UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
For the quarterly period ended
Or
For the transition period from ______ to ______
Commission file number:
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(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of exchange on which registered | ||
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1)
has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 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. ☒
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 during the preceding
12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
| ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ||
| Emerging growth company |
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 is a
shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). ☐ Yes
The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock as of April 15, 2024 was shares.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE — NONE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Part I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION | ||
| Item 1. | Financial Statements (unaudited) | 4 |
| Item 2. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 23 |
| Item 3. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk | 36 |
| Item 4. | Controls and Procedures | 36 |
| Part II – OTHER INFORMATION | ||
| Item 1. | Legal Proceedings | 37 |
| Item 1A. | Risk Factors | 37 |
| Item 2. | Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds | 39 |
| Item 3. | Defaults Upon Senior Securities | 39 |
| Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures | 39 |
| Item 5. | Other Information | 39 |
| Item 6. | Exhibits | 40 |
| SIGNATURES | 41 | |
| 2 |
PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information contained in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q contains “forward-looking statements.” All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are contained principally in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and are generally identifiable by use of the words “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “intend” or “project” or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. The forward-looking statements herein represent our expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions, or strategies concerning future events, including, but not limited to: our future financial performance; the continuation of historical trends; the sufficiency of our resources in funding our operations; our intention to engage in mergers and acquisitions; and our liquidity and capital needs. Our forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that may be incorrect, and there can be no assurance that any projections or other expectations included in any forward-looking statements will come to pass. Moreover, our forward-looking statements are subject to various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include but are not limited to:
| · | the risks of limited management, labor, and financial resources; | |
| · | our ability to establish and maintain adequate internal controls; | |
| · | our ability to develop and maintain a market in our securities; | |
| · | our ability to obtain financing, if and when needed, on acceptable terms; | |
| · | our projected financial position and estimated cash burn rate; | |
| · | the success of our digital currency mining and hosting activities; | |
| · | the volatile and unpredictable cycles in the emerging and evolving industries in which we operate, increasing difficulty rates for bitcoin mining; | |
| · | the continued trading of digital currencies, and in particular Bitcoin, at prices that make it profitable to mine new digital currencies; | |
| · | the availability of cost-efficient energy supplies available to mine digital currencies; | |
| · | bitcoin halving; | |
| · | new or additional governmental regulation; | |
| · | the anticipated delivery dates of new hosting containers and miners; | |
| · | the ability to successfully develop and deploy new hosting facilities; | |
| · | the expectations of future revenue growth may not be realized; | |
| · | ongoing demand for the Company’s services; | |
| · | the impact of global pandemics (including COVID-19) on logistics and shipping and the demand for our products and services; and | |
| · | other risks described in the Company’s prior press releases and in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent filings with the SEC. |
You should read this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the documents that we reference in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and have filed as exhibits to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q with the understanding that our actual future results, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.
As used in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q, “we”, “our”, “us” and the “Company” refer to Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation unless the context requires otherwise.
| 3 |
Item 1. Financial Statements.
Index to Financial Statements
| 4 |
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc.
Condensed Balance Sheets
| February 29, | August 31, | |||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| (Unaudited) | ||||||||
| ASSETS | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses | ||||||||
| Cryptocurrency | ||||||||
| Notes receivable - short term | ||||||||
| Notes receivable related party-short term | ||||||||
| Total current assets | ||||||||
| Notes receivable - long term | ||||||||
| Notes receivable - related party long term | ||||||||
| Investment in joint venture | ||||||||
| Fixed assets, net | ||||||||
| Fixed assets - not in service | ||||||||
| Total assets | $ | $ | ||||||
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | $ | $ | ||||||
| Accrued interest - related party | ||||||||
| Loans payable - related party | ||||||||
| Bitcoin loan | ||||||||
| Derivative liability | ||||||||
| Deferred revenue - short-term | ||||||||
| Total current liabilities | ||||||||
| Deferred revenue long-term | ||||||||
| Total liabilities | ||||||||
| Commitments and contingencies | ||||||||
| Stockholders' Equity: | ||||||||
| Series A Preferred Stock, $ par value, shares authorized, and shares issued and outstanding as of February 29, 2024 and August 31, 2023, respectively | ||||||||
| Common stock, $ par value, shares authorized; and shares issued and outstanding as of February 29, 2024 and August 31, 2023 respectively | ||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Total stockholders' equity | ||||||||
| Total liabilities and equity | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
| 5 |
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc.
Condensed Statements of Operations
(Unaudited)
| Three months | Three months | Six months | Six months | |||||||||||||
| ended | ended | ended | ended | |||||||||||||
| February 29, | February 28, | February 29, | February 28, | |||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||
| Revenue from the sale of mining equipment | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Revenue from hosting | ||||||||||||||||
| Revenue from self-mining | ||||||||||||||||
| Total revenue | ||||||||||||||||
| Cost of sales mining equipment | ||||||||||||||||
| Cost of sales self-mining | ||||||||||||||||
| Cost of sales hosting | ||||||||||||||||
| Gross profit (loss) | ||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | ||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation | ||||||||||||||||
| Professional fees | ||||||||||||||||
| Related party compensation | ||||||||||||||||
| Impairment of fixed assets | ||||||||||||||||
| Realized gain from the sale of bitcoin | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||
| Impairment of cryptocurrency | ||||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | ||||||||||||||||
| Income(loss) from operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||
| Other income (expense) | ||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||
| Loss on the extinguishment of debt | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||
| Loss on investment | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||
| Change in derivative liability | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Other income | ||||||||||||||||
| Interest income | ||||||||||||||||
| Other income (expense), net | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||||
| Basic and diluted loss per common share | $ | ) | $ | ) | $ | ) | $ | ) | ||||||||
| Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding: | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted | ||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
| 6 |
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc.
Condensed Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
(Unaudited)
| Additional | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series A Preferred | Common Stock | Paid-in | Accumulated | Stockholders' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Value | Shares | Value | Capital | Deficit | Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, August 31, 2022 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for services -related party | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common shares issued for services | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | – | – | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, November 30, 2022 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for services -related party | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | – | – | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, February 28, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Additional | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series A Preferred | Common Stock | Paid-in | Accumulated | Stockholders' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Value | Shares | Value | Capital | Deficit | Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, August 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock based compensation -related parties | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | – | – | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, November 30, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock based compensation -related parties | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | – | – | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, February 29, 2024 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
| 7 |
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc.
Condensed Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited)
| Six months | Six months | |||||||
| ended | ended | |||||||
| February 29, | February 28, | |||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Cash flows from operating activities | ||||||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
| Stock based compensation | ||||||||
| Depreciation | ||||||||
| Loss on the sale of equipment | ||||||||
| Change in derivative liability | ||||||||
| Loss on investment | ||||||||
| Change in balance sheet accounts | ||||||||
| Impairment of fixed assets | ||||||||
| Cryptocurrencies | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Notes receivable | ( | ) | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses | ( | ) | ||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | ( | ) | ||||||
| Deferred revenue | ( | ) | ||||||
| Accrued interest - related party | ||||||||
| Net cash (used in) operating activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Cash flows from investing activities | ||||||||
| Return of capital on joint venture | ||||||||
| Purchase of fixed assets | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Net cash (used in) investing activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Cash flows from financing activities: | ||||||||
| Related party loans - net | ||||||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | ||||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | ( | ) | ||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | $ | $ | ||||||
| Supplemental disclosure of non-cash financing activity | ||||||||
| Proceeds received from Bitcoin loan | $ | $ | ||||||
| Repayment of bitcoin loan in bitcoin | $ | $ | ||||||
| Purchase of equipment with bitcoin | $ | $ | ||||||
| Sale of fixed assets for note receivable | $ | $ | ||||||
| Property contributed to joint venture | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
| 8 |
BITMINE IMMERSION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT POLICIES
About Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. f/k/a Sandy Springs Holdings, Inc. (“Bitmine” or the “Company”) is a Delaware corporation that commenced operations on July 16, 2020. A predecessor to the Company was incorporated in the state of Nevada on August 16, 1995, as Interactive Lighting Showrooms, Inc.
By a written consent dated July 16, 2021, holders of a majority of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock approved a resolution to appoint Jonathan Bates, Raymond Mow, Michael Maloney, and Seth Bayles to the board of directors of the Company, and to appoint Jonathan Bates as Chairman, Seth Bayles as Corporate Secretary, Raymond Mow as Chief Financial Officer, and Ryan Ramnath as Chief Operating Officer (collectively, the “New O&Ds”). Erik S. Nelson remained a director and the chief executive officer. At the same time, the shareholders approved the issuance of 32,994,999 shares of common stock in the Company’s offering of common stock at $0.015 per share, and the grant of 4,750,000 shares for services, which were valued at $0.015 per share. As a result of the foregoing stock issuances, the New O&Ds (or entities controlled by them) collectively acquired 24,893,877 shares of common stock, which represented approximately 62% of the issued and outstanding shares at the time.
The appointment of certain of the New O&Ds to the Company’s board, and issuance to the New O&Ds of a controlling interest in the Company, were made in order to enable the Company to enter the business of creating a hosting center for Bitcoin mining computers primarily utilizing immersion cooling technology, as well mining the Bitcoin digital currency for its own account. Prior to the change of control to the New O&Ds, the Company was a shell company.
During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2022, the Company began implementing its business plan by generating revenue from the mining of Bitcoin digital currency, hosting a third party Bitcoin miner and the sale of mining equipment.
The Company’s year-end is August 31st.
Basis of Presentation
The foregoing unaudited interim condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-Q and Regulation S-X as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, these condensed financial statements do not include all of the disclosures required by GAAP for complete condensed financial statements. These unaudited interim condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited condensed financial statements and the notes thereto included on Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2023. In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim condensed financial statements furnished herein include all adjustments, all of which are of a normal recurring nature, necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim period presented.
| 9 |
The preparation of condensed financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires the use of estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities known to exist as of the date the condensed financial statements are published, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Uncertainties with respect to such estimates and assumptions are inherent in the preparation of the Company’s condensed financial statements; accordingly, it is possible that the actual results could differ from these estimates and assumptions that could have a material effect on the reported amounts of the Company’s financial position and results of operations.
Operating results for the six months ended February 29, 2024, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending August 31, 2024.
Management’s Representation of Interim Condensed Financial Statements
The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared by the Company without audit pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Company uses the same accounting policies in preparing quarterly and annual condensed financial statements. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in condensed financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted as allowed by such rules and regulations, and management believes that the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. These condensed financial statements include all of the adjustments, which in the opinion of management are necessary to a fair presentation of financial position and results of operations. All such adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of condensed financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed financial statements. The most significant estimates relate to the calculation of stock-based compensation, calculation of the Company’s derivative liability, useful lives and impairment of fixed assets, income taxes and contingencies. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience, known or expected trends, and various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable given the quality of information available as of the date of these condensed financial statements. The results of these assumptions provide the basis for making estimates about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could differ from these estimates. There have been no material changes to the Company’s accounting estimates since the Company’s condensed financial statements for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2023.
Segment Reporting
The Company operates in one segment - the cryptocurrency mining industry. In accordance with the “Segment Reporting” Topic of the ASC, the Company’s chief operating decision maker has been identified as the Chief Executive Officer and President, who reviews operating results to make decisions about allocating resources and assessing performance for the entire Company. All material Company operations qualify for aggregation due to their similar customer base and similarities in economic characteristics, nature of products and services, and procurement, manufacturing and distribution processes.
| 10 |
Revenue Recognition
On July 1, 2018, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018, are presented under ASC 606.
