As filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on January 6, 2022.

Registration No. 333-258818​

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1/A

Amendment No. 4

REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

APPLIED BLOCKCHAIN, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

3811 Turtle Creek Blvd., Suite 2100,
Dallas, TX 75219
214-427-1704
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of principal executive offices)

Copies to:

Carol Sherman, Esq.
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Canterbury Green
201 Broad Street
Stamford, CT 06901
Telephone: (203) 324-1400
Facsimile: (203) 327-2669

Approximate date of proposed sale to public: As soon as practicable on or after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box.   ☒

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.   ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.   ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.   ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.   ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

​

(1)

Pursuant to Rule 416, the securities being registered hereunder include such indeterminate number of additional securities as may be issuable to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.

​

(2)

205,863,636 shares were included in the calculation of the registration fee in connection with the original Form S-1 filed with the SEC on August 13, 2021.

​

(3)

Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee for this offering pursuant to Rule 457(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), using the average of the high and low sale prices on August 6, 2021 of $1.39 as reported on the OTC Markets Group Inc.’s Pink marketplace (the “OTC Pink”).

​

(4)

$31,219.01 of the registration fee was previously paid at the time of filing of the original Form S-1 on August 13, 2021, $1,888 of the registration fee was previously paid at the time of filing Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 filed with the SEC on November 2, 2021 and $0.01 of the registration fee was previously paid at the time of filling Amendment No. 2 to Form S-1 filed on December 1, 2021.

​

(5)

4,545,412 additional shares of common stock held by stockholders were included in the calculation of the registration fee and number of shares being registered in Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 filed with the SEC on November 2, 2021.

​

(6)

Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee for this offering pursuant to Rule 457(c) under the Securities Act, using the average of the high and low sale prices on October 29, 2021 of $4.48 as reported on the OTC Pink.

​

(7)

40 additional shares of common stock held by stockholders have been included in the number of shares being registered hereunder.

​

(8)

Estimated soley for the purpose of calculating the registration fee for this offering pursuant to Rule 457(c) under the Securities Act, using the average of the high and low sale prices on November 29, 2021 of $3.12 as reported on the OTC Pink.

​

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission acting pursuant to said Section 8(a) may determine.

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. The securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JANUARY 6, 2022

210,409,130 Shares of Common Stock

The selling stockholders named in this prospectus, or the Selling Stockholders, may offer and sell from time to time up to 210,409,048 shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Registered Shares”), consisting of:

•

up to 132,000,000 shares of common stock issuable upon automatic conversion when the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part is declared effective by the Securities Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”), of 660,000 shares of our Series C Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock issued in a private placement pursuant to subscription agreements entered into on April 15, 2021; and

​

•

up to 78,409,130 shares of common stock issuable upon automatic conversion when the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part is declared effective by the SEC of 1,380,000 shares of our Series D Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock issued in a private placement pursuant to subscription agreements entered into on July 30, 2021, August 24, 2021 and October 7, 2021.

​

The Selling Stockholders may offer, sell or distribute all or a portion of the Registered Shares publicly or through private transactions at prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices. We will not receive any of the proceeds from such sales of the Registered Shares. We will bear all costs, expenses and fees in connection with the registration of these Registered Shares, including with regard to compliance with state securities or “blue sky” laws. The Selling Stockholders will bear all commissions and discounts, if any, attributable to their sale of shares of common stock or warrants. See “Plan of Distribution” beginning on page 67 of this prospectus.

Our common stock currently trades on the Pink Market operated by OTC Market Group Inc. (“OTC Pink”) under the symbol “APLD.” On December 31, 2021, the last reported sale price of our common stock on the OTC Pink was $4.205 per share. Quotes of stock trading prices on any over-the-counter market quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

The public offering price per share of common stock will be determined by the Selling Stockholders and may be at a discount to the then current market price. Therefore, the recent market price used throughout this preliminary prospectus may not be indicative of the final offering price.

We have applied to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “APLD.” Listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market will only occur if and when our application is approved and both our registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and our other registration statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-261278) filed with the SEC on November 22, 2021, registering a firm commitment underwritten offering by us of up to $75 million of shares of our common stock are declared effective by the SEC. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in having our common stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

As of November 30, 2021, we are no longer deemed to be a shell company as defined under Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. However, stockholders cannot rely on the provisions of Rule 144 for the resale of their shares until certain additional conditions are met.

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 10 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of our common stock.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is            , 2022

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

i

 

For investors outside of the United States: Neither we nor any of the registered stockholders have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside of the United States.

