BTC miner Rhodium faces lawsuit over an alleged $26M in unpaid fees: Report

Crypto mining firm Riot Platforms – formerly Riot Blockchain – is seeking to recover “more than $26 million” in alleged unpaid fees from Texas-based Bitcoin (BTC) miner, Rhodian Enterprises, according to its Q1 2023 report.

Published on May 10, Riot’s Q1 2023 financial report stated that Whinstone, a wholly owned subsidiary of Riot, filed a petition on May 2 in the 20th District Court of Milam County, Texas. It alleged that Rhodium Enterprises breached its contract by failing to pay hosting and service fees associated with its use of Whinstone’s facilities for mining operations.

Riot seeks to recover “more than $26 million,” plus legal fees and other expenses that are incurred during the legal proceedings, as outlined in the report.

Riot further requested that “certain hosting agreements” with Rhodium are terminated and proposed that it is exempt from repaying any outstanding power credits to the Texas-based Bitcoin mining company.

Although the disclosure of unpaid fees was stated, Riot was transparent with stakeholders, acknowledging that “the likelihood” of recovering the funds at this stage is uncertain. It noted:

“Because this litigation is still at this early stage, we cannot reasonably estimate the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome or the magnitude of such an outcome, if any.”

It was reported that Rhodium was served on May 8, and have until May 30 to respond.

Related: Complaint filed against Compass Mining for losing BTC mining machines hits snag

The report also emphasized Riot’s growth in mining operations, stating that it had mined “2,115 Bitcoins” (BTC), representing an increase of 50.5% from the number of Bitcoins mined during the first quarter of 2022.

Furthermore, stakeholders were provided reassurance in the report that Riot does not have any affiliations with the banks that have experienced collapses in recent times. It noted:

“We did not have any banking relationships with Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate Bank, or First Republic Bank, and currently hold our cash and cash equivalents at multiple banking institutions.

Riot anticipates that Bitcoin mining companies will continue to experience significant challenges due to the significant price decline of Bitcoin and “other national and global macroeconomic factors,” as the industry saw in 2022.

It was stated that given Riot’s “relative position” in the industry, “liquidity and absence of long-term debt,” it is positioned to “benefit from such consolidation.”

Magazine: 3AC cooks up a storm, Bitcoin miner surges 360%, Bruce Lee NFTs dive: Asia Express