Key Takeaways:
Poolin, once the world's largest bitcoin mining pool, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 22 with $173.1 million in prepetition obligations.
"The company's financial difficulties stem from the 2022 crypto market downturn and an overambitious expansion into Texas that left it unable to meet its obligations," Michael DuFrayne, the company's chief restructuring officer, said in a court declaration.
The Singapore-based company filed jointly with U.S. affiliates Lonestar Dream Inc. and Lonestar Taproot LLC in New Jersey. The debtors listed assets of $1 million to $10 million against liabilities of $100 million to $500 million. Roughly $163.7 million consists of unsecured IOUs issued to about 11,700 Poolin Wallet customers after the platform suspended withdrawals in September 2022.
The debtors have lined up Thor CALAP LLC as a stalking-horse bidder with a combined $52 million offer for the Pyote and Tarbush mining sites in West Texas, subject to higher bids and court approval. The auction follows a three-month marketing process that contacted more than 335 potential buyers.
Poolin was founded in China in 2017 by Zhibiao "Kevin" Pan, Fa Zhu and Tianzhao Li, and became the world's largest crypto mining pool by September 2019. Its wallet product let users borrow USDT against crypto collateral. After China banned bitcoin mining in 2021 and prices crashed in 2022, Poolin transferred wallet collateral to Antalpha Technologies and borrowed about $213 million against crypto then worth roughly $355.8 million to fund its Texas buildout.
Antalpha liquidated the collateral in November 2022 when the debt had grown to about $260 million against assets worth around $265 million. The Texas expansion struggled independently — Poolin expected as much as 600 megawatts of power allocation but initially received only 100 MW, leading it to over-order mining equipment that it later sold at a loss of roughly $8.8 million between fiscal 2023 and 2025.
A proposed $49 million sale of the Texas business to China Green Agriculture, announced in December 2023, never closed. The debtors said they expect the current auction to produce some distribution for unsecured creditors, including wallet customers who have waited nearly four years since their funds were frozen.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