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-1 that we filed with the SEC using the “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, the Selling Stockholders may, from time to time, sell the Registered Shares offered by them described in this prospectus. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale by such Selling Stockholders of the Registered Shares offered by them described in this prospectus.

You should rely only on information contained in this prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. Neither the delivery of this prospectus nor the sale of our securities means that the information contained in this prospectus is correct after the date of this prospectus.

This prospectus is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy our securities in any circumstances under which the offer or solicitation is unlawful or in any state or other jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of its date regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of common stock.

Neither we nor the Selling Stockholders have authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectuses prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. Neither we nor the Selling Stockholders take responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. Neither we nor the Selling Stockholders will make an offer to sell these Registered Shares in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

We may also provide a prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to the registration statement to add information to, or update or change information contained in, this prospectus. You should read both this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to the registration statement together with the additional information to which we refer you in the sections of this prospectus entitled “Where You Can Find More Information.”

Unless the context indicates otherwise, references in this prospectus to the “Company,” “APLD,” “we,” “us,” “our” and similar terms refer to Applied Blockchain, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this prospectus concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate, including our general expectations, market position, market opportunity, and market size, is based on information from various third-party industry and research sources, as well as assumptions that we have made that are based on those data and other similar sources, and on our knowledge of the markets for our products and services. This information involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. While we believe the market position, market opportunity, and market size information included in this prospectus is generally reliable, information of this sort is inherently imprecise. In addition, projections, assumptions, and estimates of our future performance and the future performance of the industry in which we operate is necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by the independent parties and by us.

This prospectus contains statistical data, estimates, and forecasts that are based on industry publications or reports generated by third-party providers, or other publicly available information, as well as other information based on internal estimates.

 

ii

 

GLOSSARY FOR CRYPTOASSETS

Throughout this prospectus, we use a number of industry terms and concepts which are defined as follows:

•

Altcoin:    Cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. They share some characteristics with Bitcoin but are also different in order to appeal to a wide variety of users.

​

•

Bitcoin:    Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.

​

•

Block:    Synonymous with digital pages in a ledger. Blocks are added to an existing blockchain as transactions occur on the network. Miners are rewarded for “mining” a new block with ETH on the Ethereum platform.

​

•

Blockchain:    A cryptographically secure digital ledger that maintains a record of all transactions that occur on the network and follows a consensus protocol for confirming new blocks to be added to the blockchain.

​

•

Consensus Mechanism:    Each of Ethereum and Bitcoin use Proof-of-work (POW) as the Consensus Mechanism.

​

•

Crypto:    A broad term for any cryptography-based market, system, application, or decentralized network.

​

•

Cryptoasset:    Any digital asset built using blockchain technology, including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and security tokens.

​

•

Cryptoeconomy:    A new open financial system built upon crypto.

​

•

Ethereum:    An open software platform based on blockchain technology that enables anyone to build and deploy decentralized applications.

​

•

Ether or ETH:    The cryptoasset of the Ethereum (a way to pay for the processing power required to run the network and used by users on the Ethereum platform to pay fees).

​

•

Hash rate:    The hash rate is the measuring unit of the processing power of a blockchain network (1 Mhash/s indicates 1 million hash calculations are done every second).

​

•

Hosting:    A service that includes a facility powering, housing, and maintaining mining equipment.

​

•

GPU:    A graphic processing unit which can process many pieces of data simultaneously.

​

•

Miner:    Individuals or entities who operate a computer or group of computers that add new transactions to Blocks, and verify Blocks created by other miners. Miners collect transaction fees and are rewarded with new tokens for their services.

​

•

Mining:    The process by which new blocks are created, and thus new transactions are added to the blockchain.

​

•

Wallet:    A place to store public and private keys for cryptoassets. Wallets are typically software, hardware, or paper-based.

​

 

iii

 

1

 

2

 

3

 

4

 

5

 

​

​

​

November 30, 2021

​

​

May 31, 2021

​

ASSETS

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Current Assets:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Cash and cash equivalents

​

​

​

$

14,045

​

​

​

​

$

11,750

​

​

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

​

​

​

​

1,649

​

​

​

​

​

5

​

​

Cryptoassets

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Total current assets

​

​

​

​

15,694

​

​

​

​

​

11,755

​

​

Right of use asset, net

​

​

​

​

1,204

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Deposit on equipment

​

​

​

​

26,507

​

​

​

​

​

3,277

​

​

Deposits and other assets

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Property and equipment, net

​

​

​

​

10,145

​

​

​

​

​

20

​

​

TOTAL ASSETS

​

​

​

$

53,550

​

​

​

​

$

15,052

​

​

LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Current Liabilities:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