Revenues from digital currency mining
The Company recognizes revenue under ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The core principle of the revenue standard is that a company should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The following five steps are applied to achieve that core principle:
| · | Step 1: Identify the contract with the customer; | |
| · | Step 2: Identify the performance obligations in the contract; | |
| · | Step 3: Determine the transaction price; | |
| · | Step 4: Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and | |
| · | Step 5: Recognize revenue when the Company satisfies a performance obligation. |
Step 1: The Company enters into a contract with a bitcoin mining pool operator (i.e., the customer) to provide hash calculation services to the mining pools. The Company only utilizes pool operators that determine awards under the Full Pay-Per-Share method. The contracts are terminable at any time by either party without penalty and the Company’s enforceable right to compensation only begins when the Company starts providing hash calculation services to the mining pool operator (which occurs daily at midnight Universal Time Coordinated (UTC)). Mining revenue generally consists of two parts, (1) the block reward (current bitcoin block reward is 6.25 bitcoin) paid by the network to the miner and (2) the transaction fees paid by the users to the miner. When a mining pool successfully finds a block, it is awarded all of the transaction fees in that block and the reward from the network. In exchange for providing hash calculation services to the pool, the Company is entitled to an award of bitcoin equal to the expected reward per block over the measurement period of midnight-to-midnight UTC time. The Company is also entitled to an aware of transaction fees per block based on the average of the transaction fees over the latest 144 blocks, each of which is about 10 minutes, and the total of 144 blocks equals one day. At the end of each day that runs from midnight-to-midnight UTC time, the pool operator calculates the pool participant’s expected block reward and transaction fees for the day based on the hash calculation services provided by the pool participant that day, less net digital asset fees due to the mining pool operator over the measurement period. Applying the criteria per ASC 606-10-25-1, the contract arises at the point that the Company provides hash calculation services to the mining pool operator, which is the beginning of each contract day at midnight UTC (contract inception), because customer consumption is in tandem with daily delivery of the hash calculation services. Providing hash calculation services to mining pools is an output of our ordinary activities, and an enforceable right to compensation begins when, and continues as long as, such services are provided.
Step 2: In order to identify the performance obligations in a contract with a customer, a company must assess the promised goods or services in the contract and identify each promised good or service that is distinct. A performance obligation meets ASC 606’s definition of a “distinct” good or service (or bundle of goods or services) if both of the following criteria are met:
| · | The customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available to the customer (i.e., the good or service is capable of being distinct); and | |
| · | The entity’s promise to transfer the good or service to the customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract (i.e., the promise to transfer the good or service is distinct within the context of the contract). |
| 11 |
Based on these criteria, the Company has a single performance obligation in providing hash calculation services (i.e., hashrate) to the mining pool operator (i.e., customer). The performance obligation of hash calculation services is fulfilled daily over-time, as opposed to a point in time, because the Company provides the hashrate throughout the day and the customer simultaneously obtains control of it and uses the asset to produce bitcoin. The Company has full control of the mining equipment utilized in the mining pool and if the Company determines it will increase or decrease the processing power of its machines and/or fleet (i.e., for repairs or when power costs are excessive) the hash calculation services provided to the customer will be reduced.
Step 3: The transaction consideration the Company earns is non-cash digital consideration in the form of bitcoin, which the Company measures at fair value on the date earned at the daily closing price, which is not materially different from the fair value at contract inception, which is the daily opening price. According to the customer contract, daily earnings are calculated from midnight-to-midnight UTC time, and the sub-account balance is credited to the Company’s account shortly thereafter.
The transaction consideration the Company earns is all variable since it is dependent on the daily hash calculation services provided by the Company, as well as other factors outside the control of the Company, such as the difficulty index of the bitcoin network. The Company’s bitcoins earned through the contractual payout formula is not known until the Company’s computational hashrate contributed over the daily measurement period is fulfilled over-time daily between midnight-to-midnight UTC time. The Company’s expected amount of the global network transaction fee rewards earned are calculated at the end of each transactional day (midnight to midnight UTC time). There are no other forms of variable considerations, such as discounts, rebates, refunds, credits, price concessions, incentives, performance bonuses, penalties, or other similar items.
The Company fully constrains all variable consideration as a result of ASC 606-10-32-11 and 12 because the amount of consideration is highly susceptible to factors outside of our control as defined by the Company’s customer’s payout methodology. The variable consideration is constrained until the Company receives confirmation of the amount, usually via settlement of the fractional share of block reward and transaction fee in the Company’s digital wallet (i.e., at that point, the variability is resolved and there is no longer the reasonable possibility of significant reversal of revenue). Before settlement occurs, estimation of the variable consideration to which the Company is entitled, which depends on inputs unknowable to the Company, carries the risk of a significant revenue reversal from mis-estimation. Settlement of consideration typically occurs within 24 hours after the end of each day.
Step 4: The transaction price is allocated to the single performance obligation upon verification for the provision of hash calculation services to the mining pool operator. There is a single performance obligation (i.e., hash calculation services or hashrate) for the contract; therefore, all consideration from the mining pool operator is allocated to this single performance obligation.
Step 5: The Company’s performance is complete in transferring the hash calculation services over-time (midnight to midnight UTC) to the customer and the customer obtains control of that asset.
In exchange for providing hash calculation services, the Company is entitled to the expected bitcoin awards earned over the measurement period, plus the expected global transaction fee rewards for the respective measurement period, less net digital asset fees due to the mining pool operator over the measurement period. The transaction consideration the Company receives is non-cash consideration, in the form of bitcoin. The Company measures the bitcoin at the closing U.S. dollar spot rate at the end of the date earned (midnight UTC). However, this accounting convention does not result in materially different revenue recognition from using the fair value of the bitcoin earned at contract inception and has been consistently applied in all periods presented.
There are no deferred revenues or other liability obligations recorded by the Company since there are no payments in advance of the performance. At the end of the 24 hour “midnight-to-midnight” period, there are no remaining performance obligations.
| 12 |
During the six months ending February 29, 2024, the Company utilized one mining pool for its self-mining operations, which charges 0.3% of the bitcoin payable to the Company as a pool management fee.
During the three and six months ending February 29,
2024, the Company generated $
Revenues from Hosting
The Company provides energized space to customers who locate their equipment within the Company’s co-hosting facility. The equipment generating the hosting revenue is owned by the customer. The Company gives hosting customers the option of having all mining proceeds paid into a cold wallet address in the Company’s name, which case the Company pays the hosting client its share of mining awards on a daily basis, or having all mining awards sent to an account of the customer, in which case the Company bills the customer monthly for any hosting fee that is contingent on the amount of the client’s award. All performance obligations are achieved simultaneously by providing the hosting environment for the customers’ operations. Hosting revenues consist of amounts billed in U.S. dollars for electricity and other fees, and a percentage of cryptocurrency generated by the client’s hosting activities. With regard to hosting revenues that are billed in U.S. dollars, revenues are recorded at the time of invoicing. With regard to hosting revenues that are based on a percentage of cryptocurrency generated by the customer, revenues are recorded based on the Company’s share of cryptocurrency received from the mining pool on the date of receipt or invoicing.
During the three and six months ending February
29, 2024, the Company generated $
Revenues from the sale of mining equipment
The Company records revenue from the resale of
mining equipment it has purchased. Revenue for the sale of mining equipment is recognized under the guidelines of ASC 606. During
the three and six months ending February 29, 2024, the Company generated $
Cash and cash equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid temporary
cash investments with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. On February 29, 2024, and August 31, 2023,
respectively, the Company’s cash equivalents totaled $
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrencies held are accounted for as
intangible assets with indefinite useful lives. An intangible asset with an indefinite useful life is not amortized but assessed for
impairment quarterly, when events or changes in circumstances occur indicating that it is more likely than not that the
indefinite-lived asset is impaired. Impairment exists when the carrying amount exceeds its fair value, which is measured using the
quoted price of the cryptocurrency at the time its fair value is being measured. In testing for impairment, the Company has the
option to first perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that an impairment exists. If it is
determined that it is not more likely than not that an impairment exists, a quantitative impairment test is not necessary. If the
Company concludes otherwise, it is required to perform a quantitative impairment test. To the extent an impairment loss is
recognized, the loss establishes the new cost basis of the asset. Subsequent reversal of impairment losses, if the price of
cryptocurrency increases, is not permitted. During the three and six months ending February 29, 2024, the Company realized gains of
$
| 13 |
Cryptocurrency earned by the Company through its mining activities are included within operating activities on the accompanying consolidated statements of cash flows. The sales of digital currencies are included within investing activities in the accompanying consolidated statements of cash flows and any realized gains or losses from such sales are included in other income (expense) in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss). The Company accounts for its gains or losses in accordance with the moving weighted average method of accounting.
The Company holds its cryptocurrencies in an account at Bitgo Trust (“Bitgo”), a well-known Bitcoin custodian, which it also uses to liquidate its Bitcoin when necessary. The Company also has an account with Gemini Trust Company, LLC, which is a qualified custodian regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services as a backup facility, and may hold Bitcoin from time to time in a cold storage wallet. The Company uses Bitgo’s multi-signature feature for account access.
Income taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Accounting for Income Taxes”. Under FASB ASC 740, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. Under FASB ASC 740, the effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. FASB ASC 740-10-05, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes” prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The amount recognized is measured as the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50 percent likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The Company assesses the validity of its conclusions regarding uncertain tax positions quarterly to determine if facts or circumstances have arisen that might cause it to change its judgment regarding the likelihood of a tax position’s sustainability under audit.
Stock-based Compensation
The Company accounts for stock-based compensation using the fair value method following the guidance outlined in Section 718-10 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification for disclosure about Stock-Based Compensation. This section requires a public entity to measure the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award (with limited exceptions). That cost will be recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award- the requisite service period (usually the vesting period). No compensation cost is recognized for equity instruments for which employees do not render the requisite service.
Net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average common shares outstanding during the period as defined by Financial Accounting Standards, ASC Topic 260, “Earnings per Share.” Basic earnings per common share (“EPS”) calculations are determined by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per common share calculations are determined by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares and dilutive common share equivalents outstanding.
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Stock Purchase Warrants
The Company accounts for warrants issued to purchase shares of its common stock as equity in accordance with FASB ASC 480, Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments Indexed to, and Potentially Settled in, a Company’s Own Stock, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity. We determine the accounting classification of warrants we issue, as either liability or equity classified, by first assessing whether the warrants meet liability classification in accordance with ASC 480-10, Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity, then in accordance with ASC 815-40, Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments Indexed to, and Potentially Settled in, a Company’s Own Stock. Under ASC 480, warrants are considered liability classified if the warrants are mandatorily redeemable, obligate us to settle the warrants or the underlying shares by paying cash or other assets, and warrants that must or may require settlement by issuing variable number of shares. If warrants do not meet the liability classification under ASC 480-10, we assess the requirements under ASC 815-40, which states that contracts that require or may require the issuer to settle the contract for cash are liabilities recorded at fair value, irrespective of the likelihood of the transaction occurring that triggers the net cash settlement feature.
If the warrants do not require liability classification under ASC 815-40, in order to conclude equity classification, we also assess whether the warrants are indexed to our common stock and whether the warrants are classified as equity under ASC 815-40 or other GAAP. After all such assessments, we conclude whether the warrants are classified as liability or equity. Liability classified warrants require fair value accounting at issuance and subsequent to initial issuance with all changes in fair value after the issuance date recorded in the statements of operations. Equity classified warrants only require fair value accounting at issuance with no changes recognized subsequent to the issuance date. We do not have any liability classified warrants as of any period presented.
