CalEthos, Inc. [BUUZ] Filings

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

Commission file number 000-50331

CalEthos, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (714) 352-5315

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

Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Act:

Common Stock, $0.001 par value

(Title of class)

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

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

Indicate by checkmark whether the registrant has (1) 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. Yes ☒ No ☐

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

Indicate by checkmark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☐

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

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

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

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

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

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

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common stock, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, as of June 30, 2023, the last day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $2,770,711, computed by reference to the closing sales price for the registrant’s common stock on June 30, 2023, as reported on The OTC Pink Market.

As of March 30, 2024 there were 24,330,540 outstanding shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share.

CalEthos, Inc.

Annual Report on Form 10-K

For the Fiscal-Year Ended December 31, 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements contained in this report with respect to our financial condition, results of operations and business that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “seek”, “estimate”, “project”, “could”, “may” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon, or by discussions of strategy that involve risks and uncertainties. Management wishes to caution the reader of the forward-looking statements that any such statements that are contained in this report reflect our current beliefs with respect to future events and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, regulatory, technological, key employees, and general business factors affecting our operations, markets, growth, services, products and other factors, some of which are described in this report and some of which are discussed in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are only estimates or predictions. No assurances can be given regarding the achievement of future results, as actual results may differ materially as a result of risks facing our company, and actual events may differ from the assumptions underlying the statements that have been made regarding anticipated events.

Important factors to consider in evaluating any forward-looking statements include:

These risk factors should be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that we or persons acting on our behalf may issue. All written and oral forward looking statements made in connection with this report that are attributable to our company or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Given these uncertainties, we caution investors not to unduly rely on our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts’ expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

Notwithstanding the above, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), expressly state that the safe harbor for forward-looking statements does not apply to companies that issue penny stock. If, as now, we are considered to be an issuer of penny stock, the safe harbor for forward-looking statements may not apply to us at certain times.

Throughout this report, unless otherwise designated, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “the Company” and “our company” refer to CalEthos, Inc., a Nevada corporation. All amounts are in U.S. Dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

We are in the early stages of implementing our plan for the construction and operation of clean-energy-powered data centers to lease to large enterprise information technology (IT) customers that are creating or addressing the growing demand for AI, Cloud and High-Performance Computing (HPC) digital services. Data centers are highly-specialized and secure buildings that house networking, storage and communications technology infrastructure, including servers, storage devices, switches, routers and fiber optic transmission equipment. They are designed to provide the space, power, cooling and network connectivity necessary to efficiently operate mission-critical IT equipment. Telecommunications carriers and internet providers typically provide network access into a data center through optical fiber connections. The demand for data center infrastructure is being driven by many factors, but most importantly by significant growth in data and increased demand for data processing and storage infrastructure. The market for data center facilities includes established “traditional” enterprises that are web-enabling their applications and business processes, as well as cloud-centric companies with sophisticated technology requirements.

There are many types of data centers and service models available in the marketplace. Generally, their classification depends on whether they are owned by one or many organizations, how they fit into the topology of other data centers, what technologies they use for computing and storage, and even their energy efficiency. However, there are four main types of data centers:

We are developing our business model to compete in the wholesale colocation segment of the data center services industry, which is focused on providing data center space to companies that provide the processing, networking and storage of data. With the move to treat data as an asset, the data services market is expected to experience significant growth over the next decade. Industry automation and digital businesses are expanding, and these businesses are expected to require huge amounts of data for their businesses. North America is the most advanced region globally and data center services are in high demand.

In planning for our initial data centers, we are in discussions with several large companies that would lease all or part of the data center campus, with the intention of cultivating long-term strategic relationships with them once they become our customers and providing them with solutions for their data center facilities and IT infrastructure requirements. We initially intend to provide clean-energy powered wholesale colocation space with flexibility for customers to scale for future growth. As currently contemplated, our offerings will provide clean energy power, flexibility, reliability and security delivered through a tailored, customer-service-focused platform that will be designed to foster long-term relationships. Our plan is to focus on technology and large cloud computing customers that are expanding their services rapidly in the public and private cloud environments to provide them with solutions that address their current and future needs. We expect that our facilities and construction design will allow us to offer flexibility in rack density and power resiliency, and the opportunity for expansion as our customers’ needs grow.

Plan of Operations

As of the filing of this Report, we have completed Phase I and entered into Phase II of our data center development plans. In the initial phase of our project, we signed an option agreement on March 30, 2023 to acquire 80 acres of commercially-zoned land in Imperial County, California that is surrounded by nearby geothermal power plants and solar farms. We believe this site is a unique location in that it will provide us with a rare opportunity to acquire commercially-zoned land on which we can combine nearby direct clean geothermal/solar energy with a 24/7 data center operation. We believe 100% clean-energy-powered data centers are an important element in the ability of the U.S. to meet its carbon neutral climate goals and for hyperscale and enterprise IT companies to meet their shareholder and customer commitments to have an ESG-compliant, clean digital footprint before 2030. As a result, we believe the availability of nearby clean energy for our Imperial County site will provide us a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace.

In Phase I of our development plan, which we completed in December 2023, we contracted with leading data center advisory firms to complete site, power and connectivity assessments, feasibility studies, engineering plans and project benchmarking. Phase I of our plan included:

Based on the project assessment, feasibility and initial shovel-ready site plan developed by HDR Engineering, and the benchmarking of the project by Linesight against 25 other large data center developments in the U.S. over the last 24 months, we plan to develop our 80-acre parcel in Imperial County, California to support a 300-megawatt (MW) critical IT load data center campus of up to one million square feet of rentable colocation space utilizing baseload geothermal and supplemental solar from local power producers. Our site is industrial zoned, approved for data center use and today has access to up to 500MW of clean energy that can be delivered to it through two separate highly-reliable 230kV high-voltage transmission lines.

At the end of December 2023, we started Phase II of our data center development plan. Phase II includes hiring additional staff and consultants to complete environmental, health and safety and cyber security procedures and to develop a set of data center operating procedures to meet customer pre-qualification requirements. During this phase, we will also develop requests for proposals (RFPs) and contract packages for contracting an engineering/design firm and general contractor. In addition, we will ramp up our operating staff to support the infrastructure and buildings design processes and the development of building plans and the permit packages. We will also undertake and complete utility studies, transmission planning, substation design and the next level of geotechnical testing.

Over the next few months, we plan to complete our negotiations with the local grid operator to deliver geothermal and solar power to our Imperial County site directly from local producers and to have selected and contracted our architect/engineering firm and general contractor. In addition, we expect that it will take three to six months to complete the necessary customer pre-qualifications and basic infrastructure and building designs required to negotiate a letter of intent with a customer that will lease all or a substantial portion of our planned data center capacity. We are currently in discussions with a number of companies that are interested in leasing wholesale colocation space under a long-term lease and we are entertaining build-to-suit arrangements with a number of potential customers. Based upon the interest we have received from potential customers, we expect that we will have a letter of intent signed by the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter of 2024 t lease all or a substantial part of the development.