​

​

​

$

5,323

​

​

​

​

$

248

​

​

Accrued dividends

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

116

​

​

Current portion of operating lease liability

​

​

​

​

190

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Related party notes payable

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

2,135

​

​

Other current liabilities

​

​

​

​

1,026

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Total current liabilities

​

​

​

​

6,539

​

​

​

​

​

2,500

​

​

Long-term portion of operating lease liability

​

​

​

​

1,010

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Total liabilities

​

​

​

​

7,549

​

​

​

​

​

2,500

​

​

Commitments and contingencies (Note 10)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Mezzanine equity:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Series C, convertible and redeemable preferred stock, $.001 par value, 660,000 shares authorized, issued and outstanding

​

​

​

$

12,428

​

​

​

​

$

15,135

​

​

Series D, convertible and redeemable preferred stock, $.001 par value, 1,304,000 shares authorized, issued, and outstanding

​

​

​

​

34,281

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Total mezzanine’ equity

​

​

​

​

46,709

​

​

​

​

​

15,135

​

​

Shareholders’ equity:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Series A, convertible preferred stock, $.001 par value, authorized 70,000 shares, 0 and 70,000 shares, 0 and 70,000 shares issued and outstanding, respectively

​

​

​

$

—

​

​

​

​

$

3,370

​

​

Series B, convertible preferred stock, $.001 par value, authorized 50,000 shares, 0 and 50,000 shares, 0 and 70,000 shares issued and outstanding, respectively

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

1,849

​

​

Common stock, $.001 par value, 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 320,381,519 and 9,066,363 shares issued and outstanding

​

​

​

​

3,122

​

​

​

​

​

9

​

​

Additional paid in capital

​

​

​

​

40,856

​

​

​

​

​

13,874

​

​

Treasury stock, 36,300 shares at

​

​

​

​

(62)

​

​

​

​

​

(62)

​

​

Accumulated deficit

​

​

​

​

(44,624)

​

​

​

​

​

(21,623)

​

​

Total shareholders’ equity

​

​

​

​

(708)

​

​

​

​

​

(2,583)

​

​

Total Mezzanine and shareholders’ equity

​

​

​

​

46,001

​

​

​

​

​

12,552

​

​

TOTAL LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND SHAREHOLDERS’

​

​

​

$

53,550

​

​

​

​

$

15,052

​

​

​

​

​

​

$

(0)

​

​

​

​

$

(0)

​

​

6

 

Unaudited, in thousands of dollars

​

​

Three Months Ended November 30, 2021 (Estimated)

​

​

Three Months Ended November 30, 2020

​

Net Income/Loss

​

​

​

​

36

​

​

​

​

​

(74)

​

​

Plus: Depreciation

​

​

​

​

261

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Plus: Interest Exp

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

74

​

​

Plus: Taxes

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

EBITDA

​

​

​

​

297

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Less: Gain on Extinguishment of Accounts Payable

​

​

​

​

248

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

Adjusted EBITDA

​

​

​

​

49

​

​

​

​

​

—

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

7

 

​

8

 

9

 

RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our common stock. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of or that we currently believe are immaterial may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks occur, our business, operating results, financial condition and future prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment. Some statements in this prospectus, including such statements in the following risk factors, constitute forward-looking statements. See the section entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Business

We are at an early stage of development of our cryptoasset mining and hosting business and currently have limited sources of revenue and may never become profitable.

Until 2021, we had no operations since 2014. Although we began generating revenue in 2021 from our cryptoasset mining activities, we are subject to the risks and uncertainties of a new business, including the risk that we may never develop, complete development or market any of our proposed services or be able to liquidate our cryptoassets. Accordingly, we have only a limited history upon which an evaluation of our prospects and future performance can be made. If we are unable to increase our generation of revenue, we will not become profitable, and we may be unable to continue our operations. Furthermore, our proposed operations are subject to all business risks associated with new enterprises. The likelihood of our success must be considered in light of the problems, expenses, difficulties, complications, and delays frequently encountered in connection with the expansion of a business, operation in a competitive industry, and the continued development of advertising, promotions and a corresponding customer base. There can be no assurances that we will operate profitably.

We have a business plan which is dependent on the price of Bitcoin, Ether and/or other cryptoassets. A decline in the price of Bitcoin, Ether and/or other cryptoassets could result in significant losses to us and our co-hosting customers.