Property and equipment
Property and equipment are stated at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Estimated useful lives for leasehold improvements are typically the lesser of the estimated useful life of the asset or the life of the term of the lease. The estimated useful lives for all other property and equipment are as follows:
| Life (Years) | ||||
| Miners and mining equipment | ||||
| Machinery and equipment | ||||
| Office and computer equipment |
No depreciation is recorded on an asset until it is
placed in service. Due to the nature of the equipment, it can only be placed in service when the hosting site is properly configured to
turn on the machines. As of February 29, 2024, and August 31, 2023, the Company had $
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which establishes a new lease accounting model for lessees. The updated guidance requires an entity to recognize assets and liabilities arising from financing and operating leases, along with additional qualitative and quantitative disclosures. The amended guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. In March 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-01, Codification Improvements, which clarifies certain aspects of the new lease standard. The FASB issued ASU 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases in July 2018. Also in 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842) Targeted Improvements, which provides an optional transition method whereby the new lease standard is applied at the adoption date and recognized as an adjustment to retained earnings. The amendments have the same effective date and transition requirements as the new lease standard.
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We adopted ASC 842 on July 16, 2020. The adoption of this guidance did not have any impact on our condensed financial statements.
In March 2022, the SEC staff released Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (“SAB 121”), which requires entities that hold crypto assets on behalf of platform users to recognize a liability to reflect the entity’s obligation to safeguard the crypto assets held for its platform users, whether directly or through an agent or another third party acting on its behalf, along with a corresponding safeguarding asset. Both the liability and corresponding safeguarding asset shall be measured at fair value. SAB 121 also requires disclosure of the nature and amount of crypto assets being safeguarded, how the fair value is determined, an entity’s accounting policy for safeguarding liabilities and corresponding safeguarding assets, and may require disclosure of other information about risks and uncertainties arising from the entity’s safeguarding activities. The Company is not in the business of holding its customer’s crypto assets for safekeeping. For crypto assets that are not maintained on our platform and for which the Company does not maintain a private key or the ability to recover a customer’s private key, these balances are not recorded, as there is no related safeguarding obligation in accordance with SAB 121. This guidance is effective from the first interim period after June 15, 2022 and should be applied retrospectively. We adopted SAB 121 during the three months ended August 31, 2023, and it did not have any impact on our condensed financial statements.
NOTE 2 – CRYPTOCURRENCIES
The following table presents additional dollar and unit information (each bitcoin represents one unit) about the Company’s bitcoin activity for the six months ended February 29, 2024:
| Beginning balance – August 31, 2023 | $ | |||||||
| Revenue received from mining and hosting | 1,212,729 | |||||||
| Loan proceeds received in cryptocurrency | 527,506 | |||||||
| Purchase of equipment with cryptocurrency | (339,525 | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Payments of loan with cryptocurrency | (705,363 | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Cash proceeds from the sale of cryptocurrency, net of fees | (783,257 | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Cryptocurrency used to pay expenses and to purchase equipment | (106,417 | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Realized gain from the sale of bitcoin | 76,591 | |||||||
| Ending balance – February 29, 2024 | $ |
NOTE 3 – REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS
The following table presents the Company’s revenues disaggregated into categories based on the nature of such revenues:
| Six Months Ended February 29, | ||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Revenues from the sale of mining equipment - net | $ | $ | ||||||
| Revenue from hosting, net | ||||||||
| Revenue from self-mining | ||||||||
| Total revenue | $ | $ | ||||||
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NOTE 4 – PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
The following table sets forth the components of the Company’s property and equipment at February 29, 2024 and August 31, 2023:
| February 29, 2024 | August 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost | Accumulated Depreciation | Net Book Value | Cost | Accumulated Depreciation | Net Book Value | |||||||||||||||||||
| Equipment | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Equipment not in service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total fixed assets | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||
Equipment not in service as of February 29, 2024 was comprised of the following:
| Transformers | $ | |||
| Immersion containers and fluid | ||||
| Total | $ | |||
For the six months ended February 29, 2024 and 2023,
the Company recorded $
Of equipment not in service at August 31, 2023, during the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company:
| · | placed $ | |
| · | placed $ | |
| · | sold 100 S19 Pro+/117/220 to Luxor for $ |
On October 4, 2023, the Company purchased
As of February 29, 2024 the equipment not in service was solely comprised of 4 immersion containers, immersion fluid and 14 transformers.
NOTE 5 – INVESTMENTS AND NOTES RECEIVABLE
Policy on Doubtful Accounts
We evaluate notes receivable for impairment under the guidelines of ASC 310-10-35-41. We establish an allowance for doubtful accounts when we determine that collectability of the note is in question.
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Investment
In October 2022, we entered into a joint venture arrangement
with ROC Digital Mining to jointly develop and operate a Bitcoin mining operation in Pecos, Texas. Under the joint venture, we contributed
one immersion container, six transformers and cash with a value of $
As of February 29, 2024 the joint venture arrangement
was classified as a long term asset on the Company’s balance sheet with a value of $
Notes Receivable
Notes receivable consist of notes received as partial consideration for the sale of mining equipment, and are collateralized by the mining equipment that was the subject of the sale. As of February 29, 2024 and August 31, 2023, notes receivable consist of the following:
| As of February 29, 2024 | As of August 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Note receivable with an amended principal amount of $ | $ | $ | ||||||
| Note receivable in original principal amount of $ | ||||||||
| Total | ||||||||
| Less: Non-current portion | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Notes receivable – short-term | $ | $ | ||||||
As of February 29, 2024 and August 31, 2023 the balance
of notes receivable was $ and $
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NOTE 6 – RELATED PARTY LOANS PAYABLE
On October 19, 2022, the Company entered into a Line
of Credit Agreement (the “2022 LOC Agreement”) with Innovative Digital Investors Emerging Technology, L.P. (“IDI), a
limited partnership controlled by Jonathan Bates, the Company’s Chairman, and Raymond Mow, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer
and a Director. The 2022 LOC Agreement provided for loans of up to $
Effective May 13, 2023, the Company and IDI amended
the 2022 LOC Agreement to increase the amount that the Company may borrow thereunder to $1,750,000, extended the date by which the Company
could borrow funds thereunder to December 1, 2023, and extended the maturity date to December 1, 2024. Simultaneous with the extension,
the Company borrowed an additional $500,000, primarily to fund the purchase of ASIC miners. As of February 29, 2024, the amount of principal
and interest due to related party was $
NOTE 7 – BITCOIN LOAN AND DERIVATIVE LIABILITY
On October 4, 2023, the Company purchased
The remaining purchase price of $339,525 was financed
via a forward sale of future Bitcoin production with Luxor via a hashrate derivatives contract (“Luxor Bitcoin Financing”,
or “LBF”). Under the terms of the LBF, on October 4, 2023 the Company received 18.97542 Bitcoin valued at $27,799.39, each
or a total of $527,505.19 in Bitcoin. In return the Company agreed to pay back Luxor 20.78946 Bitcoin in daily increments from bitcoin
production generated by the 1,050 ASIC miners. The Bitcoin loan is due no later than April 1, 2024 and cannot be repaid in cash. The repayment
must be in Bitcoin. As of February 29, 2024 the Company had repaid 17.4160392 Bitcoin and recorded a loss of $
| Price of Bitcoin on February 29, 2024 | $ | |||
| Volatility | ||||
| Term in days | ||||
| Dividend rate | ||||
| Treasury bill rate |
Derivative liability calculation using the variables
above was $
On February 29, 2024 the Company had a Bitcoin loan
balance due of $
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NOTE 8 – STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Stockholders’ Equity
The Company is authorized to issue shares of Common Stock with a par value of $ per share, and shares of preferred stock with a par value of $ per share. As of February 29, 2024, and August 31, 2023, there were and shares of common stock outstanding, respectively.
Series A Convertible Preferred Stock
As of February 29, 2024 and August 31, 2023, our board of directors had authorized the issuance of one series of preferred stock, the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series A Preferred”), for shares, of which shares had been issued. The Series A Preferred has the following rights:
Dividends: Each share of Series A Preferred is entitled to receive non-cumulative dividends equal to the amount of dividends that the holder of such share would have received if such share of Series A Preferred were converted into shares of common stock immediately prior to the record date of the dividend declared on the common stock.
Liquidation Preference: The Series
A Preferred Stock is entitled to receive, prior to any distribution to any junior class of securities, an amount equal to $
Voting Rights: Each holder of Series A Preferred Stock shall vote with holders of the common stock upon any matter submitted to a vote of shareholders, in which event it shall have the number of votes equal to the number of shares of common stock into which such share of Series A Preferred Stock would be convertible on the record date for the vote or consent of shareholders. Each holder of Series A Preferred Stock shall also be entitled to one vote per share on each submitted to a class vote of the holders of Series A Preferred Stock.
Directors: The Series A Preferred Stock has the exclusive right to nominate and vote on two (2) members of the board of directors.
Voluntary Conversion Rights: Each
share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into that number of shares of common stock equal to the liquidation preference of the
Series A Preferred divided by a conversion price of $
Rank: The Series A Preferred ranks senior to the common stock and any other class or series of preferred stock that may be authorized.
Redemption by Company: The Company may redeem all of the Series A Preferred at any time on twenty days notice by payment of the liquidation preference of the Series A Preferred.
Redemption by the Holders: Any holder
of Series A Preferred may request that some or all of its Series A Preferred be redeemed to the extent of
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Redemption on Fundamental Transaction: In the event the Company engages in a fundamental transaction, a majority of the holders of Series A Preferred may require the Company to redeem all of the Series A Preferred at the closing of the transaction.
Right to Participate in Future Fundings: Each holder of Series A Preferred has the right to participate in future capital raising transactions to the extent of its proportionate ownership of the Company on an as converted basis. The right extents to any issuance of common or preferred stock or debt securities convertible into common or preferred stock, except for certain exempted transactions.
Anti-Dilution Protection: The conversion price of the Series A Preferred is subject to reduction to the extent the company issues shares of common stock at a purchase price less than the then current conversion price, (ii) debt or equity securities convertible into common stock at a conversion price less than the then current conversion price, (iii) options or warrants exercisable for common stock at an exercise price less than the then current conversion price, or (iv) options or warrants to purchase convertible debt or equity securities, where the combined exercise and conversion prices would enable the holder to acquire shares of common stock for less than the then current conversion price.
Issuance of Shares
During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company issued the following shares:
| · | shares were issued to an officer pursuant to the terms of his employment contract, which entitle the officer to a quarterly bonus payable in shares of common stock. The shares were valued at $, or $0.44 per share, based on the value indicated by the Company’s recently completed Unit Offering. The bonus shares vest on January 15, 2027 if the officer is still employed with us on that date, and are amortized from the date of issuance to January 15, 2027. | |
| · | shares were issued to an officer pursuant to the terms of his employment contract, which entitle the officer to a quarterly bonus payable in shares of common stock. The shares were valued at $ or $0.44 per share, based on the value indicated by the Company’s recently completed Unit Offering. The bonus shares vest on January 15, 2027 if the officer is still employed with us on that date, and are amortized from the date of issuance to January 15, 2027. |
The Company estimates the fair value of stock-based compensation based on the grant-date fair value of the award (with limited exceptions). That cost will be recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award- the requisite service period (usually the vesting period). The Company attributes compensation to expense using the straight-line method. Since the Company’s common stock is thinly traded, the Company utilizes the value, or an estimate thereof, paid by third parties for common stock in arms-length transactions with the Company. In particular, the Company used the estimated fair value of its common stock derived from a Unit Offering completed in June 2022. Under the Unit Offering, the Company issued investors Units consisting of one share of common stock, one Class C-1 Warrant and one Class C-2 Warrants for $1.25 per Unit. The value of the Class C-1 and 2 Warrants were deducted from the Unit price to determine the fair value of the common stock included in the Units. The Class C-1 and 2 Warrants were valued under the Black-Scholes method using the following assumptions: volatility 223.30%; annual rate of quarterly dividends 0%; term 3 years; treasury bill rate 0.4%.