We plan to start the design process for our initial data center in the beginning of May 2024 and to have plans and permit packages completed by the end of 2024. If those components of Phase II are completed as planned, we would then start the initial phase of construction in January of 2025.

As we move through the development process we will continue to refine and finalize the courses of action needed to implement our business plan and operations. As a result, management has not fully determined our actual short-term or long-term capital requirements for our initial project, which management expects to be substantial.

The Data Center Industry

According to a March 2023 report of Prescient & Strategic Intelligence Pvt. Ltd., a market intelligence and consulting firm, the data center industry is large and on pace to grow rapidly, from $263 billion in 2022 to over $602 billion in 2030. The industry is not only large, but also very profitable. According to Dgtl Infra LLC, a digital infrastructure advisory firm, the larger data center developer/operator companies average 50% EBITDA on lease revenues. Those that are publicly traded are valued at an average of 25 times EBITDA.

A key metric for the industry is the cost per kilowatt-of-power-per-month ($/kW/Mo.), which drives lease revenues. According to the Evercore Digital Infrastructure Sector Update for the third quarter of 2023 (the “Evercore Report”) of Evercore, a leading global independent investment bank, hyperscale lease transactions (transactions involving the lease of 100MWs or more of data center capacity) in the U.S. are being consummated at $130/kW/Mo. or higher vs. $65-75 just three years ago, and some wholesale colocation customers are paying as high as $165/kW/mo.

Another key metric in the data center industry is the kilowatt (kW) of power-per-data-center-rack (the density of power a cabinet of servers or data storage systems consumes). According to the Evercore Report, historically, this metric has averaged 8-10kW per rack over the last ten years. However, because of artificial intelligence (AI) and other high performance computing (HPC) requirements, data center rack power densities are climbing upwards towards 100kW per rack. These higher rack densities require liquid-cooled systems rather than the conventional air-cooling methods that have been the standard for decades. Based on an average rack density of 20-40kW per rack, data center build costs over the last two to four years have averaged $10 to $15 million per megawatt. However, today, because of the new power and cooling requirements, build costs for data center developments are projected to be more in the range of $15 to $20 million per megawatt.

As a result of these changing dynamics, demand for data centers is intensive for both more facilities and greater power density. In the Evercore Report it was noted that during the third quarter of 2023, every data center under construction was pre-leased two to five years in advance of occupancy. The key constraint for the growth of data centers is the availability of power. However, in the Evercore Report, Evercore, noted that during the third quarter of 2023, on a nationwide basis, there was no availability of contiguous data center capacity above 10MW, and only three blocks of 5 MWs were available. To illustrate the power constraint, today’s data center developments start in increments of 100MW, while mega-campuses of 1GW or more are being planned.

To meet the growing demands of the digital world, it is projected by McKinsey & Company that the industry will increase energy consumption from 17GW today to over 35GW by 2030. This projected increase in demand for power has left data center developers and operators searching for electricity in any region with available power, land for construction and sufficient network bandwidth.

A second consideration is the environmental impact of power generation and use. Sustainability regulations are projected to become more difficult to meet, and it is expected that using renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset carbon footprints of conventional power sources will no longer qualify. Today, less than 5% of the energy powering data centers is clean.

Competition

The competition in the data center industry is primarily driven by the increasing presence of small- and large-scale service providers globally, and we will compete with numerous developers, and public and private owners and operators of technology-related real estate and data centers. The key participants in the data center colocation market are Digital Realty, Equinix, CyrusOne, QTS, and, Vantage, Compass, among many others. In addition, we may face competition from other new entrants into the data center market. Many of our current and potential competitors may have significant advantages over us, including greater name recognition, longer operating histories, pre-existing relationships with current or potential customers, significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources, ownership of more data centers and data centers that are more broadly distributed geographically, access to less expensive power, and more robust interconnected hubs in certain geographic markets. All of these potential advantages could allow competitors to respond more quickly to new or changing opportunities. In addition, once we are operational, if our competitors offer space, power and/or interconnection services at rates below current market rates, or below the rates we are then charging our customers, we may lose potential customers or be pressured to reduce our rental rates below those we are then charging or have modelled in order to retain customers when our customers’ leases expire.

As a new entrant into the data center marketplace, we will compete against the larger, more established and better capitalized companies that today control the majority of market share. We believe our principal advantages will be our location, which provides us with access to an abundance of reasonably-priced local baseload geothermal and supplemental solar energy to power a 24/7 data center operation, low-latency connectivity to major market hubs, the various power distribution and cooling designs that we will employ to support a wide range of data center racking densities, and our proximity to the Southern California market and the multitudes of companies utilizing high-performance computing that want close-by data center space.

As a developer of clean-energy powered data center space, we also compete for the services of key third-party service providers, including engineers and contractors with expertise in the development of data centers. The competition for the services of specialized contractors and other third-party providers required for the development of data centers is intense, increasing the cost of engaging such providers and the risk of delays in completing our development projects.

Finally, we face competition from real estate developers in our sector and in other industries for the acquisition of additional properties suitable for data center development. Such competition may reduce the number of properties available for acquisition or development, increase the price of these properties and reduce the demand for data center space in the markets we seek to serve.

Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property will consist of data center designs and systems for supporting, immersion and liquid cooled data center systems that we will deploy for wholesale colocation services to hyperscale and enterprise IT customers. We intend to rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws in the United States and other jurisdictions, as well as contractual protections, to protect our proprietary service offerings and data center management systems. However, as of the date of this Report, we do not have any patents or registered trademarks.

We cannot provide any assurance that our proprietary rights with respect to our data center designs, systems or services will be viable or have value in the future since the validity, enforceability and type of protection of proprietary rights in these industries are uncertain and continuingly evolving.

Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our design, systems and services or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Policing unauthorized use of our designs and services is difficult, and while we are unable to determine the extent to which piracy of our designs, systems and services will exist, intellectual piracy can be expected to be a persistent problem. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to as great an extent as do the laws of the United States, and effective copyright, trademark, trade secret and patent protection may not be available in those jurisdictions. Our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate to protect us from the infringement or misappropriation of such rights by others.

Further, in recent years, there has been significant litigation in the United States involving patents and other intellectual property rights in the data center design, systems and service offerings and Internet-related data management industries. We can become subject to intellectual property infringement claims as the number of our competitors grows and our services overlap with competitive offerings. These claims, even if not meritorious, could be expensive to defend and could divert management’s attention from operating our business. If we become liable to third parties for infringing their intellectual property rights, we could be required to pay a substantial award of damages and to develop non-infringing design, systems and service offerings, obtain a license or cease providing the services that contain the infringing intellectual property. We may be unable to develop non-infringing data center design, systems and service offerings or obtain a license on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

Employees

We currently have four employees, three of whom are our executive officers, and one of whom is our VP of Data Center Development. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement, and we have never experienced any work stoppage. We believe we have good relations with our employees.