In June 2021, we acquired equipment and began operating our own cryptoasset mining equipment to generate cryptoassets to exchange for U.S. Dollars. Our current strategy will continue to expose us to the numerous risks and volatility associated within this sector. Although, based on the current trend in cryptoasset mining, we do not expect to incur losses from our crypto mining operations for the near-term, if the price of cryptoassets declines, we could incur future losses and these losses could be significant as we incur costs and expenses associated with investments and potential future acquisitions, as well as legal and administrative related expenses. Our co-hosting customers could also experience significant losses if the price of cryptoassets declines. If our co-hosting customers’ losses are significant enough, they may be unable to continue to pay our fees and we experience a decline in revenue from our co-hosting operations. We intend to closely monitor our cash balances, cash needs and expense levels. Our mining operations are costly, require substantial investment prior to generation of any revenue and our expenses are likely to increase in the future. This expense increase may not be offset by a corresponding increase in revenue. Our expenses may be greater than we anticipate, and our investments to make our business more efficient may not succeed and may outpace monetization efforts. Increases in our costs without a corresponding increase in our revenue would increase our losses and could seriously harm our business and financial performance.

We are subject to a highly-evolving regulatory landscape and any adverse changes to, or our failure to comply with, any laws or regulations could adversely affect our business, prospects or operations.

Our business is subject to extensive laws, rules, regulations, policies and legal and regulatory guidance, including those governing securities, commodities, cryptoasset custody, exchange and transfer, data governance, data protection, cybersecurity and tax. Many of these legal and regulatory regimes were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet, mobile technologies, cryptoassets and related technologies. As a result, they do not contemplate or address unique issues associated with the crypto economy, are subject

 

10

 

to significant uncertainty, and vary widely across U.S. federal, state and local and international jurisdictions. These legal and regulatory regimes, including the laws, rules and regulations thereunder, evolve frequently and may be modified, interpreted and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another. Moreover, the complexity and evolving nature of our business and the significant uncertainty surrounding the regulation of the crypto economy requires us to exercise our judgement as to whether certain laws, rules and regulations apply to us, and it is possible that governmental bodies and regulators may disagree with our conclusions. To the extent we have not complied with such laws, rules and regulations, we could be subject to significant fines and other regulatory consequences, which could adversely affect our business, prospects or operations. As cryptoasset has grown in popularity and in market size, the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Congress and certain U.S. agencies (e.g., the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the SEC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) have begun to examine the operations of cryptoasset networks, cryptoasset users and cryptoasset exchange markets.

Ongoing and future regulatory actions could effectively prevent our ongoing or planned crypto mining and co-hosting operations, limiting or preventing future revenue generation by us and rendering our operations and crypto mining equipment obsolete. Such actions could severely impact our ability to continue to operate and our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.

If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.

We are a development stage company with a small management team and are subject to the strains of ongoing development and growth, which will place significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. Although we may not grow as we expect, if we fail to manage our growth effectively or to develop and expand our managerial, operational and financial resources and systems, our business and financial results would be materially harmed.

We may not be able to manage growth effectively, which could damage our reputation, limit our growth and negatively affect our operating results. Further, we cannot provide any assurance that we will successfully identify emerging trends and growth opportunities in this business sector and we may lose out on opportunities. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.

We have an evolving business model which is subject to various uncertainties.

We are building a cryptoasset mining operation. As cryptoassets and blockchain technologies become more widely available, we expect the services and products associated with them to evolve. Future regulations may require us to change our business in order to comply fully with federal and state laws regulating cryptoasset (including Ethereum and Bitcoin) mining. In order to stay current with the industry, our business model may need to evolve as well. From time to time, we may modify aspects of our business model relating to our strategy. We cannot offer any assurance that these or any other modifications will be successful or will not result in harm to our business.

We may be unable to raise additional capital needed to grow our business.

We may operate at a loss as we continue to establish our business model, or if Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoasset prices decline. In addition, we expect to need to raise substantial additional capital to expand our operations, pursue our growth strategies and to respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated working capital requirements. We may not be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms, if at all, which could impair our growth and adversely affect our existing operations. If we raise additional equity financing, our stockholders may experience significant dilution of their ownership interests, and the per share value of our common stock could decline. Furthermore, if we engage in additional debt financing, the holders of debt likely would have priority over the holders of common stock on order of payment preference. We may be required to accept terms that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, take other actions including terms that require us to maintain specified liquidity or other ratios that could otherwise not be in the interests of our stockholders.

 

11

 

Any disruption of service experienced by certain of our third-party service providers or our failure to manage and maintain existing relationships or identify and engage or hire other qualified third-party service providers or employees to perform similar functions could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flows, and prospects.