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Warrants
As of February 29, 2024, and August 31, 2023, the Company had the following warrants outstanding:
| Class | Amount Outstanding | Exercise Price | Expiration Date | |||||||
| Class A Warrants | $ | |||||||||
| Class B Warrants | $ | |||||||||
| Class C-1 Warrants | $ | |||||||||
| Class C-2 Warrants | $ | |||||||||
| Class C-3 Warrants | $ | |||||||||
| Total | ||||||||||
NOTE 9 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
As of February 29, 2024 and August 31, 2023, the Company had no contractual commitments.
NOTE 10 – SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
In March 2024, the Company repaid the Luxor Bitcoin Financing in full (see Note 7).
On March 6, 2024, the Company entered into a Machine Lease Agreement (the “Machine Lease”) with Luxor Technology Corporation (“LTC”). Under the Machine Lease, the Company leased 777 S-19 miners from LTC commencing March 8, 2024 and ending immediately prior to the next halving event for bitcoin, which is expected to occur in April 2024. The Company paid LTC 1.75 bitcoin upon entry into the Machine Lease and pays LTC 70% of all bitcoin mined during the lease term as rental payments. LTC is obligated to pay for all insurance on the units, repair and maintenance of the units, hosting fees, electricity costs, and any taxes assessed against the units.
In April 2024, the Company agreed to extend the maturity date of a note receivable in the principal amount $731,472 from August 31, 2024 to December 31, 2024. At the same time, the Company agreed to extend a hosting agreement with the note obligor to December 31, 2024.
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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of the results of operations and financial condition of the Company for the three and six months ended February 29, 2024, and February 28, 2023, should be read in conjunction with the other sections of this Quarterly Report, including the Financial Statements and notes thereto of the Company included in this Quarterly Report. The various sections of this discussion contain forward-looking statements, all of which are based on our current expectations and could be affected by the uncertainties and risk factors described throughout this Quarterly Report as well as other matters over which we have no control. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Our actual results may differ materially. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Quarterly Report.
Overview
Since July 2021, our business has been as a blockchain technology company that is building out industrial scale digital asset mining, equipment sales and hosting operations. The Company’s primary business is hosting third-party equipment used in mining of digital asset coins and tokens, specifically Bitcoin, as well as self-mining for its own account. Our state-of-the-art facilities will be specifically designed and constructed for housing advanced mining equipment. Our data centers will provide power, racks, proprietary thermodynamic management (heat dissipation and airflow management), redundant connectivity, 24/7 security, as well as software which provide infrastructure management and custom firmware that boost performance and energy efficiency.
We plan to operate our data centers using immersion cooling technology. Immersion cooling is the process of submerging computer components (or full servers) in a thermally, but not electrically, conductive liquid (dielectric coolant) allowing higher heat transfer performance than air and many other benefits. Immersion cooling can be up to 95% more efficient than standard air cooling, producing an estimated PUE (power usage effectiveness) of 1.05. This cooler environment has been shown to extend machine lives by 30% or longer.
Our digital asset mining operation is focused on the generation of digital assets by solving complex cryptographic algorithms to validate transactions on specific digital asset network blockchains, which is commonly referred to as “mining.” Mining requires the use of specialized computers equipped with application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips (known as “miners”) to solve complex cryptographic algorithms in support of the Bitcoin blockchain (in a process known as “solving a block”) in exchange for digital asset rewards (to date, only bitcoin). Whether we are hosting our client’s computers or mining for our own account with our own computers, the miners participate in “mining pools” organized by “mining pool operators” in which we or our clients share mining power (known as “hash rate”) with the hash rate generated by other miners participating in the pool to earn digital asset rewards. The mining pool operator provides a service that coordinates the hash calculation services of the independent mining enterprises participating in the mining pool. Fees are paid to the mining pool operator to cover the costs of maintaining the pool. The pool uses software that coordinates the pool members’ mining power, identifies new block rewards, and records how much hash rate each participant contributes to the pool. Pools typically pay rewards in two different ways: as a percentage of the total reward received by the mining pool each day based on each pool participant’s proportionate share of hashing power provided that day (the “Actual Reward Method”); or based on the theoretical reward the pool participant should have received each day based on its hashing power contributed to the pool each day times the difficulty index (the “Expected Reward Method”). We only use mining pools that pay rewards under the Expected Reward Method. Even though we plan to effect our self-mining operations in data centers that we own, we reserve the right to operate miners in third-party data centers when we receive advantageous terms and/or do not have sufficient capacity in our own data centers.
Our digital asset self-mining activity competes with a myriad of mining operations throughout the world to complete new blocks in the blockchain and earn the reward in the form of an established unit of a digital asset. Revenue from digital asset mining and hosting third party digital asset miners are impacted by volatility in bitcoin prices, as well as increases in the Bitcoin blockchain’s network hash rate resulting from the growth in the overall quantity and quality of miners working to solve blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain and the difficulty index associated with the secure hashing algorithm employed in solving the blocks. Gross profits from digital asset mining are primarily impacted by the cost of electricity to operate the miners and to a lesser extent by other operating costs. While we expect to sell or exchange a portion of the digital assets we mine to fund our growth strategies or for general corporate purposes, we reserve the right to hold our digital assets as a long-term investment.
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As the demand for digital assets increases and digital assets become more widely accepted, there is an increasing demand for professional-grade, scalable infrastructure to support growth of the blockchain ecosystem. We expect to continually evaluate the performance of our data centers, including our ability to access additional megawatts of electric power and to expand our total self-mining and customer and related party hosting hash rates.
We also generate revenues from the advantageous purchase and sale of equipment used for digital asset mining and hosting. We have relationships with some suppliers that enable us to acquire highly desired equipment at attractive prices, which we plan to resell to third parties. In most cases, resales of digital asset mining equipment would be to our hosting customers, which have the dual benefit of generating short-term gross profits from the equipment sale as well as growing the customer base of our hosting business.
The primary factors that will impact future hosting revenues include: (i) the price of bitcoin, since hosting revenues are primarily a percentage of bitcoin mined by clients; (ii) the completion of operational hosting facilities, as potential hosting clients have been reluctant to sign contracts prior to the date the Company has a fully operational hosting facility; and (iii) the availability of attractive electricity prices, since power usage is the primary marginal cost for any mining operation.
The primary factors that will impact proprietary mining revenues include: (i) the price of bitcoin; (ii) the completion of operational facilities to provide us with a cost-effective facility to operate in; (iii) the availability of attractive electricity prices, since power usage is the primary marginal cost for any mining operation; and (iv) the availability of mining equipment suitable for the Company’s immersion hosting environment at attractive prices and available capacity in the Company’s hosting facilities.
Revenues from cryptocurrency mining, whether derived from hosting clients or from proprietary mining, are impacted significantly by volatility in Bitcoin prices, as well as increases in the Bitcoin blockchain’s network hash rate resulting from the growth in the overall quantity and quality of miners working to solve blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain and the difficulty index associated with the secure hashing algorithm employed in solving the blocks. Below are changes in key metrics effecting the profitability of mining Bitcoin during the six months ended February 29, 2024:
|
As of February 29, 2024 |
As of August 31, 2023 |
Percent Change |
||||||||||
| Network hash rate | 547.42 EH/s | 368.924 EH/s | 48.4% | |||||||||
| Difficulty index | 79.4 trillion | 55.61 trillion | 42.8% | |||||||||
| Bitcoin market price | 61,198.38 | $ | 25,931.47 | 136% | ||||||||
The primary factors that will impact resales of mining equipment include the availability of equipment at attractive prices and the number of participants willing to enter the mining business or expand their existing operations, which is highly correlated to the margin from mining, as determined by the market price of bitcoin and prevailing energy costs. Also, our resales of mining equipment will be impacted by the existence of hosting capacity with attractive electricity rates in our hosting operations.
Trinidad Operations
We initially decided to locate our initial facilities in Trinidad, because it has some of the cheapest electricity in the world due to its abundant supplies of oil and gas and because some of our technical staff is located there. We have entered into an agreement with Telecommunications Services of Trinidad & Tobago Limited (“TSTT”), the largest and oldest telecom company in Trinidad, to co-locate up to 125 800 kw containers for hosting digital asset miners. TSTT has up to 93 potential locations for co-location of our containers. Under the agreement, we have the option, but not obligation, to co-locate containers at our own pace. We pay a fixed amount per container, plus the actual electricity costs incurred by our containers in the amount billed to TSTT by the local utility without any markup. The agreement provides that our hosting containers will be billed for electricity usage at the local utility’s standard rates, which is the greater of 3.5 cents per kwh or 75% of the declared reserve capacity, which is equal to the customer’s highest expected monthly kilovolt-ampere demand at $7.40. The term of the agreement expires on October 14, 2031. We have the right to terminate our agreement with TSTT at any time that the price for electricity consumption exceeds $0.05 per kwh.
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In October 2022, we completed the installation of initial hosting containers under our agreement with TSTT. However, prior to commencing operations, TSTT advised us that the utility refused to honor its existing agreement with TSTT with respect to electricity supplied to our pilot hosting site, and instead indicated that the rate would be approximately $0.09 per kwh, which TSTT disputed. At this time, the dispute has been resolved, the site became operational in October 2023, and our rate for electricity will be TSTT’s existing rate of 3.5 cents per kwh or 75% of the declared reserve capacity, which is equal to the customer’s highest expected monthly kilovolt-ampere demand at $7.40. As of April 9, 2024, we had 135 miners located at our initial TSTT facility. While our TSTT site was delayed pending electrification, we entered into a hosting agreement with a third party in Trinidad to host up to 192 miners in one immersion container until August 31, 2024. We do not pay a hosting fee for this space, but we do reimburse the host for its actual electricity costs, which are a variable rate that averages approximately $0.05 per kwh each month. We are also leasing space with a third party on an at will basis to co-host 56 miners, for which we pay a flat rate of $0.06 per kwh for the electricity used by our miners. We ultimately intend to move all of our currently owned and customer owned miners to our new TSTT hosting facilities.
Despite the expective favorable resolution of our dispute in Trinidad, we are currently focusing our efforts on the development of hosting centers in the United States and Canada, both directly and in joint ventures with third parties. We are exploring situations where medium to long-term power agreements may be available at affordable prices, whether using traditional power sources such as coal or natural gas, as well as environmentally friendly sources such as hydroelectric, wind and solar-backed projects, which might allow us to generate collateral revenue from the sale of excess power to the local utility grid and from the generation of saleable carbon credits.
Pecos, Texas Operations
In October 2022, we entered into a joint venture arrangement with ROC Digital Mining to jointly develop and operate a Bitcoin mining operation in Pecos, Texas. Under the joint venture, we contributed one immersion container, six transformers and cash with a value of $987,429 as a capital contribution to ROC Digital Mining I, LLC (the “ROC Digital”). In return, we received 240 Class B Units of ROC Digital pursuant to an ongoing offering of a total of 1,000 Class B Units at $4,400 per unit. We simultaneously sold ROC Digital four immersion containers for $1,200,000, which is payable pursuant to a promissory note the bears interest at 5% per annum, and is payable pursuant to monthly payments of $31,203.64 per month commencing on December 30, 2022, with any remaining principal and interest payable in full on May 31, 2026. The note is secured by the equipment that was sold. We also obtained the right to locate one container at the location that we would be able to use for self-mining. As of August 31, 2023 the note receivable from ROC Digital amounted to $1,029,721.
