Poolin mining assets head to $52M auction as creditors seek $163.7M

Poolin's Bitcoin mining assets head to a $52 million auction September 10 as creditors seek $163.7 million in unsecured claims.

Michael DuFrayne, chief restructuring officer at DuFrayne LLC, said the Chapter 11 process aims to sell the debtors' assets in a way that preserves value for creditors and other stakeholders.

The three jointly administered cases — Poolin Technology PTE. LTD., Lonestar Taproot LLC and Lonestar Dream, Inc. — filed July 22 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey list liabilities between $100 million and $500 million against assets of just $1 million to $10 million. Court records estimate between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors. Qualified bids are due September 8, with a sale hearing set for September 18 before Judge Eamonn J. O'Hagan in Trenton.

The auction outcome determines how much of the $163.7 million in claims from roughly 11,700 wallet holders gets recovered. It also tests appetite for mining hardware as hashprice sits in the high-$20 range per petahash per day, below the roughly $35 breakeven for older machines.

Thor CALAP's $52M Stalking Horse Sets the Floor

Thor CALAP LLC's $52 million stalking horse bid establishes the baseline valuation for the mining infrastructure. Competing bidders must submit qualified offers by September 8, and creditors have until September 16 to file objections. The court approved bidding procedures August 17 covering substantially all of the debtors' assets.

Lonestar Taproot owns the physical mining infrastructure — power-related assets, buildings, improvements and substation infrastructure. The company previously operated as a partnership between Lonestar Dream and mining hardware maker Bitmain from March 2022 to December 2023. Court filings show Bitmain contributed about $34.4 million and received roughly $24.1 million back when it withdrew after the venture recorded significant losses.

From 2022 IOU Tokens to Chapter 11

Poolin's current bankruptcy follows a 2022 liquidity crisis when the company suspended PoolinWallet withdrawals and issued six IOU tokens representing users' BTC, ETH, USDT, LTC, ZEC and DOGE balances at a 1:1 ratio. The company halted flash trades and internal transfers while routine mining operations continued.

The broader mining sector faces similar pressure. Public Bitcoin miners sold more than 32,000 BTC in the first quarter of 2026 — a record pace — as hashprice fell to post-halving lows. Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin Depot filed for Chapter 11 in May after taking its crypto ATM network offline, citing regulatory pressure and financial losses.

Poolin's collapse reflects an industry where thin margins, aging hardware and falling hashprice have pushed multiple operators toward court-supervised restructuring. Whether the September 10 auction attracts serious bidders may hinge on how much appetite remains for mining equipment whose values are already under pressure sector-wide.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.