Corporate History and Recent Developments

We were incorporated pursuant to the laws of the State of Nevada on March 20, 2002 under the name Integrated Brand Solutions Inc., and on February 6, 2006, we changed our name to Upstream Biosciences Inc. From 2006 to December 2009, our company operated as a biotechnology company, and from 2010 until May 2013, our company had no operating business. On July 11, 2013, we changed our corporate name to RealSource Residential, Inc. Our initial business strategy in 2013 was to engage in various real estate related businesses. However, in 2016 we disposed of all of our real estate and other assets and continued operations as a public “shell” company.

On December 20, 2018, we changed our corporate name from RealSource Residential, Inc. to CalEthos, Inc. in connection with the implementation of a plan for building a chain of large-format cannabis retail superstores to serve the needs of the rapidly-growing Southern California market. Over the subsequent two-year period, management assembled a number of acquisitions for retail licenses, store leases and display agreements with numerous cannabis brands as part of executing its business plan. However, once the COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns hit in early 2020 and Federal legalization of cannabis did not materialize after the 2020 elections, funding for cannabis-related businesses became less available and by the end of 2020, we concluded it would be better to pursue other business opportunities for our public company. After months of research, we determined there was a sizable opportunity to develop and manufacture high-performance computer systems for the cryptocurrency mining industry. In March 2021, we created a new business plan to develop a five nanometer ASIC chip and bitcoin mining computer system in South Korea utilizing Samsung technology and foundry capacity.

In August 2021, we hired an experienced chief technology officer from the chip industry to lead our product development and in September 2021, we closed a convertible debt financing of $3.5 million to fund the initial phase of product development. In connection with such capital raise, our board of directors determined that we are no longer a shell company, as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). During the development of our computer chip and system in Korea, we had also developed a plan to build a large-scale, clean-energy powered, containerized, immersion-cooled data center operation in Southern California to support the use of the systems we were developing for our company and for others. However, following the decline of the bitcoin market in early 2022, we decided to abandon our chip and system development efforts and we determined that we could develop a profitable business by offering wholesale data center colocation services to a larger customer base of hyperscale and enterprise IT companies.

We are a smaller reporting company, as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information under this item.

None.

Risk Management and Strategy

While we are in our early stages of our business plan, we regularly assess risks from cybersecurity threats, monitor our information systems for potential vulnerabilities and test those systems pursuant to the our cybersecurity processes and practices, which are integrated into our overall risk management system. As we progress with the development of our business plans, we plan to use various security tools designed to help us identify, investigate, resolve and recover from security incidents in a timely manner.

To date, cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, have not materially affected and we believe are not reasonably likely to affect our company, including our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition.

Governance

One of the key functions of our board of directors is informed oversight of our risk management process, including risks from cybersecurity threats. Our board of directors is responsible for monitoring and assessing strategic risk exposure, and our executive officers are responsible for the day-to-day management of the material risks we face.

We take a risk-based approach to cybersecurity and have implemented cybersecurity policies throughout our operations that are designed to address cybersecurity threats and incidents.

Our Chief Executive Officer is primarily responsible for assessing and managing our material risks from cybersecurity threats with assistance from third-party service providers and outside counsel, as needed.

Our Chief Executive Officer oversees our cybersecurity policies and processes, including those described in “Risk Management and Strategy” above. Our cybersecurity risk management program includes tools and activities to prevent, detect and analyze current and emerging cybersecurity threats, and plans and strategies to address threats and incidents.

We do not own any real property. Our executive office is located at 11753 Willard Avenue, Tustin, California 92782, in the office of Michael Campbell, our Chief Executive Officer. We are not charged rent for the use of this space. We believe our existing facilities are sufficient for our current operations.

We know of no material active or pending legal proceeding against our company, nor are we involved as a plaintiff in any material proceeding or pending litigation.

Not Applicable.

PART II

Our common stock is listed for quotation on the OTC Pink Market under the trading symbol “BUUZ.”. Trading in our common stock in the over-the-counter market has been limited and the quotations set forth below are not necessarily indicative of actual market values. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low closing bid prices for each quarter within the last two fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 as reported by the quotation service operated by the OTC Markets Group. All quotations for the OTC Pink Market reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

On April 1, 2024, the closing bid price for our common stock on the OTC Pink Market as reported by the quotation service operated by the OTC Markets Group was $2.62.

Transfer Agent

Nevada Agency and Transfer Company is the registrar and transfer agent for our common shares. Their address is 50 West Liberty, Suite 880 Reno, Nevada, 89501 Telephone: 775-322-0626, Facsimile: 775-322-5623.

Holders of Our Common Stock

As of March 30, 2024, there were 67 registered holders of record of our common stock. As of such date, 25,330,540 shares of common stock were issued and outstanding. The number of our shareholders of record excludes any estimate by us of the number of beneficial owners of shares held in street name, the accuracy of which cannot be guaranteed.

Dividend Policy

We have not declared or paid any cash dividends since inception. Although there are no restrictions that limit our ability to pay dividends on our common shares, we do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data.

We are a “smaller reporting company” as defined by Regulation S-K and as such, are not required to provide the information contained in this item pursuant to Regulation S-K.

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and the related notes that appear elsewhere in this Annual report. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Our audited financial statements are stated in United States dollars and are prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles.

Plan of Operations

It is the intention of our board of directors for our company to pursue the development of the 80 acres of land in Imperial County, California that we recently put under an exclusive option agreement and develop it for a large-scale, 100% geothermal/solar-powered, certifiable clean energy, data center operation that will utilize immersion and liquid cooled and conventional energy efficient data center systems and provide colocation services to enterprise IT customers.

To implement our plan, we have optioned the land and hired an experienced data center builder and operator and we are now in the process of acquiring the other principal ingredients needed for our data center operation – clean energy and fiber connectivity. To this end, over the next couple of months, we plan to finish negotiations with local geothermal and solar power producers to deliver clean energy for our operation, and to complete agreements with multiple communication providers for access to their close-by long-haul and dark fiber communication networks for connectivity.

We are also in the process of developing partnerships with leading-edge containerized and modular immersion and liquid cooled data center system providers whose systems we will offer for rent to our customers. We believe that, when construction of our data center is complete, the principal differentiators of our data center operations in the marketplace are expected to be that we are powered by 100% certified clean energy and that we provide leading-edge immersion and liquid cooled energy-efficient data center systems that will support the ever-increasing power and cooling needs of high-performance enterprise IT computer systems.

It is anticipated that we will incur expenses in the implementation of the business plan described herein, and such expenses will require substantial financing to complete the development of the property for a data center operation and to achieve our goals. The failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, could force us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our development plans, any commercialization efforts or other operations. We may not be able to secure financing on favorable terms, or at all, to meet our future capital needs. In addition, even if we are able to obtain sufficient funding to commence our business operations, we may need to pursue additional financing in the future to make expenditures and/or investments to support the growth of our business and may require additional capital to pursue our business objectives and respond to new competitive pressures, pay extraordinary expenses or fund our growth, including through acquisitions. Additional funds, however, may not be available when we need them on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to commence our proposed business operations, to continue to grow and support our business and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited.