Any distributions of assets by ROC Digital are allocated as follows: i) 100% to the Class B Members until each Class B Member has received the return of its capital contributions; ii) 100% to the Class B Members until each Class B Member has received a non-compounded preferred return of 1% per month (12% per year) on its capital contribution, provided that a Class Member will no longer entitled to a preferred return once it has received total distributions equal to five times its capital contributions; iii) 70% to the Class Members and 30% to the Class A Members until each Class B Member has received total distributions equal to three times its capital contributions; (iv) 60% to the Class Members and 40% to the Class A Members until each Class B Member has received total distributions equal to four times its capital contributions; (v) 50% to the Class Members and 50% to the Class A Members until the seventh anniversary of the final closing of Class B Units; and (vi) thereafter, all to the Class A Members.
ROC Digital is managed by ROC Digital Mining Manager LLC (“ROC Manager”), which owns all of the Class A Units of ROC Digital. The Class A Units have the sole right to vote on any matter that requires a vote of members, including in the selection of the manager. We own 33 1/3% of ROC Manager. ROC Manager is managed by from one to three managers selected by a vote of the members. We do not currently have a representative or designee serving as manager of ROC Manager. However, the operating agreement for ROC Manager provides that ROC Manager may not take a number of actions in relation to ROC Digital without the unanimous consent of its members, such as incurring more than $50,000 of indebtedness, approval of operating budget, filing for bankruptcy, making any material change in ROC Digital’s business, merging, consolidating or combining ROC Digital with another entity, selling off a substantial part of ROC Digital’s assets, amending the operating agreement of ROC Digital, or causing ROC Digital to enter into any agreement with a related party.
Day to day management of the operations of ROC Digital is provided by ROC Digital Mining LLC (“ROC Mining”), an affiliate of ROC Manager in which we do not have an interest. ROC Mining is entitled to a monthly management fee equal to 3% of ROC Digital’s gross revenue, subject to a monthly minimum of $10,000 and a monthly maximum of $15,000. In additional ROC Mining is entitled to an acquisition fee of 1% of the cost of any assets acquired by ROC Digital.
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Our joint venture partner initially expected the site would be operational by December 31, 2022. After the site work was substantially completed, the commencement of operations was delayed as a result of a request by the electricity provider for an additional deposit as a result of recent bankruptcies in the mining and hosting industry. In addition, a dispute with the joint venture’s vendor for ASIC miners delayed the delivery of miners for the facility.
In April 2023, the joint venture entered into a new one year agreement with the electricity provider, under which the site will receive electricity at $0.03991 per kwh for at least 95% of the annualized hourly intervals during the period. The initial agreement had a term of four years and seven months, and supplied electricity at $0.06896 per kwh, which the joint venture expected to reduce by reselling electricity during peak periods. The new agreement provides the joint venture with more predictable pricing, although a new agreement will need to be negotiated after the one year term. At the same time, we finalized a hosting agreement with the joint venture, under which we will locate one immersion container at the site for $500 per month, plus payment of our pro rata share of electricity, internet and insurance for the site. Under the hosting agreement, we also agreed to contribute $100,000 toward the electricity deposit for the site, which is refundable to us at the earlier of the date the electricity provider releases the deposit or 90 days after the expiration or termination of the hosting agreement. The hosting agreement has a term of one year, subject to our right to renew the agreement for two one year terms after receipt of notice of the renewal terms of the joint venture’s electricity supply agreement for the upcoming year. The site became fully electrified in June 2023. As of April 9, 2024, we had deployed 145 Antminer S-19 pro miners to our hosting container at the site. The joint venture has filled its five immersion containers with ASIC miners provided by hosting clients, although the hosting clients agreements currently terminate in April 2024.
Murray, Kentucky Operations
On October 4, 2023, the Company purchased 1,050 used ASIC miners from Luxor Technology Corporation (“Luxor”) for $488,775, and simultaneously entered into a Co-Location Services Agreement to host the miners at a hosting facility owned by Soluna SW, LLC (“Soluna”) in Murray, Kentucky. The hosting agreement with Soluna has a term of 18 months, and provides that the Company is obligated to reimburse Soluna for the actual cost of the electricity used by the Company’s machines and pay a hosting fee equal to 50% of the net profit generated by the machines each month. The hosting fee is payable in bitcoin. The hosting facility has an electricity cost of $0.025 per kwh and guarantees uptime of 83% per week.
Miner Summary
Set forth below is a summary of the Company’s ASIC miner inventory as of February 29, 2024:
| Site | Present | Installed | In Transit | Needing Repair | Immersion/Air-cooled | |||||||||||||
| Trinidad | 364 | 331 | – | – | Immersion | |||||||||||||
| Pecos, Texas | 145 | 145 | – | – | Immersion | |||||||||||||
| Murray, Kentucky | 1,050 | 1,050 | – | – | Air Cooled | |||||||||||||
| Other | – | – | – | 85 | n/a | |||||||||||||
| Total | 1,559 | 1,526 | – | 85 | ||||||||||||||
Results of Operations
Comparison of Results of Operations for the Three Months Ended February 29, 2024 and February 28, 2023.
Revenues
During the three months ended February 29, 2024, the Company generated $891,613 revenue, compared to $156,090 of revenue in the three months ended February 28, 2023.
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During the three months ended February 29, 2024, the Company generated $861,026 in Bitcoin revenue from self-mining digital assets, compared to $104,526 of revenue from self-mining in the three months ended February 28, 2023. At February 29, 2024, the Company owned 1,644 miners, of which 1,526 were deployed for self-mining. The number of undeployed miners was mainly impacted by miners that were offline due to maintenance issues. Mining revenue should be lower in future periods as a halving expected to occur in April 2024 could significantly reduce the rewards from mining. However, the impact of the halving may be offset by a rise in the price of the bitcoin due to fewer miners online after halving event, as has historically occurred after a halving event. Mining revenues in the three months ended February 29, 2024 were positively impacted due to resolution of operating issues at the Company’s first hosting facilities in Trinidad and Pecos, Texas, and the commencement of operations at a facility in Murray, Kentucky that is hosted by a third-party.
Despite the expective favorable resolution of our dispute in Trinidad, we are currently focusing our efforts on the development of hosting centers in the United States and Canada, both directly and in joint ventures with third parties.
During the three months ended February 29, 2024 and February 28, 2023, the Company generated $20,471 in revenue from equipment sales, compared to $51,564 in revenue in the three months ended February 28, 2023. The revenue from equipment sales in the three months ended February 29, 2024 were derived from the following transactions:
| · | In October 2022, the Company sold four hosting containers to a joint venture that is constructing a hosting facility in Texas for $1,200,000. The purchase price is payable pursuant to a promissory note bearing interest at 5% per annum, and is paid by 41 equal monthly payments of $31,204 commencing December 30, 2022. | |
| · | In August 2022, the Company sold two hosting containers to a private party in Trinidad for $960,000. After a down payment of $50,000, the balance of the purchase price is payable pursuant to a promissory note bearing interest at 7.5% per annum, and is paid by 24 equal monthly payments of $40,950 commencing September 30, 2022. On February 1, 2023, the Company modified this agreement in conjunction with its entry into a new hosting agreement with the party, under which the Company agreed that the remaining principal balance of the note was $731,472, and that the note would be converted into an interest only note until August 31, 2024, at which time all principal and interest due is payable in full. In addition, the Company agreed to allow the note obligor to repay the note principal at a 10% discount if it was repaid prior to February 28, 2023. |
Under the guidelines of ASC 606, the Company reports revenue from both equipment sales described above under the installment sale method, under which the Company reports its gross profit on the sales as payments are received from the purchaser. As of February 1, 2023, the Company reached an agreement with the obligor under the $910,000 note to convert the note into an interest only note commencing as of February 1, 2023, with a balloon payment being due at maturity on August 31, 2024, and an agreement that the principal balance on the note was $731,472. One effect of the agreement with the obligor is to materially reduce any deferred revenue associated with the sale, as the note is scheduled to receive interest only payments until August 31, 2024. As a result, the Company expects revenue from these two equipment sales to be lower in future periods. During the three months ended February 29, 2024, the Company recorded $20,471 in equipment sales as a result of the receipt of three payments of $31,204 each on the October 2022 note. No revenue was recorded on the August 2022 note since all payments were of interest only.
In future periods, the Company expects to generate additional revenues from the resale of certain hosting equipment, primarily containers and transformers, and of miners in “buy/host” transactions, in which the Company sells miners already installed in its hosting facilities to buyers that simultaneously execute a hosting agreement for the purchased miners, and in some cases additional miners.
The Company generated $10,116 in revenues from hosting in the three months ended February 29, 2024, as compared to $-0- in hosting revenues in the three months ended February 28, 2023. The Company did not have any hosting clients during the three months ended February 29, 2023. In June 2023, the Company signed two new hosting clients. In the current market environment, the price of ASIC miners has fallen to the point that we believe self-mining is more profitable than hosting third party miners, however we will pursue hosting opportunities on a selective basis. While the Company still sees good opportunities to acquire mining equipment at attractive prices, the price of mining equipment has recently increased with the recent increase in the price of Bitcoin.
The primary factors that will impact our revenues in subsequent periods are described in the “—Overview” above.
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Cost of Sales
Cost of sales were $567,991 in the three months ended February 29, 2024, compared to $95,457 in the three months ended February 28, 2023.
Cost of sales related to mining was $556,849 in the three months ended February 29, 2024, compared to $93,957 in the three months ended February 28, 2023. Cost of sales normally includes electricity, utilities, facilities costs, and supplies where we perform mining from our own facilities, but not depreciation of equipment, which is stated separately. Major components of cost of sales include rent to house mining and hosting equipment, electricity, and supplies. Where our miners are hosted by third parties, cost of sales normally includes hosting fees and/or electricity costs. The Company believes that cost of sales related to mining as a percentage of revenues will be greater in futures periods as revenues will be adversely impacted by a halving that is expected to occur in April 2024.
