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Bitcoin miner Hut 8 takes stoush with Ontario power supplier to court

January 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

The lawsuit escalates a months-long dispute between the crypto miner and one of its energy suppliers in Canada.

Canada-based Bitcoin (BTC) miner Hut 8 Mining Corporation has ramped up its ongoing fight with its power supplier for one of its mining sites, filing a lawsuit in a Canadian court.

Hut 8 said on Jan. 26 it filed a Statement of Claim in the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario against Validus Power, an energy supplier for a Hut 8 mining facility in North Bay, Ontario.

The firms have been in an ongoing dispute since early November 2022 due to what Hut 8 alleges is a failure by Validus to “meet its contractual obligations” for the power purchase agreement (PPA).

In its new lawsuit, Hut 8 is seeking “monetary damages incurred as a result of the dispute” and enforcement of certain provisions as per the agreement signed by the two companies.

Hut 8 and Validus started working together in late 2021 with Validus initially providing 35 megawatts (MW) of power to North Bay, but was slated to provide around 100 MW by the end of 2021.

*A June 2022 photo from the North Bay facility showing multiple ASIC crypto miners. Source:* *Hut 8*

On Nov. 9, 2022, Hut 8 issued a notice of default to Validus alleging it failed to achieve milestones by the dates outlined in the PPA and claimed the firm demanded Hut 8 pay for energy that was at a higher price than that under the terms of the agreement.

An update from Hut 8 later that month revealed Validus suspended the delivery of energy to its North Bay site. Validus fired back with its own default notice alleging Hut 8 failed to pay for its power charges — a claim Hut 8 denies.

We’re in North Bay today touring ⁦@Hut8Mining⁩’s 3rd mining site, with ⁦@PowerValidus⁩ #btc #canada pic.twitter.com/3BWNQm0Sft
— Hut 8 (@Hut8Mining) October 25, 2021

To this date, operations at the site remain suspended. Hut 8 said it’s exploring alternatives to mitigate the impact of the dispute including through “organic and inorganic growth opportunities.”

Before it was taken offline, the North Bay site had 8,800 crypto mining rigs and a hash rate capacity of 0.84 exahashes per second (EH/s), accounting for over one-fourth of its total production capacity, according to a December 2022 investor deck.

Cointelegraph contacted Validus and Hut 8 for comment but did not receive an immediate response from either firm.

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Canadian regulator takes enforcement actions against Bybit and Kucoin

June 22, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bybit

"Bybit responded to the OSC’s enforcement action, maintained an open dialogue, provided requested information, and committed to engaging in registration discussions," said the OSC.

The Ontario Securities Commission, or OSC, issued financial penalties against Bybit and Kucoin, claiming violations of securities laws and operating unregistered crypto asset trading platforms.

In a Wednesday announcement, the Ontario regulator said it had obtained orders fining Kucoin more than $1.6 million and banning the exchange from participating in the province’s capital markets. In a separate decision, the OSC announced that Bybit had disgorged roughly $2.4 million and paid the regulator $7,724 as part of the costs of its investigation. Both firms allegedly failed to comply with Ontario securities laws, but only Bybit “responded to the OSC’s enforcement action, maintained an open dialogue, provided requested information, and committed to engaging in registration discussions.”

“Foreign crypto asset trading platforms that want to operate in Ontario must play by the rules or face enforcement action,” said OSC enforcement director Jeff Kehoe.

OSC holds global crypto asset trading platforms accountable: https://t.co/TPC9mtvTRE pic.twitter.com/Nl9pGP0U3j
— OSC News (@OSC_News) June 22, 2022

The move by the regulatory body was the latest in a series of warnings and legal actions taken against crypto exchanges offering services to Ontario residents. In March 2021, the OSC issued a deadline for crypto firms operating in the province to register by April. According to the regulator, Bybit will “wind up its Ontario operations” if the firm is unable to register.

Both Bybit and Kucoin allegedly did not comply with the securities regulator, prompting hearings and other enforcement actions starting in June 2021. The OSC had already initiated regulatory actions against crypto exchanges Poloniex and OKEx for similar violations of securities laws.

As of June 1, eight companies are listed as registered crypto asset trading platforms in Ontario, including Fidelity Digital Assets, Bitvo, and Bitbuy.

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Payments Provider Clear Junction Stops Processing Payments for Binance

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Ontario Crackdown on Crypto Exchanges Continues With Binance Leaving the Province

June 27, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Binance to cease operations in Ontario following regulatory crackdown

June 26, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Binance

Ontario's crypto exchange crackdown continues as Binance plans to end operations Dec. 31, 20201.

On the tails of a warning from Japanese regulators on Friday, Binance has announced in a short statement yesterday that it will cease providing services to users located in Ontario.

“As part of our continuing compliance efforts, Binance has updated its Terms of Use to provide that Ontario (Canada) has become a restricted jurisdiction, effective 2021-06-26 at 3:59:59 AM (UTC). Regrettably, Binance can no longer continue to service Ontario-based users. Ontario-based users are advised to take immediate measures to close out all active positions by December 31, 2021,” a statement on their website reads.

Binance did not return a request for comment by publication time.

In recent weeks Ontario has emerged as one of the most aggressive cryptocurrency regulators. On April 19th, the regulator introduced new prospectus and registration requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges. Last week The Ontario Securities Commission announced it would be holding hearings regarding cryptocurrency exchange Bybit “flouting” Canadian law. Additionally, the regulator took steps against two companies associated with Kucoin earlier in the month:

“KuCoin is operating an unregistered crypto asset trading platform, encouraging Ontarians to use the platform, and allowing Ontario residents to trade crypto asset products that are securities and derivatives,” the OSC wrote.

Ontario regulators arn’t the only ones who have taken a closer look at Binance’s activities within their jurisdiction, however. On Friday, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan warned that Binance may be operating in the country without a license. The warning comes on the back of the governor of the Bank of Japan slamming Bitcoin as a “speculative asset” earlier in the year.

Japanese and Canadian Binance users worried about service ending in their countries might rest easier knowing that trading for some American users persisted for months on the main Binance site even after requests for users to migrate to Binance US. Additionally, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has admitted that Americans find “intelligent” ways to circumvent the geofence.

Ontario

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