We currently have only limited capital with which to pay these anticipated expenses. To fund our business plan going forward, we intend to raise funds from investors by issuing common stock, preferred stock and/or debt securities.

Results of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

The following summary should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Revenue

For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had no revenues.

Operating Expenses

Professional fees

Our professional fees decreased from $667,000 for the year ended December 31, 2022 to $344,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023, representing a decrease of approximately $323,000. Our professional fees of $344,000 is net of data center capitalized cost of approximately $80,000. Therefore, the actual professional fees incurred for the year ended December 31, 2023, was approximately $424,000, a decrease of approximately $243,000. The decrease of approximately $243,000 was attributable to a $141,000 reduction in the use of outside contractors, a $110,000 reduction in legal fees, and a $17,000 reduction in the overhead cost of our South Korean subsidiary, for a total of $268,000. These reductions were offset by an approximate $21,000 increase in audit fees and a $4,000 increase in other expenses for a total of $25,000.

Equity-based compensation (gain)

Our equity-based compensation for the year ended December 31, 2023 is attributable to the stock options and warrants issued to our officers, directors and consultants during the year ended December 31, 2023 for a total expense of $3,032,000. Information with respect to such equity-based compensation is set forth in Note 7 to our audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 included elsewhere in this Report.

Our equity-based gain in the year ended December 31, 2022 was attributable to equity-based compensation expense of approximately $6,377,000, which was offset by forfeitures of equity-based compensation of approximately $11,168,000.

Impairment loss

Our impairment loss of $154,000 in the year ended December 31, 2022 was due to the impairment of intangibles and other assets as a result of the suspension of our South Korean subsidiary’s operations.

General and administrative expenses

Our general and administrative expenses decreased from $52,000 in the year ended December 31, 2022 to $38,000 in the year ended December 31, 2023, representing a decrease of approximately $14,000.

Payroll and related expenses

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we did not have employees. Our first employee, our Chief Operating Officer, was hired in March of 2023. The total payroll-related cost for this employee was approximately $226,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023, of which approximately $175,000 was capitalized as data center cost.

Financing costs

Our financing cost for the year ended December 31, 2023, represented interest expense of approximately $252,000. The total interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2023 was approximately $448,000, of which approximately $196,000 was capitalized as data center development cost. Our financing cost for the year ended December 31, 2022 represented interest expense of $218,000 and debt discount amortization of $1,526,000, of which full amortized during the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in interest expense of $230,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023 was attributed to certain convertible promissory notes going into default during the year ended December 31, 2023.

Gain on settlement of payable

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we entered into an agreement with a vendor to reduce the payable by approximately $23,000.

Loss on extinguishment of debt

In December 2023, we requested the holders of our outstanding convertible promissory notes to convert such promissory notes into shares of our common stock. The book value of the promissory notes and accrued interest was approximately $4,906,000, and the fair value of the common stock was approximately $5,771,000, resulting in a loss on settlement of approximately $865,000. Also, the holder of a $50,000 promissory note agreed to convert the principal and accrued interest of $67,000 into shares of our common stock with a fair value of $188,000, resulting in a loss on settlement of approximately $121,000.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our financial position as of December 31 in each of the years indicated was as follows:

Working Capital

Our working capital decreased from a $3,143,000 deficit as of December 31, 2022 to a deficit of $704,000 as of December 31, 2023 for a total change of $2,439,000. The decline in our working capital was due to (i) a decrease in the book basis of our convertible promissory notes, for the December 2023 conversion and (ii) the decrease in our cash and cash equivalents, which was used for the data center development.

Cash Flows

Cash flows from operations

Cash used in operating activities decreased to approximately $35,000 in 2023 from approximately $820,000 in 2022, which was predominantly related to the reduction in our expenditures for filing fees, legal fees, transfer agent fees and consulting fees paid during the year.

Cash flow from investing

Our cash used for investing activities was approximately $1,730,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023. The primary use of cash was for expenditures for the development of our data center.

Cash flows from financing

For the year ended December 31, 2023, we had no financing activities.

Liquidity and Material Cash Requirements

Convertible Promissory Notes

As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately $456,000 outstanding related to our convertible promissory notes and accrued interest. In February 2024, the total of $456,000 was converted into shares of our common stock.

Cash Requirements

It is anticipated that we will incur expenses in the implementation of the business plan described above, and such expenses will require substantial financing to complete the development of the property for a data center operation and to achieve our goals. The failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, could force us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our development plans, any commercialization efforts or other operations. We may not be able to secure financing on favorable terms, or at all, to meet our future capital needs. In addition, even if we are able to obtain sufficient funding to commence our business operations, we may need to pursue additional financing in the future to make expenditures and/or investments to support the growth of our business and may require additional capital to pursue our business objectives and respond to new competitive pressures, pay extraordinary expenses or fund our growth, including through acquisitions. Additional funds, however, may not be available when we need them on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to commence our proposed business operations, to continue to grow and support our business and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited.

We currently have only limited capital with which to pay these anticipated expenses. To fund our business plan going forward, we intend to raise funds from investors by issuing common stock, preferred stock and/or debt securities.

Going Concern

The audited financial statements included in this Report have been prepared on a going concern basis, which implies that our company will continue to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. We are presently in the development stage and, apart from our cash balances, have only limited assets. Our company has not generated revenues in the last two fiscal years, has never paid any dividends and is unlikely to pay dividends or generate earnings in the immediate or foreseeable future. The continuation of our company as a going concern is dependent upon: (i) continued financial support from our shareholders; (ii) the ability of our company to continue raising necessary debt or equity financing to achieve its operating objectives; and (iii) our ability to acquire assets and establish a business or merge or otherwise acquire business opportunities.

Our independent auditors included an explanatory paragraph in their report on our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 regarding concerns about our ability to continue as a going concern. In addition, our financial statements contain further note disclosures in this regard. The implementation of our business plan is dependent upon our ability to continue raising sufficient new capital from equity or debt markets in order to fund our on-going operating losses and real estate acquisition activities. The issuance of additional equity securities could result in a significant dilution in the equity interests of our current stockholders.

Application of Critical Accounting Policies

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying disclosures of our company. Although these estimates are based on management’s knowledge of current events and actions that our company may undertake in the future, actual results may differ from such estimates.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of our company and our wholly-owned subsidiary from the formation date. All material intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

Foreign Currency Translation

The financial statements of our foreign subsidiary, for which the functional currency is the local currency, are translated into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at the consolidated balance sheet date for assets and liabilities and a weighted-average exchange rate during the year for revenue, expenses, gains and losses. Translation adjustments are recorded as other comprehensive income (loss) within shareholders’ equity (deficit). Gains or losses from foreign currency transactions are recognized in the consolidated statements of operations.