The table below describes the average cost of mining each bitcoin for the three months ended February 29, 2024 and February 28, 2023, and the total energy usage and cost per each kilowatt hour (“KWH”) utilized within our facilities.
| For the three Months Ended | ||||||||
| Cost of Revenues - Analysis of costs to mine one bitcoin (per bitcoin amounts are actual) | February 29, 2024 | February 28, 2023 | ||||||
| Cost of Mining – Owned Facilities | ||||||||
| Cost of energy per bitcoin mined | $ | 17,958 | $ | – | ||||
| Other direct costs of mining per bitcoin mined | $ | 14,338 | $ | – | ||||
| Depreciation per bitcoin mined | $ | 14,631 | $ | – | ||||
| Cost to mine one bitcoin – owned facilities | $ | 46,927 | $ | – | ||||
| Cost of Mining – Hosted Facilities | ||||||||
| Cost of energy per bitcoin mined | $ | 14,581 | $ | 13,075 | ||||
| Other direct costs of mining (hosting fees and profit share) per bitcoin | $ | 13,050 | $ | 4,734 | ||||
| Depreciation per bitcoin mined | $ | 11,555 | $ | 17,105 | ||||
| Cost to mine one bitcoin – hosted facilities | $ | 39,186 | $ | 34,914 | ||||
| Weighted average cost of mining one bitcoin (1) | $ | 40,498 | $ | 34,914 | ||||
| Average revenue of each bitcoin mined (2) | $ | 44,391 | $ | 20,268 | ||||
| Cost of mining one bitcoin as % of average bitcoin mining revenue | 91.23% | 172.3% | ||||||
| Statistics | ||||||||
| Owned Facilities | ||||||||
| Total bitcoin mined at owned facilities | 3.3 | – | ||||||
| Bitcoin mining revenue – owned facilities | $ | 147,391 | $ | – | ||||
| Total miners in service in owned facilities - as of the periods ended | 285 | – | ||||||
| Total KWHs utilized | 1,337,840 | – | ||||||
| Total energy expense | $ | 59,317 | $ | – | ||||
| Cost per KWH | $ | 0.0443 | $ | – | ||||
| Energy expense as percentage of bitcoin mining revenue, net | 40.24% | – | ||||||
| Other direct costs of mining | $ | 47,360 | $ | – | ||||
| Depreciation | $ | 48,328 | $ | – | ||||
| Hosted Facilities | ||||||||
| Total bitcoin mined at hosted facilities | 16.2 | 5.2 | ||||||
| Bitcoin mining revenue – hosted facilities | $ | 717,825 | $ | 104,526 | ||||
| Total miners in service in hosted facilities - as of the periods ended | 1,241 | 362 | ||||||
| Total KWHs utilized | 6,863,298 | 1,354,072 | ||||||
| Total energy expense | $ | 236,028 | $ | 67,433 | ||||
| Cost per KWH | $ | 0.0344 | $ | 0.0498 | ||||
| Energy expense as percentage of bitcoin mining revenue, net | $ | 32.88% | $ | 64.45% | ||||
| Other direct costs of mining (hosting fees and profit share) | $ | 211,253 | $ | 24,414 | ||||
| Depreciation | $ | 187,042 | $ | 88,213 | ||||
______________________
(1) Weighted average cost of mining one bitcoin is calculated by dividing the sum of total energy expense, other direct costs of mining and depreciation (owned facilities) and energy costs, hosting fee expense and depreciation (hosted facilities) by the total bitcoin mined during the respective periods.
(2) Average revenue of each bitcoin mined is calculated by dividing the sum of bitcoin mining revenue for both owned and hosted facilities by the total number of bitcoin mined during the respective periods. We have determined that Coinbase is the principal market for valuing bitcoin transactions and uses the daily closing prices as the source of recording revenue.
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Energy prices can be highly volatile and global events (including the war in Ukraine and the resulting natural gas shortage) have caused fuel prices, and to a lesser extent power prices, to fluctuate widely over the past year. All of our sites are currently subject to relatively fixed rates during the term of their current power supply agreements, but variable prices and market rate fluctuations with respect to wholesale power costs over the long-term. While this renders energy prices less predictable, it also gives us greater ability and flexibility to actively manage the energy we consume with an eye towards increasing profitability and energy efficiency. Energy prices are also highly sensitive to weather events, such as winter storms and polar vortices, which increase the demand for power regionally. When such events occur, we may curtail our operations to avoid using power at increased rates.
Cost of sales related to hosting was $11,142 in the three months ended February 29, 2024, compared to $-0- in the three months ended February 28, 2023. Cost of sales normally includes utilities, facilities costs, and supplies. Unlike cost of sales from mining, cost of sales from hosting does not include electricity costs, as such costs are passed on to the hosting client.
Cost of sales related to sales of mining equipment was $-0- for the three months ended February 29, 2024, compared to $1,500 in the three months ended February 28, 2023. Cost of sales from equipment sales includes the purchase price of equipment sold, plus shipping and value added tax on the equipment for sales reported under the completed sales method. There is no cost of sales associated with equipment sales reported under the installment sales method. Cost of sales from equipment sales in the six months ended February 28, 2024 and 2023 were low as a result of the fact that most of the equipment sales in those periods were reported under the installment sales method under the guidelines of ASC 606.
Operating Expenses
During the three months ended February 29, 2024, the Company incurred $972,363 in operating expenses, compared to $349,580 in operating expenses during the three months ended February 28, 2023. Major components of operating expenses for the 2024 period as compared to the 2023 period were:
| Three months ended | Three months ended | Percentage | ||||||||||
| February 29, 2024 | February 28, 2023 | Change % | ||||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | $ | 229,047 | 42,633 | 437% | ||||||||
| Depreciation | 235,370 | 88,213 | 167% | |||||||||
| Professional fees | 227,530 | 101,065 | 125% | |||||||||
| Related party compensation | 357,006 | 130,430 | 174% | |||||||||
| Realized gain from the sale of bitcoin | (76,591 | ) | (12,761 | ) | 500% | |||||||
| Total operating expenses | $ | 972,363 | 349,580 | 178% | ||||||||
The higher level of operating expenses in the 2024 period as compared to the 2023 period is partly attributable to increased depreciation in 2024 as compared 2023 as a result of higher level of equipment in service, and increased related party compensation in 2024 as compared to 2023. Included in operating expenses in the three months ended February 29, 2024 was $277,465 in non-cash expenses due to the issuance of common stock for professional services and to related parties as compensation, as compared to $49,785 in the three months ended February 28, 2023. Additionally, we incurred $235,370 in depreciation expense in the three months ended February 29, 2024 due to the deployment of new mining equipment compared to $88,213 during the same three month period in 2023. The Company expects that operating expenses will trend materially higher in future periods as the Company begins paying regular compensation to existing officers and directors, hires additional employees, and incurs other costs, such as increased depreciation expense due to the addition of new mining equipment and the completion of the buildout of the operating facilities.
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Other Income (Expense)
During the three months ended February 29, 2024, the Company had $253,941 in other (expense), net as compared to $18,460 of other (expense) in the three months ended February 28, 2023. The significant increase in other (expense) was mainly attributable to a number of factors, including higher interest expense in the three months ended February 29, 2024 of $54,279 as compared to $22,211 in the three months ended February 28, 2023, which was due to higher outstanding loan balances during the 2024 period compared to the 2023 period. The Company also recorded a loss of $183,670 from the extinguishment of debt in the 2024 period compared to $-0- in the 2023 period, a loss of $68,559 from the Company’s investment in ROC Digital in 2024 period compared to $-0- in the 2023 period, and income of $37,777 from a change in derivative liability in 2024 as compared to $-0- in 2023.
In addition, the Company recorded interest income of $14,791 in the three months ended February 29, 2024 compared to $3,751 in the three months ended February 28, 2023.
Net (Loss)
As a result of the foregoing, during the three months ended February 29, 2024, the Company incurred a net loss of $902,682 or $(0.02) per share, as compared to a net loss of $307,407 or $(0.01) per share during the three months ended February 28, 2023. The increase in the Company’s net loss in the three months ended February 29, 2024, compared to the three months ended February 28, 2023, is attributable to the factors discussed above.
Comparison of Results of Operations for the Six Months Ended February 29, 2024 and February 28, 2023.
Revenues
During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company generated $1,402,921 revenue, compared to $257,807 of revenue in the six months ended February 28, 2023.
During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company generated $1,190,749 in Bitcoin revenue from self-mining digital assets, compared to $133,443 of revenue from self-mining in the six months ended February 28, 2023. At February 29, 2024, the Company owned 1,644 miners, of which 1,526 were deployed for self-mining. The number of undeployed miners was mainly impacted by miners that were offline due to maintenance issues. Mining revenue should be lower in future periods as a halving expected to occur in April 2024 could significantly reduce the rewards from mining. However, the impact of the halving may be offset by a rise in the price of the bitcoin due to fewer miners online after halving event, as has historically occurred after a halving event. Mining revenues in the six months ended February 29, 2024 were positively impacted due to resolution of operating issues at the Company’s first hosting facilities in Trinidad and Pecos, Texas, and the commencement of operations at a facility in Murray, Kentucky that is hosted by a third-party.
Despite the expective favorable resolution of our dispute in Trinidad, we are currently focusing our efforts on the development of hosting centers in the United States and Canada, both directly and in joint ventures with third parties.
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During the six months ended February 29, 2024 and February 28, 2023, the Company generated $190,192 in revenue from equipment sales, compared to $124,364 in revenue in the six months ended February 28, 2023. The revenue from equipment sales in the six months ended February 29, 2024 were derived from the following transactions:
| · | In October 2022, the Company sold four hosting containers to a joint venture that is constructing a hosting facility in Texas for $1,200,000. The purchase price is payable pursuant to a promissory note bearing interest at 5% per annum, and is paid by 41 equal monthly payments of $31,204 commencing December 30, 2022. | |
| · | In August 2022, the Company sold two hosting containers to a private party in Trinidad for $960,000. After a down payment of $50,000, the balance of the purchase price is payable pursuant to a promissory note bearing interest at 7.5% per annum, and is paid by 24 equal monthly payments of $40,950 commencing September 30, 2022. On February 1, 2023, the Company modified this agreement in conjunction with its entry into a new hosting agreement with the party, under which the Company agreed that the remaining principal balance of the note was $731,472, and that the note would be converted into an interest only note until August 31, 2024, at which time all principal and interest due is payable in full. In addition, the Company agreed to allow the note obligor to repay the note principal at a 10% discount if it was repaid prior to February 28, 2023. |
Under the guidelines of ASC 606, the Company reports revenue from both equipment sales described above under the installment sale method, under which the Company reports its gross profit on the sales as payments are received from the purchaser. As of February 1, 2023, the Company reached an agreement with the obligor under the $910,000 note to convert the note into an interest only note commencing as of February 1, 2023, with a balloon payment being due at maturity on August 31, 2024, and an agreement that the principal balance on the note was $731,472. One effect of the agreement with the obligor is to materially reduce any deferred revenue associated with the sale, as the note is scheduled to receive interest only payments until August 31, 2024. As a result, the Company expects revenue from these two equipment sales to be lower in future periods. During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company recorded $40,942 in equipment sales as a result of the receipt of six payments of $31,204 each on the October 2022 note. No revenue was recorded on the August 2022 note since all payments were of interest only.
During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company sold 100 new ASIC miners to a third party for $149,250. Under the guidelines of ASC 606, the Company reported revenue from the June 2023 equipment sales under the completed sale method.
In future periods, the Company expects to generate additional revenues from the resale of certain hosting equipment, primarily containers and transformers, and of miners in “buy/host” transactions, in which the Company sells miners already installed in its hosting facilities to buyers that simultaneously execute a hosting agreement for the purchased miners, and in some cases additional miners.
The Company generated $21,980 in revenues from hosting in the six months ended February 29, 2024, as compared to $-0- in hosting revenues in the six months ended February 28, 2023. The Company did not have any hosting clients during the three months ended February 29, 2023. In June 2023, the Company signed two new hosting clients. In the current market environment, the price of ASIC miners has fallen to the point that we believe self-mining is more profitable than hosting third party miners, however we will pursue hosting opportunities on a selective basis. While the Company still sees good opportunities to acquire mining equipment at attractive prices, the price of mining equipment has recently increased with the recent increase in the price of Bitcoin.
The primary factors that will impact our revenues in subsequent periods are described in the “—Overview” above.
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales were $975,217 in the six months ended February 29, 2024, compared to $213,932 in the six months ended February 28, 2023.
Cost of sales related to mining was $779,791 in the six months ended February 29, 2024, compared to $169,352 in the six months ended February 28, 2023. Cost of sales normally includes electricity, utilities, facilities costs, and supplies where we perform mining from our own facilities, but not depreciation of equipment, which is stated separately. Major components of cost of sales include rent to house mining and hosting equipment, electricity, and supplies. Where our miners are hosted by third parties, cost of sales normally includes hosting fees and/or electricity costs. The Company believes that cost of sales related to mining as a percentage of revenues will be greater in futures periods as revenues will be adversely impacted by a halving that is expected to occur in April 2024.