We may depend upon outside advisors who may not be available on reasonable terms as needed. To supplement the business experience of our officers and directors, we may be required to employ technical experts, appraisers, attorneys, or other consultants or advisors. Our management, with approval of our board of directors (“Board”) in certain cases, without any input from stockholders, will make the selection of any such advisors. Furthermore, it is anticipated that such persons may be engaged on an “as needed” basis without a continuing fiduciary or other obligation to us. In the event we consider it necessary to hire outside advisors, we may elect to hire persons who are affiliates, if they are able to provide the required services.

On March 19, 2021, we entered into the Services Agreement with GMR Limited, a British Virgin Islands limited liability company (“GMR”), Xsquared Holding Limited, a British Virgin Islands limited liability company (“SparkPool”) and Valuefinder, a British Virgin Islands limited liability company (“Valuefinder” and, together with GMR and SparkPool, each a “Service Provider” and collectively, the “Service Providers”). Pursuant to the Services Agreement, we engaged the Service Providers to provide cryptoasset mining management and analysis and to secure equipment to be purchased by us as consideration for 44,640,889 shares of common stock to be issued to GMR and SparkPool or their designees and 18,938,559 shares of common stock to be issued to Valuefinder or its designee, in each case upon the occurrence of certain events. On March 25, 2021, we filed a certificate of amendment to our Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (as amended from time to time, our “Articles”) with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada to change our name to Applied Blockchain, Inc. By July 2021, we had purchased crypto mining equipment, taken delivery of such equipment, installed such equipment at a cohosting location and began mining and generating revenue. In July 2021, we added a strategic partner, Bitmain Technologies Limited (“Bitmain”), a producer of products for blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, to assist in the operation and development of our mining and co-hosting business as well as the identification of other strategic business initiatives.

In December 2021, we and Bitmain Technologies Holding Company, or Bitmain, agreed to a non-binding term sheet to form one or more entities owned 80% by us and 20% by Bitmain to develop, acquire, construct, finance, operate, maintain and own one or more next-generation data centers with up to 1.5GW of capacity for hosting blockchain infrastructure. We will be responsible for all site development, construction, and operations. Bitmain will provide technical, sourcing, operational and financial resources to the venture. In addition, Bitmain will market us as its preferred hosting service provider. Bitmain will have the right at any time to convert all or any portion of its new entity equity units into a number of shares of our common stock equal to the capital contributions by Bitmain in connection with the acquisition of such units being converted divided by $1.25, which will result in an increase in our ownership percentage of the new entity or entities. Bitmain will also have the right to name one member of the board of managers of each new entity formed pursuant to definitive agreements between Bitmain and us. The arrangement with Bitmain is subject to entry into definitive agreements by the parties. There can be no assurance that we will enter into such agreements in a particular time period or at all.

If these third parties or other outside advisors experience difficulty providing the services we require, or if they experience disruptions or financial distress or cease operations temporarily or permanently, it could make it difficult for us to operate our cryptoasset mining operations. If we are unsuccessful in identifying or finding highly qualified third-party service providers or employees, if we fail to negotiate cost-effective relationships with them or if we are ineffective in managing and maintaining these relationships, it could materially and adversely affect our cryptoasset mining business and our financial condition, operating results, cash flows, and prospects.

Various actual and potential conflicts of interest may be detrimental to stockholders.

Certain conflicts of interest may exist, or be perceived to exit, between certain of our directors or officers and us, including, direct and indirect relationships between certain of our officers and directors with entities that are, or are under common control with, B. Riley Securities, Inc., representative of the

 

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underwriters for the offering contemplated in our Primary Offering Registration Statement. Mr. Cummins and certain of our directors have other business interests to which they also must devote time, resources and attention. These other interests may conflict with such officer’s or director’s interest in us, including conflicting with interests in allocating resources, time and attention to our business and impacting decisions made on our behalf with respect to such entitites, their affiliates or competitors.

Our Service Providers, and Bitmain, operate businesses related to crypto mining. Specifically, GMR and Bitmain actively mine cryptoassets. Although SparkPool ceased its operations as a result of China’s ban on cryptoasset mining, SparkPool is moving its mining business outside of China. SparkPool and Valuefinder each consult with and advise other cryptoasset-related companies. Our Service Providers’ and Bitmain’s interest in their own business and that of entities they advise may conflict with our interests and may impact the advice provided to us or our competitors such that our business, operations and financial results may be be negatively impacted.