Debt and Debt Discounts

In accordance with ASC 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options, we first allocate the cash proceeds of the notes between the notes and any warrants on a relative fair value basis. Proceeds are then allocated to the conversion feature.

We account for debt discounts originating in connection with conversion features that remain embedded in the related notes in accordance with ASC 470-20. These costs are classified on the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the debt liability. We amortize these costs over the term of our debt agreements as financing cost in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

Stock-Based Compensation

We account for our stock-based compensation under ASC 718, “Compensation – Stock Compensation” using the fair value based method. Under this method, compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the value of the award and is recognized over the service period, which is usually the vesting period. This guidance establishes standards for the accounting for transactions in which an entity exchanges it equity instruments for goods or services. It also addresses transactions in which an entity incurs liabilities in exchange for goods or services that are based on the fair value of the entity’s equity instruments or that may be settled by the issuance of those equity instruments.

We use the fair value method for equity instruments granted to non-employees and use the BSM model for measuring the fair value of options. The stock based fair value compensation is determined as of the date of the grant (measurement date) and is recognized over the vesting periods.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Our management reviewed all recently-issued accounting standard updates (“ASU’s”) not yet adopted by our company and does not believe the future adoptions of any such ASU’s may be expected to cause a material impact on our consolidated financial condition or the results of our operations.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no significant off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial position, revenues and expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that are material to stockholders.

As a “smaller reporting company” as defined by Item 10 of Regulation S-K, we are not required to provide this information.

Our financial statements and notes thereto and the reports of RBSM LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, are set forth on pages F-1 through F-17 of this Report.

Not Applicable

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As required by paragraph (b) of Rules 13a-15 or 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer evaluated our company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on this evaluation, these officers concluded that as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, these disclosure controls and procedures were not effective.

The conclusion that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective was due to the presence of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting as identified below under the heading “Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.” Management anticipates that such disclosure controls and procedures will not be effective until the material weaknesses are remediated.

Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues, if any, within our company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdown can occur because of simple error or mistake.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) for our company. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance, not absolute assurance, regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America. Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that: (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. In addition, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions and that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, conducted an evaluation of the design and operation of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 based on the criteria set forth in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. This evaluation included review of the documentation of controls, evaluation of the design effectiveness of controls, testing of the operating effectiveness of controls and a conclusion on this evaluation. Based on this evaluation, our management concluded our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as at December 31, 2023 due to the following material weaknesses which are indicative of many small companies with small staff: (i) inadequate segregation of duties and effective risk assessment; (ii) insufficient written policies and procedures for accounting and financial reporting with respect to the requirements and application of both US GAAP and SEC guidelines; (iii) inadequate security and restricted access to computer systems including insufficient disaster recovery plans; and

(iv) no written whistle-blower policy.

We plan to take steps to enhance and improve the design of our internal controls over financial reporting when our company has sufficient staff to allocate responsibilities. During the period covered by this Report, we have not been able to remediate the material weaknesses identified above. To remediate such weaknesses, we plan to implement the following changes once our financial resources will support the required staffing level: (i) appoint additional qualified personnel to address inadequate segregation of duties and ineffective risk management; (ii) adopt sufficient written policies and procedures for accounting and financial reporting and a whistle-blower policy; and (iii) implement sufficient security and restricted access measures regarding our computer systems and implement a disaster recovery plan. The remediation efforts set out in (i) and (iii) are largely dependent upon our company securing additional financing to cover the costs of implementing the changes required. If we are unsuccessful in securing such funds, remediation efforts may be adversely effected in a material manner.

This Report does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to temporary rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permit us to provide only management’s report in this Report.

Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues, if any, within our company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake.

Changes In Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the year ended December 31, 2023 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

None.

PART III

Directors and Executive Officers

Our directors and executive officers, their ages and their positions held with our company are as follows:

There are no arrangements between our directors and any other person pursuant to which our directors were nominated or elected for their positions. There are no family relationships among our directors or officers.

The following biographical information regarding our directors and executive officers.

Michael Campbell. Mr. Campbell became our Chief Executive Officer on September 12, 2018. For the past 20 years, Mr. Campbell has been the managing director of M1 Advisors LLC, a business advisory and consulting firm that has engineered, orchestrated and provided support and services to numerous private-to-public transitions, debt and equity financings and hyper- organic-growth and consolidation strategies in a wide range of industries. In addition, from December 2011 to February 2017, Mr. Campbell was the Chief Executive Officer and a director of NXChain, Inc., a publicly-traded start-up shell company in the cryptocurrency business that was a successor to AgriVest Americas Inc., a publicly-traded start-up shell company that sought to acquire cattle ranches in Brazil for conversion to soybean farms. Mr. Campbell spent the first 20 years of his career in the high-tech industry creating and operating various companies that included a computer retailing operation, data-storage peripheral company with three computer disk-drive manufacturing companies through joint ventures with the Russian, Chinese and Spanish governments, a specialized call-center company for telco broadband provisioning and an online broadband services ordering and order aggregation company with the Regional Bell Operating Companies.

Joel D. Stone. Mr. Stone became our President and Chief Operating Officer on March 28, 2023. Mr. Stone has 24 years of broad-based operations, engineering, construction, integration, transformation, and technical leadership in the data center infrastructure, sourcing, and telecommunications industries. Prior to joining our company, Mr. Stone led the Global Site Sourcing teams for Meta Platforms that supported the data center infrastructure teams from 2019 to 2022. Prior to 2019, Mr. Stone served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of RagingWire Data Centers, an NTT communications company, where he was responsible for critical facilities engineering, design, construction, and data center operations from 2016-2018. Prior to RagingWire, Mr. Stone served as Vice President of Global Data Center Operations for CenturyLink Communications, responsible for 58 data centers around the world and a global team of 600+ people from 2011to 2016. Prior to CenturyLink, Mr. Stone was Group Operations Director at Global Switch in London, one of the largest wholesale data center providers in Europe and Asia. Mr. Stone spent nine years at Microsoft where he was responsible for all North America data center operations. Earlier in his career, Mr. Stone built-out two state-of-the-art data centers in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara) for Cable & Wireless Communications.

Dean S. Skupen. Mr. Skupen became our Chief Financial Officer on September 12, 2018. Mr. Skupen is a business advisor who has provided various financial accounting services to, or acted as the Interim Chief Financial Officer for, a number of public companies since 2010. Prior to that, he was a Partner at Stonefield Josephson, Inc. (now Marcum, LLP), an accounting firm with five offices throughout California where he provided auditing and consulting services to public companies and to privately-held entrepreneurial companies transitioning to public ownership in diverse industries. Mr. Skupen graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. In addition, he is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California.