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The table below describes the average cost of mining each bitcoin for the six months ended February 29, 2024 and February 28, 2023, and the total energy usage and cost per each kilowatt hour (“KWH”) utilized within our facilities.
| For the Six Months Ended | ||||||||
| Cost of Revenues - Analysis of costs to mine one bitcoin (per bitcoin amounts are actual) | February 29, 2024 | February 28, 2023 | ||||||
| Cost of Mining – Owned Facilities | ||||||||
| Cost of energy per bitcoin mined | $ | 17,692 | $ | – | ||||
| Other direct costs of mining per bitcoin mined | $ | 11,557 | $ | – | ||||
| Depreciation per bitcoin mined | $ | 15,504 | $ | – | ||||
| Cost to mine one bitcoin – owned facilities | $ | 44,753 | $ | – | ||||
| Cost of Mining – Hosted Facilities | ||||||||
| Cost of energy per bitcoin mined | $ | 14,719 | $ | 13,665 | ||||
| Other direct costs of mining (hosting fees and profit share) per bitcoin mined | $ | 10,273 | $ | 5,991 | ||||
| Depreciation per bitcoin mined | $ | 15,736 | $ | 23,053 | ||||
| Cost to mine one bitcoin – hosted facilities | $ | 40,729 | $ | 42,709 | ||||
| Weighted average cost of mining one bitcoin (1) | $ | 41,445 | $ | 42,709 | ||||
| Average revenue of each bitcoin mined (2) | $ | 40,957 | $ | 20,838 | ||||
| Cost of mining one bitcoin as % of average bitcoin mining revenue | 60.81% | 205.0% | ||||||
| Statistics | ||||||||
| Owned Facilities | ||||||||
| Total bitcoin mined at owned facilities | 5.2 | – | ||||||
| Bitcoin mining revenue – owned facilities | $ | 209,194 | $ | – | ||||
| Total miners in service in owned facilities - as of the periods ended | 285 | – | ||||||
| Total KWHs utilized | 1,931,643 | – | ||||||
| Total energy expense | $ | 91,814 | $ | – | ||||
| Cost per KWH | $ | 0.0475 | $ | – | ||||
| Energy expense as % of bitcoin mining revenue, net | 43.89% | – | ||||||
| Other direct costs of mining | $ | 59,976 | $ | – | ||||
| Depreciation | $ | 80,455 | $ | |||||
| Hosted Facilities | ||||||||
| Total bitcoin mined at hosted facilities | 24.0 | 6.4 | ||||||
| Bitcoin mining revenue – hosted facilities | $ | 985,745 | $ | 133,442 | ||||
| Total miners in service in hosted facilities - as of the periods ended | 1,241 | 362 | ||||||
| Total KWHs utilized | 9,872,954 | 1,616,713 | ||||||
| Total energy expense | $ | 353,057 | $ | 87,508 | ||||
| Cost per KWH | $ | 0.0358 | $ | 0.0541 | ||||
| Energy expense as percentage of bitcoin mining revenue, net | 35.82% | 65.58% | ||||||
| Other direct costs of mining (hosting fees and profit share) | $ | 246,413 | $ | 38,368 | ||||
| Depreciation | $ | 377,455 | $ | 147,625 | ||||
________________________
(1) Weighted average cost of mining one bitcoin is calculated by dividing the sum of total energy expense, other direct costs of mining and depreciation (owned facilities) and energy costs, hosting fee expense and depreciation (hosted facilities) by the total bitcoin mined during the respective periods.
(2) Average revenue of each bitcoin mined is calculated by dividing the sum of bitcoin mining revenue for both owned and hosted facilities by the total number of bitcoin mined during the respective periods. We have determined that Coinbase is the principal market for valuing bitcoin transactions and uses the daily closing prices as the source of recording revenue.
Energy prices can be highly volatile and global events (including the war in Ukraine and the resulting natural gas shortage) have caused fuel prices, and to a lesser extent power prices, to fluctuate widely over the past year. All of our sites are currently subject to relatively fixed rates during the term of their current power supply agreements, but variable prices and market rate fluctuations with respect to wholesale power costs over the long-term. While this renders energy prices less predictable, it also gives us greater ability and flexibility to actively manage the energy we consume with an eye towards increasing profitability and energy efficiency. Energy prices are also highly sensitive to weather events, such as winter storms and polar vortices, which increase the demand for power regionally. When such events occur, we may curtail our operations to avoid using power at increased rates.
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Cost of sales related to hosting was $14,534 in the six months ended February 29, 2024, compared to $-0- in the six months ended February 28, 2023. Cost of sales normally includes utilities, facilities costs, and supplies. Unlike cost of sales from mining, cost of sales from hosting does not include electricity costs, as such costs are passed on to the hosting client.
Cost of sales related to sales of mining equipment was $180,891 for the six months ended February 29, 2024, compared to $44,580 in the six months ended February 28, 2023. Cost of sales from equipment sales includes the purchase price of equipment sold, plus shipping and value added tax on the equipment for sales reported under the completed sales method. There is no cost of sales associated with equipment sales reported under the installment sales method. Cost of sales from equipment sales in the six months ended February 28, 2024 and 2023 were low as a result of the fact that most of the equipment sales in those periods were reported under the installment sales method under the guidelines of ASC 606.
Since we are in the early stages of setting up our infrastructure to generate higher levels of revenues, we expect that our cost of sales as a percentage of revenue from hosting or mining for our own account will be higher than we expect to incur when we achieve sufficient economies of scale by deploying more miners. In future periods, the largest component of our cost of sales will consist of electricity costs.
Operating Expenses
During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company incurred $1,686,294 in operating expenses, compared to $824,716 in operating expenses during the six months ended February 28, 2023. Major components of operating expenses for the 2024 period as compared to the 2023 period were:
| Six months ended | Six months ended | Percentage | ||||||||||
| February 29, 2024 | February 28, 2023 | Change % | ||||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | $ | 297,445 | 61,113 | 387% | ||||||||
| Depreciation | 457,901 | 147,265 | 211% | |||||||||
| Professional fees | 303,390 | 262,803 | 15% | |||||||||
| Related party compensation | 704,149 | 239,823 | 194% | |||||||||
| Impairment of fixed assets | – | 122,950 | – | |||||||||
| Realized gain from the sale of bitcoin | (76,591 | ) | (12,761 | ) | 500% | |||||||
| Impairment of cryptocurrency | – | 3,523 | – | |||||||||
| Total operating expenses | $ | 1,686,294 | 824,716 | 104% | ||||||||
The higher level of operating expenses in the 2024 period as compared to the 2023 period is partly attributable to increased depreciation in 2024 as compared 2023 as a result of higher level of equipment in service, and increased related party compensation in 2024 as compared to 2023. Included in operating expenses in the six months ended February 29, 2024 was $554,931 in non-cash expenses due to the issuance of common stock for professional services and to related parties as compensation, as compared to $125,214 in the six months ended February 28, 2023. Additionally, we incurred $457,901 in depreciation expense in the six months ended February 29, 2024 due to the deployment of new mining equipment compared to $147,265 during the same six month period in 2023. The Company expects that operating expenses will trend materially higher in future periods as the Company begins paying regular compensation to existing officers and directors, hires additional employees, and incurs other costs, such as increased depreciation expense due to the addition of new mining equipment and the completion of the buildout of the operating facilities.
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Other Income (Expense)
During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company had $571,931 in other (expense), net as compared to $2,770 of other income, net in the six months ended February 28, 2023. The significant increase in other (expense) was mainly attributable to a number of factors, including higher interest expense in the six months ended February 29, 2024 of $153,699 as compared to $27,019 in the six months ended February 28, 2023, which was due to higher outstanding loan balances during the 2024 period compared to the 2023 period. The Company also recorded a loss of $221,208 from the extinguishment of debt, a loss of $111,773 from the Company’s investment in ROC Digital and an expense of $114,835 from a change in derivative liability in 2024 as compared to $-0- for these three categories in 2023.
In addition, the Company recorded interest income of $29,584 in the six months ended February 29, 2024 compared to $12,850 in the six months ended February 28, 2023.
Net (Loss)
As a result of the foregoing, during the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company incurred a net loss of $1,830,522, or $(0.04) per share, as compared to a net loss of 778,071 or $(0.02) per share during the six months ended February 28, 2023. The increase in the Company’s net loss in the six months ended February 29, 2024, compared to the six months ended February 28, 2023, is attributable to the factors discussed above.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of February 29, 2024, the Company had $342,296 in cash on hand.
During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Company had a net loss of $1,830,522.
Cash flows used in operating activities were $204,304 for the six months ended February 29, 2024, compared to cash flows used of $452,160 for the six months ended February 28, 2023. The decrease in cash flows used in operating activities for the six months ended February 29, 2024 was primarily attributable a change in balance sheet accounts in 2024 compared to 2023, partially offset by a decrease in profitability in 2024 net of non-cash items.
Cash flows used in investing activities were $48,946 for the six months ended February 29, 2024, compared to cash flows used in investing activities of $469,843 for the six months ended February 28, 2023. Cash flows used in investing activities consisted primarily of purchases of $57,335 and $469,843 in equipment, respectively in the 2024 and 2023 periods. In the 2024 period the Company also received a return on investment of $8,408.
Cash flows provided by financing activities were $325,000 for the six months ended February 29, 2024, compared to cash flows provided by financing activities of $800,00 for the six months ended February 28, 2023. The cash flows provided by financing activities in both periods in both the 2024 and 2023 period were made pursuant to a line of credit with Innovative Digital Investors Emerging Technology, L.P. (“IDI”), a limited partnership controlled by Jonathan Bates, our Chairman, and Raymond Mow, our chief financial officer.
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On October 19, 2022, the Company entered into a new Line of Credit Agreement with IDI (the “2022 LOC Agreement”), under which the Company has the right to borrow up to $1,000,000 to finance the purchase of equipment necessary for the operation of the Company’s business, and related working capital. Loans under the 2022 LOC Agreement accrue interest at twelve percent (12%) per annum, compounded on a 30/360 monthly basis until the loans have been repaid in full. Effective May 13, 2023, the Company and IDI amended the 2022 LOC Agreement. As amended, the 2022 LOC Agreement allows the Company to up to $1,750,000 thereunder until December 1, 2023. Each draw request is subject to the approval of IDI in its sole discretion. As amended, all principal and interest due under the 2022 LOC Agreement are due and payable on December 1, 2024. As of February 29, 2024, the amount borrowed under the 2022 LOC Agreement was $1,650,000.
The Company believes that cash on hand, amounts that it may borrow under the 2022 LOC Agreement, expected receipts from the sale of equipment, and revenues from self-mining and hosting will provide it with sufficient liquidity to fund its operations for the next 12 months. The Company expects revenue from self-mining to decrease following the halving expected to occur in April 2024, but the decrease will be mitigated by an expected increase in the price of bitcoin, as has typically happened following a halving event, as well as increased cash flow from our Murray, Kentucky miners after the derivative financing used to acquire them is repaid. The halving will reduce the block rewards from mining by exactly 50%. However, the halving will not reduce revenues from self-mining by exactly 50% since part of the rewards consist of transaction fees which are not impacted by the halving. In recent periods, transaction fees have made up an ever-increasing share of mining revenue due to the impact of “ordinals,” which are increased transaction fees that occur result as parties have discovered ways to imbed data regarding other assets, such as art, in the bitcoin blockchain. In past halving events, the price of bitcoin typically increased in the six months after the halving event, in part as a result of the retirement of miners that were rendered uneconomic as a result of the reduced rewards. Furthermore, there has been a sufficient increase in the price of bitcoin this fiscal year, which will lessen the impact of the halving event. Nevertheless, the upcoming halving event has increased the difficulty of predicting cash flows from mining activities for all industry participants, including the Company.