We do not have specific procedures in place with respect to potential conflicts of interest, however, in determining to engage with potential competitors and entities with whom our officers or directors may have relationships, we considered the risks and risk mitigation factors, including requiring that transactions with entities that are related to our officers and directors be approved or ratified by our Audit Committee, and recognizing that Mr. Cummins holds over 24% of our common stock, calculated as if the Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock were converted, and our Service Providers, on an as-if converted basis, hold between between 1.3% and 9% of our common stock. All of them therefore have a financial interest in the success of our operations. Additionally, none of our Service Providers or Bitmain operate in the co-hosting business. We have also included more than a majority of independent directors on our Board in order to ensure that there are limitations on the risks of conflicts of interest impacting Board level decisions. Because we are not expanding our crypto mining business at this time and focusing on expanding our co-hosting business, the effects of any such risks of conflicts of interest are limited in scope. We expect that as our co-hosting business continues to grow, the risks of conflicts of interest will become more limited over time. We cannot, however, guarantee that the conflicts of interest described above, or other future conflicts of interest, will not manifest in advice or decisions that negatively impact our financial results and our operations.

The loss of any of our management team, our inability to execute an effective succession plan, or our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel, could adversely affect our business.

Our success and future growth will depend to a significant degree on the skills and services of our management team. We will need to continue to grow our management team in order to alleviate pressure on our existing team and in order to continue to develop our business. If our management team, including any new hires that we may make, fails to work together effectively and to execute our plans and strategies on a timely basis, our business could be harmed. Furthermore, if we fail to execute an effective contingency or succession plan with the loss of any member of our management team, the loss of such management personnel may significantly disrupt our business.

The loss of key members of our management team could inhibit our growth prospects. Our future success also depends in large part on our ability to attract, retain and motivate key management and operating personnel. As we continue to develop and expand our operations, we may require personnel with different skills and experiences, and who have a sound understanding of our business and the cryptoasset industry. The market for highly qualified personnel in this industry is very competitive and we may be unable to attract such personnel. If we are unable to attract such personnel, our business could be harmed.

We are dependent on third-party brokers to source our miners, and failure to properly manage these relationships, or the failure of these brokers to perform as expected, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.

We currently rely on third-party brokers to source our miners. We have no assurance that business interruptions will not occur as a result of the failure by these brokers to perform as expected, including the failure to locate acceptable or sufficient miners for our purchase. Many of the competitors in our industry have also been purchasing mining equipment at scale, which has caused a world-wide shortage of mining equipment and extended the corresponding delivery schedules for new miner purchases. We cannot ensure

 

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that our brokers will continue to perform services to our satisfaction or on commercially reasonable terms. The recent increased demand for miners has also limited the supply of miners that brokers may source for us. Our brokers may also decline our orders to fulfill those of our competitors, putting us at competitive harm. There are no assurances that any miner manufacturers will be able to keep pace with the surge in demand for mining equipment. If our brokers are not able to provide the agreed services at the level of quality and quantity we require or become unable to handle the volume of miners we seek, we may not be able to replace such broker in a timely manner. Any delays, interruption or increased costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.

We may depend upon outside advisors who may not be available on reasonable terms as needed.

To supplement the business experience of our officers and directors, we may be required to employ technical experts, appraisers, attorneys, or other consultants or advisors. Our management, with our board of directors (“Board”) approval in certain cases, without any input from stockholders will make the selection of any such advisors. Furthermore, it is anticipated that such persons may be engaged on an “as needed” basis without a continuing fiduciary or other obligation to us. In the event we consider it necessary to hire outside advisors, we may elect to hire persons who are affiliates, if they are able to provide the required services.

COVID-19 or any pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease in the United States or elsewhere may adversely affect our business.

The COVID-19 virus has had unpredictable and unprecedented impacts in the United States and around the world. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a “pandemic,” or a worldwide spread of a new disease. Many countries around the world have imposed quarantines and restrictions on travel and large gatherings to slow the spread of the virus. In the United States, federal, state and local governments have enacted restrictions on travel, gatherings, and workplaces, with exceptions made for essential workers and businesses. We are still assessing potential effects on our business from COVID-19 and any actions implemented by the federal, state and local governments. We may experience disruptions to our business operations resulting from quarantines, self-isolations, or other movement and restrictions on the ability of our employees to perform their jobs. If we are unable to take delivery of, or effectively service and maintain, our equipment, our ability to mine cryptoassets will be adversely affected, which would have an adverse effect on our business and the results of our operations.

China has also prohibited the shipment of cryptoasset related products in and out of its borders, which could negatively impact our ability to receive mining equipment from China-based suppliers. Third-party manufacturers, suppliers, sub-contractors and customers have been and will continue to be disrupted by worker absenteeism, quarantines, restrictions on employees’ ability to work, office and factory closures, disruptions to ports and other shipping infrastructure, border closures, or other travel or health-related restrictions. Depending on the magnitude of such effects on our supply chain, shipments of parts for our existing miners, as well as any new equipment we purchase, may be delayed. As our equipment requires repair or becomes obsolete and requires replacement, our ability to obtain adequate replacements or repair parts from their manufacturer may therefore be hampered. Supply chain disruptions could therefore negatively impact our operations. If not resolved quickly, the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic could have a material adverse effect on our business.