Steven M. Shum. Mr. Shum became a director of our company on October 7, 2021. Mr. Shum has been Chief Executive Officer of INVO Bioscience (NASDAQ: INVO) since October 2019 and a member of the board of directors of INVO Bioscience since October 2017. Prior to INVO Bioscience, Mr. Shun served as Chief Financial Officer of Eastside Distilling (NASDAQ: EAST) from October 2015 to November 2019. Prior to joining Eastside, Mr. Shum was an employee and a member of the board of directors of XZERES Corp. (OTCQB:XPWR), a global renewable energy company, from October 2008 until April 2015, where he served in various officer roles, including Chief Operating Officer from September 2014 until April 2015, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Secretary from April 2010 until September 2014 (under former name, Cascade Wind Corp) and Chief Executive Officer and President from October 2008 to August 2010. Mr. Shum also serves as the managing principal of Core Fund Management, LP and the Fund Manager of Core Fund, LP. He was a founder of Revere Data LLC (now part of Factset Research Systems, Inc.) and served as its Executive Vice President for four years, heading up the product development efforts and contributing to operations, business development, and sales. He spent six years as an investment research analyst and portfolio manager of D.N.B. Capital Management, Inc. His previous employers include Red Chip Review and Laughlin Group of Companies. He earned a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in General Management from Portland State University in 1992.

Sean Fontenot. Mr. Fontenot became a director of our company on October 7, 2021. Mr. Fontenot has spent more than 20 years as a self-employed IT and network specialist and in 2017 became an executive producer of independent films. Mr. Fontenot is a technology enthusiast and film producer that manages a 5013c foundation dedicated to (i) educating the public on the history of video, arcade, and computer gaming - including the technical aspects and the impact of games on society; (ii) fostering public interest in software development and gaming hardware to enable technological growth and inspire the next generation of developers, and (iii) developing public space for action sports’ recreation - including mentoring youths and building programs designed to help bridge the gender gap in various action sports categories as well as underserved community members.

Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings

None of our directors and executive officers have been involved in any of the following events during the past ten years:

Director Independence

Our board of directors has reviewed the composition of our board of directors and the independence of each director. Based upon information requested from and provided by each director concerning his background, employment and affiliations, including family relationships, our board of directors has determined that each of Steven Shum and Sean Fontenot is an “independent director” as defined under Rule 5605(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules. In making such determinations, our board of directors considered the relationships that each such non-employee director has with our company and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant in determining independence, including the beneficial ownership of our capital stock by each non-employee director.

Board Committees

We do not have a standing Audit Committee. We do not believe that the lack of an Audit Committee has had or will have any adverse effect on our financial statements, based upon current operations; however, our board of directors will consider establishing an Audit Committee of independent directors as the number of directors increases. Until such time, our board of directors will perform the duties of an Audit Committee including delegating an auditor firm and interacting with them.

We do not have a standing Compensation Committee. Presently, the salary and benefits of our executive officers are determined by our entire board of directors. As we continue to develop our data center and commence selling colocation services, we expect to increase the size of our board to include independent directors who will approve the compensation arrangements with our executive officers.

We also do not have a Nominating Committee as we have not adopted any procedures by which security holders may recommend nominees to our board of directors.

Code of Ethics

Effective March 28, 2022, our Board of Directors adopted an amended Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to, among other persons, members of our board of directors, our company’s officers, contractors, consultants and advisors. We will provide a copy of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics to any person without charge, upon request. Requests can be sent to our company at the address on the cover of this Annual Report.

Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of our common stock to file with the SEC reports of their ownership and changes in their ownership of our common stock. To our knowledge, based solely on review of the copies of such reports and amendments to such reports with respect to the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC, all required Section 16 reports under the Exchange Act for our directors, executive officers and beneficial owners of greater than 10% of our common stock were filed on a timely basis during the year ended December 31, 2023, except for (i) late Form 3 filings for Joel Stone and Dean Skupen, (ii) late Form 4 filings for Michael Campbell, Sean Fortenot and Steven Shum, and (iii) late Schedule 13D filings for Michael Campbell and Sean Fortenot. As of the date of the filing of this annual report, all such Form 3, Form 4 and Schedule 13D filings have been made.

The following table sets forth all compensation awarded to, earned by or paid to the executive officers of our company during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. No compensation was paid to any other executive officer of our company during such periods.

SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE

Employment Agreement

On June 19, 2023, we entered into an Employment Agreement dated as of June 19, 2023 (the “Employment Agreement”) with Joel D. Stone, our President and Chief Operating Officer. Pursuant to the terms of the Employment Agreement, Mr. Stone will receive (i) an annual base salary of $250,000, which amount may be increased upon our reaching certain benchmarks described in the Employment Agreement, as determined in our sole discretion; (ii) an initial option grant of seven-year options to purchase 2,500,000 shares of our common stock for a purchase price of $0.50 per share, of which the right to purchase up to 1,250,000 shares will vest in equal installments over a period of three years and the right to purchase up to 1,250,000 shares will vest upon our completing certain milestones that are set out in the Employment Agreement; and (iii) the right to participate in all benefit plans offered to our senior executive officers.

The Employment Agreement also provides for certain severance benefits upon a termination by us without “cause” or by Mr. Stone for “good reason.” In the event of a termination by us without “cause” or by Mr. Stone for “good reason” after the first full year of employment, Mr. Stone will be entitled to (i) continued payment of his base salary for the lesser of six (6) months or the remaining term of the Employment Agreement, subject to Mr. Stone signing a timely and effective separation agreement containing a release of all claims against us and other customary terms; provided, however, that if such termination is between the 91^st day and the end of the first year of employment, Mr. Stone will be entitled to a pro rata portion of such payment.

The Employment Agreement contains customary confidentiality restrictions and work-product provisions with respect to Mr. Stone, as well as customary non-competition covenants and non-solicitation covenants with respect to our employees, consultants and customers.

Consulting Agreements

On October 20, 2018, we entered into a consulting agreement with DSS Consulting Corporation, a corporation controlled by Dean Skupen, our Chief Financial Officer (“DSS Consulting”), pursuant to which DSS Consulting agreed to continue to provide consulting services to our company and to cause Mr. Skupen to serve as our Chief Financial Officer. The agreement with DSS Consulting will continue until terminated by either party. Pursuant to such agreement, DSS Consulting was issued 250,000 shares of common stock in March 2019 and DSS Consulting will be paid a monthly consulting fee in the amount of $5,000. The consulting agreement contains customary confidentiality restrictions and work-product provisions, as well as customary non-competition covenants and non-solicitation covenants with respect to our employees, consultants and customers.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table provides information as of December 31, 2023, regarding our compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance:

2021 Equity Incentive Plan

On October 4, 2021, we adopted our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Equity Plan”) to provide an additional means to attract, motivate, retain and reward selected employees and other eligible persons. Our stockholders also approved the Equity Plan on October 4, 2021. On November 28 2023, our board of directors approved an increase in the number shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the Equity Plan to 10,000,000 shares, subject to stockholder approval, which has not yet been obtained. Employees, officers, directors and consultants who provide services to us or one of our subsidiaries were eligible to receive awards under the Equity Plan. Awards under the Equity Plan are issuable in the form of incentive or nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, stock bonuses, restricted stock, stock units and other forms of awards including cash awards.