The Company also expects to receive approximately $4,572 in interest payments monthly from the sale of two immersion containers in August 2022, and approximately $31,000 per month from the sale of four immersion containers to a joint venture in which the Company is both a lender to and equity investor. While the Company is scheduled to receive a balloon payment of approximately $734,000 in principal in August 2024, the Company expects to extend the maturity of that note to a later date. The Company does not budget to include any further equity distributions from ROC Digital in the short-term, as ROC Digital will have significant vacancies in its facilities when an agreement with a major hosting client expires in April 2024, and it is unknown how long it will take the joint venture to fill the facility with a new hosting client or its own miners. The Company does not budget to include any proceeds from the exercise of its outstanding warrants because it is not able to predict when or if the market price of its common stock will exceed the exercise price of its warrants. Nevertheless, the Company still may not achieve profitable operations within the next 12 months. In that event, the Company may need to raise additional capital or liquidate part of its operations to sustain its business. At this time, the Company does not have any commitments for additional capital after the next 12 months, and there is no assurance that it be able to locate additional capital on terms that are not unduly dilutive to existing shareholders.
Nevertheless, while the Company does not need additional capital to maintain operations, it will need additional capital to expand its digital asset hosting and mining business, and take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace that currently exist due to the recent decline in digital asset prices. Therefore, the Company has engaged an investment banker and is pursuing additional capital-raising alternatives, including the potential issuance of common stock in a private placement, or the issuance of convertible notes or preferred stock. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to raise additional capital or that the terms of any capital raise are not dilutive to current shareholders or carry other terms that are unfavorable to the Company and its shareholders.
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Critical Accounting Estimates
Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our condensed financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or “GAAP.” The preparation of these condensed financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reported period. In accordance with GAAP, we base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
Our significant accounting policies are fully described in Note 1 to our condensed financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, and we believe those accounting policies are critical to the process of making significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our condensed financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
None.
Item 3. Quantitative And Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to provide the information called for by this Item.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures.
Our Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer, with the assistance of management, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Based on this evaluation, our Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of February 29, 2024. These controls are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that are filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
During the quarter ended February 29, 2024, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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PART II – OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings.
The Company may be involved in certain legal proceedings that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of its business. Legal expenses associated with any contingency are expensed as incurred. The Company’s officers and directors are not aware of any threatened or pending litigation to which the Company is a party.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are not required to provide the information under this item. However, please carefully consider the information set forth in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the risk factors discussed in Part I, Item I A. of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2023, which could materially affect our business, financial condition or future results. In evaluating our business, you should carefully consider the risk factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated by our subsequent filings under the Exchange Act. The occurrence of any of the risks discussed in such filings, or other events that we do not currently anticipate or that we currently deem immaterial, could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Furthermore, we are amending the following risk factors that were set forth in prior reports filed with the SEC:
Banking relationships can be difficult to maintain for companies in the crypto currency space.
A number of companies that engage in Bitcoin and/or other cryptocurrency-related activities have been unable to find banks or financial institutions that are willing to provide them with bank accounts and other services. Similarly, a number of companies and individuals or businesses associated with cryptocurrencies may have had and may continue to have their existing bank accounts closed or services discontinued with financial institutions. To the extent that such events may happen to us, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies (if any) we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account.
Our projections are subject to significant risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties, including assumptions regarding the demand for our hosting services and the adoption of Bitcoin and other digital assets. As a result, our projected revenues, market share, expenses and profitability may differ materially from our expectations in any given quarter or fiscal year.
We operate in a rapidly changing and competitive industry and our projections are subject to the risks and assumptions made by management with respect to our industry. Operating results are difficult to forecast as they generally depend on our assessment of the timing of adoption and use of Bitcoin and other digital assets, which is uncertain. Furthermore, as we invest in the development of our hosting and self-mining business, whether because of competition or otherwise, we may not recover the substantial up-front costs of constructing, developing and maintaining our hosting facilities and purchasing the latest generation of miners or recover the opportunity cost of diverting management and financial resources away from other opportunities. Additionally, our business may be affected by reductions in miner demand for hosting facilities and services and the price of Bitcoin and other digital assets as a result of a number of factors which may be difficult to predict. Similarly, our assumptions and expectations with respect to margins and the pricing of our hosting services and market price of Bitcoin or other digital assets (if any) we mine may not prove to be accurate. This may result in decreased revenue, and we may be unable to adopt measures in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected shortfall in revenue. This inability could cause our operating results in a given quarter or year to be higher or lower than expected. If actual results differ from our estimates, analysts or investors may negatively react and our stock price could be materially impacted.
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To the extent that the profit margins of digital asset mining operations are not high, mining participants are more likely to sell their earned Bitcoin, which could constrain Bitcoin prices.
Over the past few years, digital asset mining operations have evolved from individual users mining with computer processors, graphics processing units and first-generation application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) servers. Currently, new processing power is predominantly added by incorporated and unincorporated “professionalized” mining operations. Professionalized mining operations may use proprietary hardware or sophisticated ASIC machines acquired from ASIC manufacturers. They require the investment of significant capital to acquire this hardware, to lease operating space (often in data centers or warehousing facilities), and to pay the costs of electricity and labor to operate the mining farms. As a result, professionalized mining operations are of a greater scale than prior mining operations and have more defined and regular expenses and liabilities. These regular expenses and liabilities require professionalized mining operations to maintain profit margins on the sale of digital assets. To the extent the price of digital assets decline and such profit margin is constrained, professionalized mining participants are incentivized to more immediately sell digital assets earned from mining operations, whereas it is believed that individual mining participants in past years were more likely to hold newly mined digital assets for more extended periods. The immediate selling of newly mined digital assets greatly increases the trading volume of the digital assets, creating downward pressure on the market price of digital asset rewards. The extent to which the value of digital assets mined by a professionalized mining operation exceeds the allocable capital and operating costs determines the profit margin of such operation. A professionalized mining operation may be more likely to sell a higher percentage of its newly mined digital assets rapidly if it is operating at a low profit margin and it may partially or completely cease operations if its profit margin is negative. In a low profit margin environment, a higher percentage could be sold more rapidly, thereby potentially depressing digital asset prices. Lower digital asset prices could result in further tightening of profit margins for professionalized mining operations creating a network effect that may further reduce the price of digital assets until mining operations with higher operating costs become unprofitable forcing them to reduce mining power or cease mining operations temporarily. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of Bitcoin and any other digital assets (if any) we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account.
Digital assets are subject to extreme price volatility. The value of digital assets is dependent on a number of factors, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We expect that a large portion of our revenue will come from processing blockchain transactions in the form of Bitcoin. We believe the value of digital assets related to our business is dependent on a number of factors, including, but not limited to:
| · | global digital asset supply; | |
| · | global digital asset demand, which can be influenced by the growth of retail merchants’ and commercial businesses’ acceptance of digital assets as payment for goods and services, the security of online digital asset exchanges and digital wallets that hold digital assets, the perception that the use and holding of digital assets is safe and secure, and the regulatory restrictions on their use; | |
| · | investors’ expectations with respect to the rate of inflation of fiat currencies; | |
| · | investors’ expectations with respect to the rate of deflation of digital assets; | |
| · | cyber theft of digital assets from online wallet providers, or news of such theft from such providers or from individuals’ online wallets; | |
| · | the availability and popularity of businesses that provide digital asset-related services; | |
| • | fees associated with processing a digital asset transaction; | |
| · | changes in the software, software requirements or hardware requirements underlying digital assets; | |
| · | changes in the rights, obligations, incentives, or rewards for the various participants in digital asset mining; | |
| · | interest rates; | |
| · | currency exchange rates, including the rates at which digital assets may be exchanged for fiat currencies; | |
| · | fiat currency withdrawal and deposit policies on digital asset exchanges and liquidity on such exchanges; | |
| · | interruptions in service or failures of major digital asset exchanges; | |
| · | investment and trading activities of large investors, including private and registered funds, that may directly or indirectly invest in digital assets; | |
| · | momentum pricing; | |
| · | monetary policies of governments, trade restrictions, currency devaluations and revaluations; | |
| · | regulatory measures, if any, that affect the use of digital assets, restrict digital assets as a form of payment, or limit the purchase of digital assets; | |
| · | global or regional political, economic or financial events and conditions; | |
| · | expectations that the value of digital assets will change in the near or long term. A decrease in the price of a single digital asset may cause volatility in the entire digital asset industry and may affect other digital assets. For example, a security breach that affects investor or user confidence in Bitcoin or another digital asset may affect the industry as a whole and may also cause the price of other digital assets to fluctuate; or | |
| · | with respect to Bitcoin, increased competition from other forms of digital assets or payments services. |
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We are dependent on the sale of bitcoin that we generate from our self-mining operations to pay any of our expenses that are payable in U.S. Dollars. We generally liquidate our bitcoin within 2-3 weeks of receipt in order to pay operational expenses. Therefore, we do not expect to incur material losses on bitcoin that we hold due to the short holding period. However, the lack of a set policy on how long we hold bitcoin, combined with the volatility of bitcoin prices, makes it more likely that we experience losses from holding bitcoin, which could have a material, adverse impact on our liquidity and our business.
Even if shareholders are able to hold their common stock for the long-term, their common stock may never generate a profit, since digital asset markets have historically experienced extended periods of flat or declining prices, in addition to sharp fluctuations. Investors should be aware that there is no assurance that Bitcoin or other digital assets will maintain their long-term value in terms of future purchasing power or that the acceptance of digital asset payments by mainstream retail merchants and commercial businesses will continue to grow. If the price of Bitcoin or other digital assets declines, we expect our profitability to decline.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use Of Proceeds.
During the three months ended February 29, 2024, the Company issued securities in the following private transactions:
| · | 72,993 shares were issued to an officer pursuant to the terms of his employment contract, which entitle the officer to a quarterly bonus payable in shares of common stock. The shares were valued at $32,117 or $0.44 per share, based on the value indicated by the Company’s recently completed Unit Offering. The bonus shares vest on January 15, 2027 if the officer is still employed with us on that date, and are amortized from the date of issuance to January 15, 2027. |
All of the securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information.
During
the quarter ended February 29, 2024, no director or officer of the Company
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Item 6. Exhibits.
The exhibits listed on the Exhibit Index below are provided as part of this report.
| Exhibit No. | Description | |
| 31.1* | Certification of principal executive officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended | |
| 31.2* | Certification of principal financial officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended | |
| 32.1* | Certification of principal executive officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended | |
| 32.2* | Certification of principal financial officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended | |
| 101.INS* | Inline XBRL Instance Document (the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document) | |
| 101.SCH* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | |
| 101.CAL* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | |
| 101.DEF* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | |
| 101.LAB* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | |
| 101.PRE* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | |
| 104* | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted in IXBRL, and included in exhibit 101). |
* Filed herewith.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| BITMINE IMMERSION TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | |||
| Dated: April 15, 2024 | By: | /s/ Jonathan Bates | |
|
Jonathan Bates, Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
|||
| Dated: April 15, 2024 | By: | /s/ Raymond Mow | |
|
Raymond Mow Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
|||
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