• Gryphon Digital Mining expected to go public via a $184 million reverse merger
  • Core Scientific going public via $4.3 billion SPAC deal
  • Bitdeer Technologies set to go public via $4 billion SPAC deal
  • Prime Blockchain reported going public via a $1.5 billion SPAC deal
  • Griid Infrastructure set to go public via $3.3 billion SPAC deal

Bitcoin is well on its way to becoming a globally accepted asset, and as a result, the mining industry is flourishing. Mining is a highly competitive industry requiring intensive capital, and utilizing the public markets can give an advantage. A miner can opt to go public via the traditional IPO avenue, or however, an increasing number of miners are choosing to go public via SPAC mergers. A SPAC is a special purpose acquisition corporation with the sole purpose of acquiring and merging with private firms. SPACs offer a quicker and more efficient public listing process by avoiding regulatory burdens. Earlier this year, Cipher Mining went public via a $2 billion SPAC merger, and more deals are starting to roll in. Below we cover some of the pending deals.

Gryphon Digital Mining

On June 3rd, Sphere 3D (ANY), a Nasdaq-listed company, announced a $184.3 million reverse merger with Gryphon Digital. The Bitcoin miner has a zero-carbon footprint and is led by CEO Rob Chang, the former CFO of Riot Blockchain. The combined entity will continue to trade on the Nasdaq but effectively be operated by Gryphon Digital executives. The merger was expected to close in the third quarter of 2021 but has been pushed to the first quarter of 2022. Although not technically a SPAC merger, since Sphere 3D is an established data infrastructure company, the concept is similar; take a private firm public via a merger.

Core Scientific

On July 21st, blank-check firm Power and Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp (XPDI), entered into a merger agreement with Core Scientific, a vertically integrated blockchain infrastructure and mining company. The combined entity will trade on the Nasdaq and is expected to have an enterprise value of $4.3 billion. Interestingly, XPDI is a SPAC supported by BlackRock, which holds nearly 10% of outstanding shares. The deal is expected to finalize by the fourth quarter of 2021.

Bitdeer Technologies

On November 18th blank-check firm Blue Safari Group Acquisition Corp announced its plan to merge with Bitdeer, a cryptocurrency miner, spun off from Bitmain, with operations in the United States and Norway. The combined entity will have an enterprise value of $4 billion, continue trading on the Nasdaq, and be led by Jihan Wu as Chairman. The merger is expected to close by the first quarter of 2022.

Prime Blockchain

A Bloomberg report released on November 18th indicated blank-check firm 10X Capital Venture Corp II was in talks to merge with Prime Blockchain, a Bitcoin mining and infrastructure firm with operations in North America. The combined entity will continue trading on the NYSE and have an enterprise value of roughly $1.5 billion. The deal is not final and could still fall apart. Prime Blockchain mines 5 Bitcoin per day and expects to compete with Riot and Marathon.

Griid Infrastructure

The latest merger deal was announced on November 30th by blank-check firm Adit EdTech Acquisition Corp (ADEX) to merge with Ohio-based Griid, a carbon-free Bitcoin miner. The deal values the combined entity at $3.3 billion and will trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol GRDI. The merger is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. Like many new miners announcing public listings, Griid’s investment case is mining powered by green, renewable energy sources.

Conclusion

There’s a Bitcoin mining boom and miners are aggressively seeking options to list quickly as possible to tap into public capital. Deals have been announced left and right; five Bitcoin miners are expected to be listed by the first quarter of 2022 via SPAC or reverse mergers.