As of December 31, 2023, options to purchase an aggregate of 6,854,000 shares of common stock had been made under the Equity Plan, and 3,146,000 shares authorized under the Equity Plan remained available for award purposes.

Purpose. The purpose of the Equity Plan is to further and promote the interests of our company and its stockholders by enabling us to attract, retain and motivate employees, directors and consultants, or those who will become employees, directors or consultants, and to align the interests of those individuals with the interests of our stockholders.

Administration. The Equity Plan will be administered by an independent compensation committee appointed by the Board (the “Compensation Committee”), which will have general administrative authority for the Equity Plan. In the event that the Board has not appointed the Compensation Committee, then the Board shall have all the powers of the Compensation Committee under the Equity Plan. The Compensation Committee may delegate certain limited authority to one or more of our senior executive officers to grant awards to employees who are not subject to Section 16 of the Exchange Act. Additionally, the Compensation Committee may designate persons other than members of the Compensation Committee to carry out the day-to-day ministerial administration of the Equity Plan (other than with regard to the selection for participation in the Equity Plan and/or the granting of any awards to participants) under such conditions and limitations as prescribed by the Compensation Committee (the appropriate acting body, be it the Compensation Committee, the Board, or an executive officer within his or her delegated authority, is referred to herein as the “Administrator”). The Administrator’s determinations under the Equity Plan need not be uniform and may be made selectively among the Equity Plan’s participants, whether or not such participants are similarly situated.

The Administrator has broad authority under the Equity Plan with respect to award grants including, without limitation, the authority to:

Eligibility. Persons eligible to receive awards under the Equity Plan include employees, directors and consultants, or those who will become employees, directors or consultants, of our company and/or its subsidiaries. Notwithstanding the above, incentive stock options may only be granted under the Equity Plan to our employees.

Authorized Shares. The maximum number of shares of common stock that may be initially issued or transferred pursuant to awards under the Equity Plan shall not exceed 10,000,000 shares, all of which may be issued as any type of award permitted under the Equity Plan, including, but not limited to, incentive stock options.

Types of Awards. The Equity Plan authorizes awards of stock options and restricted shares of common stock.

A stock option is the right to purchase shares of common stock at a future date at a specified price per share (the “Exercise Price”). The per share Exercise Price of an option generally may not be less than the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date of grant. The maximum term of an option is ten years from the date of grant. An option may either be an incentive stock option or a nonqualified stock option. Incentive stock option benefits are taxed differently from nonqualified stock options, as described under “Federal Income Tax Consequences of Awards Under the Plan” below. Incentive stock options are also subject to more restrictive terms and are limited in amount by the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) and the Equity Plan. Incentive stock options may only be granted to employees of our company or a subsidiary.

Restricted shares are shares of common stock granted to Equity Plan participants, subject to such restrictions, terms and conditions, if any, as the Administrator deems appropriate, including, without limitation, (a) restrictions on the sale, assignment, transfer, hypothecation or other disposition of such shares, (b) the requirement that the participant deposit such shares with our company while such shares are subject to such restrictions, and (c) the requirement that such shares be forfeited upon termination of employment or service with our company for any reason or for specified reasons within a specified period of time or for other reasons (including, without limitation, the failure to achieve designated performance goals). Upon satisfaction or lapse of the applicable restrictions, terms, and conditions, subject to applicable securities laws, the participant will receive shares of common stock in exchange for such restricted shares.

Dividend Equivalents; Deferrals. The Administrator may provide for the deferred payment of awards and may determine the other terms applicable to deferrals. The Administrator may provide that awards under the Equity Plan earn dividends or dividend equivalents based on the amount of dividends paid on outstanding shares of common stock.

Assumption and Termination of Awards. Generally, and subject to limited exceptions set forth in the Equity Plan, if we dissolve or undergo certain corporate transactions such as a merger, business combination, or other reorganization, or a sale of substantially all of its assets, all awards then-outstanding under the Equity Plan will become fully vested or paid, as applicable, and will terminate or be terminated in such circumstances, unless the Administrator provides for the assumption, substitution or other continuation of the award. The Administrator also has the discretion to establish other change in control provisions with respect to awards granted under the Equity Plan. For example, the Administrator could provide for the acceleration of vesting or payment of an award in connection with a corporate event that is not described above and provide that any such acceleration shall be automatic upon the occurrence of any such event.

Clawback. We may cancel any award under the Equity Plan, require reimbursement from a participant, and effect any other right of recoupment of equity or other compensation provided under the Equity Plan in accordance with any clawback policies adopted by us.

Transfer Restrictions. Subject to certain exceptions contained in the Equity Plan, awards under the Equity Plan generally are not transferable by the recipient other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution and are generally exercisable, during the recipient’s lifetime, only by the recipient. Any amounts payable or shares issuable pursuant to an award generally will be paid only to the recipient or the recipient’s beneficiary or representative. The Administrator has discretion, however, to establish written conditions and procedures for the transfer of awards to other persons or entities, provided that such transfers comply with applicable federal and state securities laws.

Adjustments. As is customary in incentive plans of this nature, each share limit and the number and kind of shares available under the Equity Plan and any outstanding awards, as well as the exercise or purchase prices of awards, and performance targets under certain types of performance-based awards, are subject to adjustment in the event of certain reorganizations, mergers, combinations, recapitalizations, stock splits, stock dividends, or other similar events that change the number or kind of shares outstanding, and extraordinary dividends or distributions of property to the stockholders.

No Limit on Other Authority. The Equity Plan does not limit the authority of the Board or any committee to grant awards or authorize any other compensation, with or without reference to the our common stock, under any other plan or authority.

Termination of or Changes to the Equity Plan. The Board may amend or terminate the Equity Plan at any time and in any manner. Stockholder approval for an amendment will be required only to the extent then required by applicable law or any applicable listing agency or required under Sections 422 or 424 of the Code to preserve the intended tax consequences of the plan. For example, stockholder approval will be required for any amendment that proposes to increase the maximum number of shares that may be delivered with respect to awards granted under the Equity Plan (adjustments as a result of stock splits or similar events will not, however, be considered an amendment requiring stockholder approval). Unless terminated earlier by the Board, the authority to grant new awards under the Equity Plan will terminate on October 4, 2031. Outstanding awards, as well as the Administrator’s authority with respect thereto, generally will continue following the expiration or termination of the Equity Plan. Generally speaking, outstanding awards may be amended by the Administrator (except for a repricing), but the consent of the award holder is required if the amendment (or any Equity Plan amendment) materially and adversely affects the holder.

Federal Income Tax Consequences of Awards under the Plan.

The U.S. federal income tax consequences of the Equity Plan under current federal law, which is subject to change, are summarized in the following discussion of the general tax principles applicable to the Equity Plan. This summary is not intended to be exhaustive and, among other considerations, does not describe the deferred compensation provisions of Section 409A of the Code to the extent an award is subject to and does not satisfy those rules, nor does it describe certain elections under the Code (such as an election under Code Section 83(b)), alternative minimum tax, or state, local, or international tax consequences.