If we were deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), applicable restrictions could make it impractical for us to continue our business as currently contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Under Sections 3(a)(1)(A) and (C) of the Investment Company Act, a company generally will be deemed to be an “investment company” for purposes of the Investment Company Act if (i) it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities or (ii) it engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items)

 

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on an unconsolidated basis. We do not believe that we are an “investment company,” as such term is defined in either of those sections of the Investment Company Act.

Additionally, we believe that we are not engaged in the business of investing, reinvesting, or trading in securities, and we do not hold ourselves out as being engaged in those activities. As a result of our investments and our cryptoasset mining activities, it is possible that the investment securities we hold in the future could exceed 40% of our total assets, exclusive of cash items and, accordingly, we could determine that we have become an inadvertent investment company. To date the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) staff have treated Bitcoin as a commodity, but it is possible that the SEC may deem Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptoassets an investment security in the future, although we do not believe any of the cryptoasset we will acquire or mine are securities. An inadvertent investment company can avoid being classified as an investment company if it can rely on one of the exclusions under the Investment Company Act. One such exclusion, Rule 3a-2 under the Investment Company Act, allows an inadvertent investment company a grace period of one year from the earlier of (a) the date on which an issuer owns securities and/or cash having a value exceeding 50% of the issuer’s total assets on either a consolidated or unconsolidated basis and (b) the date on which an issuer owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of such issuer’s total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. At this time, we do not believe we are an inadvertent investment company. If we do become an inadvertent investment company in the future, we may take actions to cause the investment securities held by us to be less than 40% of our total assets, which may include acquiring assets with our cash and cryptoasset on hand or liquidating our investment securities or cryptoasset or seeking a no-action letter from the SEC if we are unable to acquire sufficient assets or liquidate sufficient investment securities in a timely manner. Liquidating our investment securities or cryptoasset could result in losses.

As the Rule 3a-2 exception is available to a company no more than once every three years, and assuming no other exclusion were available to us, we would have to keep within the 40% limit for at least three years after we cease being an inadvertent investment company. This may limit our ability to make certain investments or enter into joint ventures that could otherwise have a positive impact on our earnings. In any event, we do not intend to become an investment company engaged in the business of investing and trading securities.

Classification as an investment company under the Investment Company Act requires registration with the SEC. If an investment company fails to register, it would have to stop doing almost all business, and its contracts would become voidable. Registration is time consuming and restrictive and would require a restructuring of our operations, and we would be very constrained in the kind of business we could do as a registered investment company. Further, we would become subject to substantial regulation concerning management, operations, transactions with affiliated persons and portfolio composition, and would need to file reports under the Investment Company Act regime. The cost of such compliance would result in us incurring substantial additional expenses, and the failure to register if required would have a materially adverse impact to conduct our operations. Furthermore, our classification as an investment company could adversely affect our ability to engage in future combinations, acquisitions or other transactions on a tax-free basis.

The cryptoeconomy is novel and has little to no access to policymakers or lobbying organizations, which may harm our ability to effectively react to proposed legislation and regulation of cryptoassets or cryptoasset platforms adverse to our business.

As cryptoassets have grown in both popularity and market size, various U.S. federal, state, and local and foreign governmental organizations, consumer agencies and public advocacy groups have been examining the operations of crypto networks, users and platforms, with a focus on how cryptoassets can be used to launder the proceeds of illegal activities, fund criminal or terrorist enterprises, and the safety and soundness of platforms and other service providers that hold cryptoassets for users. Many of these entities have called for heightened regulatory oversight, and have issued consumer advisories describing the risks posed by cryptoassets to users and investors. For instance, in July 2019, then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated that he had “very serious concerns” about cryptoassets. Outside the United States, several jurisdictions have banned so-called initial coin offerings, such as China and South Korea, while Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, have opined that token offerings may constitute securities offerings subject to local securities regulations. In July 2019, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority proposed rules to address harm

 

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to retail customers arising from the sale of derivatives and exchange-traded notes that reference certain types of cryptoassets, contending that they are “ill-suited” to retail investors due to extreme volatility, valuation challenges and association with financial crimes.

The cryptoeconomy is novel and has little to no access to policymakers and lobbying organizations in many jurisdictions. Competitors from other, more established industries, including traditional financial services, may have greater access to lobbyists or governmental officials, and regulators that are concerned about the potential for cryptoassets for illicit usage may effect statutory and regulatory changes with minimal or discounted inputs from the crypto economy. As a result, new laws and regulations may be proposed and adopted in the United States and internationally, or existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in new ways, that harm the crypto economy or cryptoasset platforms, which could adversely impact our business.

