Hut 8 receives green light from Canadian Supreme Court for USBTC merger
Canadian Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 is set to wrap up its planned merger with US Bitcoin (USBTC) following final approval from the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Hut8 and USBTC announced the move in February 2023, which was subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. The merger will see Hut 8 and USBTC form Hut 8 Corporation, or “New Hut,” which will become a publicly traded United States-based business.
An initial announcement from Hut 8 highlighted that the merger would open up 825 megawatts of capacity across six different Bitcoin (BTC) mining and data center facilities.
While the Supreme Court of British Columbia has issued a final order approving the merger, the deal’s closing is subject to a handful of outstanding requirements, including the approval of USBTC shareholders.
Hut 8 anticipates that the final transaction confirming the merger and creation of New Hut is expected to take place before the end of 2023.
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New Hut also plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq and Toronto stock exchanges, trading under the ticker HUT. Shareholders will also need to complete and submit transmittal letters to receive shares of New Hut common stock once the merger is complete.
Hut 8 recently moved some 6,400 ASIC mining rigs from its inactive North Bay facility in Ontario to the U.S. state of Texas as it looks to serve increased demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing.
The redeployment of hardware from the site was primarily necessitated by an ongoing legal dispute between Hut 8 and third-party energy supplier Validus Power over an alleged failure to meet contractual obligations. Operations at the mining facility have been suspended since November 2022.
Digital Currency Group’s institutional mining and staking subsidiary, Foundry Digital, also announced a formal partnership with Hut 8 in August 2023. The deal will see Hut 8 support several business offerings for Foundry using its Ontario-based data center. Foundry has been using Hut 8 infrastructure to support its cryptocurrency mining pool since 2020.
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