest order of hash rate” in the company’s history and hopes the updated agreement will enable Riot’s mining performance to strengthen further.
Over 48,000 or 72% of the new machines will be MicroBT’s latest model, the M66S, which has a hash rate of 250 terahashes per second (TH/s), while the remaining machines will consist of the M66 (14,770) and M56S++ (3,720) models, Riot noted.
Altogether, the 66,560 miners will add 18 exahashes per second (EH/s) to Riot’s operations.
Circle initially agreed to go public as part of a $4.5 billion merger in July 2021 but that deal fizzled out.
USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle is contemplating an initial public offering (IPO) in early 2024, according to Bloomberg.
A Nov. 7 Bloomberg report citing people with knowledge of the matter said the stablecoin issuer is talking to its advisers about the move but there’s no certainty the deliberations will result in a public listing.
Circle first agreed to go public in a $4.5 billion merger with Concord Acquisition in July 2021 but that deal fell through.
“Becoming a U.S.-listed public company has long been part of Circle’s strategic aspirations,” a Circle representative told Bloomberg.
Circle remains tight-lipped on the details. “We don’t comment on rumors,” the representatives added.
A potential IPO would see the now-privately owned Circle publicly offer shares for the first time.
Related: Moody’s unveils service that uses AI to predict stablecoin depeggings
Circle was valued at $9 billion in February 2022 after the firm revised its merger deal with Concord. However, USDC’s market cap has fallen 56% from its $55.9 billion peak in June 2022 to $24.6 billion.
Our Chief Economist @gordonliao & his co-authors were honored at #DCFintechWeek for their research showing how stablecoin use for speculative crypto trading has dropped 90% since 2019. More evidence that $USDC utility era is here. Kudos! https://t.co/XTjxc4Sdjr
— Circle (@circle) November 7, 2023
Circle has received investment from financial services firms BlackRock, Fidelity Management, Goldman Sachs, General Catalyst Partners and Marshall Wace.
USDC temporarily depegged from the United States dollar in March due to its $3.3 billion exposure to the now-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank. It bottomed at $0.87 on March 11 before bouncing back to $1 on March 14, according to CoinGecko.
Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom
The Supreme Court of British Columbia has given Hut 8 final clearance to complete proposed merger with USBTC.
Canadian Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 is set to wrap up its planned merger with US Bitcoin (USBTC) following final approval from the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Hut8 and USBTC had announced the move in February 2023 which was subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. The merger will see Hut 8 and USBTC form Hut 8 Corporation, or “New Hut”, which will become a publicly traded United States-based business.
An initial announcement from Hut 8 highlighted that the merger would open up 825 megawatts of capacity across six different Bitcoin mining and data center facilities.
While the Supreme Court of British Columbia has issued a final order approving the merger, the closing of the deal is subject to a handful of outstanding requirements, including the approval of USBTC shareholders.
Hut 8 anticipates that the final transaction confirming the merger and creation of New Hut is expected to take place before the end of 2023.
Related: Hut 8 CEO weighs in on the bull and bear markets from a mining perspective
New Hut also plans to list its shares on both the Nasdaq and Toronot stock exchanges, trading under the ticker $HUT. Shareholders will also need to complete and submit transmittal letters in order to receive shares of New Hut common stock once the merger is complete.
Hut 8 recently moved some 6,400 ASIC mining rigs from its inactive North Bay facility in Ontario to the U.S state of Texas as it looks to serve increased demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing.
The redeployment of hardware from the site was largely necessitated by an ongoing legal dispute between Hut 8 and third-party energy supplier Validus Power over alleged failure to meet contractual obligations. Operations at the mining facility have been suspended since November 2022.
Digital Currency Group’s institutional mining and staking subsidiary Foundry Digital also announced a formal partnership with Hut 8 in August 2023. The deal will see Hut 8 support a number of business offerings for Foundry using its Ontario-based data centre. Foundry has been using Hut 8 infrastructure to support its cryptocurrency mining pool since 2020.
Magazine: Are DAOs overhyped and unworkable? Lessons from the front lines
Falling crypto prices have forced many crypto miners to cut costs or consolidate in order to survive the crypto winter.
Crypto exchange FTX’s collapse and overall crypto market turmoil were not key factors in the decision to merge crypto mining firm Hut 8 with US Bitcoin Corp., according to Hut 8 CEO Jamie Leverton.
On Feb. 8, Leverton said that the merger was mainly about providing diversified revenue and helping scale the combined businesses, stating:
“I think this deal would have happened regardless. The ability for us to bring these businesses together we think is so incredibly complementary.”
The all-stock merger was announced on Feb. 7 with the combined company, now called Hut 8 Corp or “New Hut,” to be based primarily in the United States rather than Canada.
Regarding the FTX collapse in November, Leverton said that fears were “starting to subside a little bit,” and interest was returning to the crypto industry.
She added, “I think we're seeing a lot of interest come back into this space, we've seen significant appreciation across the space so far in 2023.”
Merging the two mining firms is “going to provide an incredible amount of scale,” she continued, adding that there will be “diversified revenue programs,” which is a good strategy for both companies independently.
New Hut will reportedly have access to around 825 megawatts across six facilities in New York, Texas, and Alberta province in Canada. Its total combined mining capacity will be 5.6 exahashes per second (EH/s).
Commenting on the choice of location, Leverton said that it was in the best interest of the business to have “diversified geographies,” adding:
“One of the advantages here is [that the merger is] giving us that geographic diversification. There's uncertainty in regulatory environments on both sides of the border,”
Hut 8 has a mining facility in North Bay, Ontario, however, operations have been suspended due to an ongoing court battle with its energy supplier.
US Bitcoin’s Niagara facility has issues of its own with an ongoing dispute with the City of Niagara Falls over complaints by residents regarding noise levels.
The firm provided more details on the merger in a presentation on Feb. 8. The transaction is expected to close in Q2, 2023, and is subject to shareholder, regulatory, and stock exchange approvals.
For more information on our proposed strategic merger with USBTC, please see our presentation, here: https://t.co/Wg1shII9ei pic.twitter.com/1TjHAYTTiw
— Hut 8 (@Hut8Mining) February 8, 2023
Earlier this week, Leverton said that during the interim period, the firm plans to cover its operating costs through a combination of selling the Bitcoin it mines, and exploring various debt options.
Related: Bitcoin miner Hut 8 takes stoush with Ontario power supplier to court
Hut 8 stock slumped 8% on the day the merger was announced. Furthermore, according to MarketWatch, Hut shares had fallen 1.2% on the day to $2.12 in after-hours trading. The stock is currently trading 86% down from its November 2021 all-time high of $15.28.
