Bitcoin Miner With Celsius Assets Delays IPO After Losing CEO and Auditor

Ionic Digital, the bitcoin miner that bought bankrupt crypto lender Celsius’ mining assets, has delayed a plan to go public after losing its CEO and auditor.

Former CEO Matt Prusak told the company in July he won’t stay on after the end of his employment term on Aug. 14, the miner said in a statement Thursday. Ionic has started searching for a new CEO and named its recently hired CFO, John Penver, the interim boss.

Penver was hired in July to shepherd the company’s plan to go public. Ionic said that despite the leadership change, it still intends to do an initial public offering and is “confident” that Penver will be able to lead the company to that goal.

How long it will take is another matter.

Ionic also said that its auditor, RSM US, severed ties with the miner, citing a strategic decision by the accounting firm to end service to crypto-related firms.

“RSM’s decision was not a result of any disagreements with the Company on accounting principles, practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure,” Ionic said in the statement, adding that it has made good progress in finding a replacement.

Ionic came out of stealth earlier this year. At the time the miner said it would acquire all of Celsius’ mining assets as part of the bankrupt lender’s emergence from Chapter 11 and that it would go public within 12 months.

Getting dumped by RSM has thrown a wrench in the works. “The temporary absence of an auditor has prevented the Company from being able to update its SEC filings, which in turn has delayed Ionic Digital’s efforts to become a public reporting company,” the statement added, without giving a revised timeline.

News the of delay comes at a time when the mining landscape has become more competitive after the recent Bitcoin halving, which cut the block rewards paid regularly to miners by half.

The availability of spot bitcoin exchange traded-funds (ETFs) have also deterred many investors from the mining industry, shutting some doors to capital for miners. This has put pressure on some companies trying to take their firms public.

Most recently, bitcoin financial services firm Swan Bitcoin, which planned to go public, canceled its IPO, discontinued its hosted mining business and cut staff across several units, citing reduced revenues.