With respect to nonqualified stock options, we are generally entitled to deduct, and the participant recognizes taxable income in an amount equal to the difference between the option exercise price and the fair market value of the shares at the time of exercise. With respect to incentive stock options, we are generally not entitled to a deduction nor does the participant recognize income at the time of exercise, although the participant may be subject to the U.S. federal alternative minimum tax. Upon a disposition of shares acquired by exercise of an incentive stock option before the end of the applicable incentive stock option holding periods, the participant generally must recognize ordinary income equal to the lesser of (i) the fair market value of the shares at the date of exercise minus the exercise price or (ii) the amount realized upon the disposition of the incentive stock option shares minus the exercise price. Otherwise, a participant’s disposition of shares acquired upon the exercise of an option (including an incentive stock option for which the incentive stock option holding periods are met) generally will result in only capital gain or loss.

With respect to restricted shares, we are generally entitled to deduct and the participant recognizes taxable income in an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value over the price paid (if any) only at the time the restrictions lapse (unless the recipient elects to accelerate recognition as of the date of grant).

If an award is accelerated under the Equity Plan in connection with a “change in control” (as this term is used under the Code), we may not be permitted to deduct the portion of the compensation attributable to the acceleration (“parachute payments”) if it exceeds certain threshold limits under the Code (and certain related excise taxes may be triggered).

We have the authority and the right to deduct or withhold, or require a participant to remit to us, an amount sufficient to satisfy any income, payroll, and other taxes (including, without limitation, pursuant to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act and the Federal Unemployment Tax Act) to the extent required by law to be withheld with respect to any taxable event concerning a participant arising as a result of an award under the Equity Plan.

Incentive Plan Awards

The following table sets forth information relating to stock option grants made to our named executive officers during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

The following table sets forth outstanding equity awards to our named executive officers as of December 31, 2023.

Aggregated Option Exercises

There were no options exercised by any officer or director of our company during the year ended December 31, 2023.

Director Compensation

General. The following discussion describes the significant elements of the expected compensation program for members of our board of directors and its committees. The compensation of our directors is designed to attract and retain committed and qualified directors and to align their compensation with the long-term interests of our shareholders. Directors who are also executive officers (each, an “Excluded Director”) will not be entitled to receive any compensation for his or her service as a director, committee member or Chair of our board of directors or of any committee of our board of directors.

Director Compensation Arrangements. Our non-employee director compensation program is designed to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors. Our board of directors, on the recommendation of our compensation committee, will be responsible for reviewing and approving any changes to the directors’ compensation arrangements. In consideration for serving on our board of directors, each director (other than Excluded Directors) will be paid an annual retainer. All directors will be reimbursed for their reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred while serving as directors.

Cash Compensation. We did not pay any cash compensation to our directors during the year ended December 31, 2023. However, we intend to implement a cash compensation program for our board members in the future.

Equity Awards. The following table sets forth the director compensation we accrued in the year ended December 31, 2023 (excluding compensation to our executive officers set forth in the summary compensation table above).

Pension and Retirement Plans

Currently, we do not offer any annuity, pension or retirement benefits to be paid to any of our officers, directors or employees, in the event of retirement.

The following table sets forth, as of March 25, 2024, the names, addresses and number of shares of common stock beneficially owned by (i) all persons known to our management to be beneficial owners of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, (ii) each director of our company, (iii) each named Executive Officer and (iv) all executive officers and directors of our company as a group (except as indicated, each beneficial owner listed exercises sole voting power and sole dispositive power over the shares beneficially owned):

A “related party transaction” is any actual or proposed transaction, arrangement or relationship or series of similar transactions, arrangements or relationships, including those involving indebtedness not in the ordinary course of business, to which we or our subsidiaries were or are a party, or in which we or our subsidiaries were or are a participant, in which the amount involved exceeded or exceeds the lesser of (i) $120,000 or (ii) one percent of the average of our total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years and in which any related party had or will have a direct or indirect material interest. A “related party” includes:

Other than compensation arrangements for our named executive officers and directors, which we describe herein, the only related party transactions to which we were a party during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, since December 31, 2023, or any currently proposed related party transaction, are as follows.

Between December 11, 2023 and February 20, 2024, we entered into a series of exchange subscription agreements (each, an “Exchange Agreement”) with 14 holders (each, a “Holder”) of our outstanding promissory notes and, in certain cases, related outstanding stock purchase warrants, pursuant to which we and the Holders agreed to exchange their promissory notes, and, if applicable, related stock purchase warrants, for shares of our common stock. Pursuant to the Exchange Agreements, an aggregate of $5,417,459.50 of principal and accrued interest under the outstanding promissory notes and, if applicable, related stock purchase warrants was exchanged for an aggregate of 10,834,919 shares of common stock (the “Exchange Shares”). Nanosha Investments LLC, a limited liability company controlled by Sean Fontenot, a director of our company (“Nanosha”), entered into an Exchange Agreement with us pursuant to which it exchanged (i) a promissory note with outstanding principal and accrued interest in the aggregate amount of $4,287,193, and (ii) a warrant for the purchase of 1,540,000 shares of common stock, for 8,574,386 of the Exchange Shares.

On February 12, 2024, Nanosha made a loan to us in the amount of $1,000,000 in consideration for which we issued to Nanosha a promissory note in the principal amount of $1,000,000 that bears interest at the rate of 10% per annum and matures on May 30, 2024 and a five-year warrant to purchase up to 200,000 shares of common stock with an initial exercise price of $0.50 per share. No payments have been made on the promissory note.

Audit Fees

The aggregate fees billed for professional services rendered by RBSM LLP, our principal accountants for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, for the audit of financial statements, quarterly reviews of our interim financial statements and services normally provided by the independent accountant in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements for these periods were as follows:

In the above table, “audit fees” are fees billed by our company’s external auditor for services provided in auditing our company’s financial statements for the periods indicated above. “Audit-related fees” are fees not included in audit fees that are billed by the auditor for assurance and related services, including quarterly reviews, that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit of our company’s financial statements. “Tax fees” are fees billed by the auditor for professional services rendered for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning. “All other fees” are fees billed by the auditor for products and services not included in the foregoing categories.

Our board of directors pre-approves all services provided by our independent auditors. All of the above services and fees were reviewed and approved by our board of directors either before or after the respective services were rendered.

PART IV

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Section 13 or 15(d) 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 on the 9^th day of April 2024.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of

CalEthos, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of CalEthos Inc., (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, changes in stockholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes and schedules (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

The Company’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements, although the Company has net income it is primarily attributable to non-cash reversal of compensation for restricted stock units, has generated negative cash flows from operating activities, has an accumulated deficit and has stated that substantial doubt exists about Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s evaluation of the events and conditions and management’s plans regarding these matters are also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments.

We determined that there are no critical audit matters.

/s/ RBSM LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2018.

New York, NY

April 9, 2024

PCAOB ID No. 587

CalEthos, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

As of December 31,