Cryptoassets’ status as a “security,” a “commodity” or a “financial instrument” in any relevant jurisdiction is subject to a high degree of uncertainty and if we are unable to properly characterize a cryptoasset, we may be subject to regulatory scrutiny, investigations, fines, and other penalties, which may adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

The legal test for determining whether or not any given cryptoasset is a security (the Howey test) is a highly complex, fact-driven analysis the outcome of which is difficult to predict. The SEC took the position that initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) are issuances of securities, a position that was upheld by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of NY in the 2020 case SEC v. Telegram Group Inc. & TON Issuer Inc. The SEC’s position on most other cryptoassets, other than Bitcoin, Ether and ICOs, is that it is up to market participants to determine whether or not a particular cryptoasset is a “security.” The SEC generally does not provide advance guidance or confirmation on the status of any particular cryptoasset as a security. Furthermore, the SEC’s views in this area have evolved over time and it is difficult to predict the direction or timing of any continuing evolution. It is also possible that a change in the governing administration or the appointment of new SEC commissioners could substantially impact the views of the SEC and its staff. Public statements by senior officials at the SEC indicate that the SEC does not intend to take the position that Bitcoin or Ether are securities (in their current form). With respect to all other cryptoassets, there is currently no certainty under the applicable legal test that such assets are not securities, notwithstanding the conclusions we may draw based on our risk-based assessment regarding the likelihood that a particular cryptoasset could be deemed a “security” under applicable laws. Similarly, though the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology published a framework for analyzing whether any given cryptoasset is a security in April 2019, this framework is also not a rule, regulation or statement of the SEC and is not binding on the SEC.

Several foreign jurisdictions have taken a broad-based approach to classifying cryptoassets as “securities,” while other foreign jurisdictions, such as Switzerland, Malta, and Singapore, have adopted a narrower approach. As a result, certain cryptoassets may be deemed to be a “security” under the laws of some jurisdictions but not others. Various foreign jurisdictions may, in the future, adopt additional laws, regulations, or directives that affect the characterization of cryptoassets as “securities.” If Bitcoin or any other supported cryptoasset is deemed to be a security under any U.S. federal, state, or foreign jurisdiction, or in a proceeding in a court of law or otherwise, it may have adverse consequences for such supported cryptoasset. For instance, all transactions in such supported cryptoasset would have to be registered with the SEC or other foreign authority, or conducted in accordance with an exemption from registration, which could severely limit its liquidity, usability and transactability. Moreover, the networks on which such supported cryptoassets are utilized may be required to be regulated as securities intermediaries, and subject to applicable rules, which could effectively render the network impracticable for its existing purposes. Further, it could draw negative publicity and a decline in the general acceptance of the cryptoasset. Also, it may make it difficult for such supported cryptoasset to be traded, cleared, and custodied as compared to other cryptoassets that are not considered to be securities.

Ongoing and future regulatory actions could effectively interfere with our ongoing or planned crypto mining and co-hosting operations, limiting or preventing future revenue generation by us and rendering our operations and crypto mining equipment obsolete. Such actions could severely impact our ability to continue to operate and our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.

 

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Banks, financial institutions and other businesses vary in the services they provide to businesses that engage in cryptoasset-related activities or that accept cryptoasset as payment.

Although a number of significant U.S. banks and investment institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, Citi Group, J.P. Morgan and BlackRock, allow customers to carry and invest in cryptoassets, the acceptance and use by banks of cryptoassets varies. Additionally, a number of companies and individuals or businesses associated with cryptoassets may have had and may continue to have their existing banking services discontinued with financial institutions in response to government action, particularly in China, where regulatory response to cryptoassets has been to exclude their use for ordinary consumer transactions. However, in 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the U.S. Treasury Department announced that national banks and federal savings associations may provide cryptoasset custody services for customers. While we expect Ethereum and Bitcoin to continue to gain greater acceptance by banks and investment institutions, we cannot accurately predict the level and scope of services that these institutions will offer to businesses engaging in Ethereum or other cryptoasset related activities.

The usefulness of Ethereum and Bitcoin as payment systems and the public perception of Ethereum and Bitcoin could be damaged if banks or financial institutions were to close the accounts of businesses engaging in cryptoasset-related activities. This could occur as a result of compliance risk, cost, government regulation or public pressure. The risk applies to securities firms, clearance and settlement firms, national stock and derivatives on commodities exchanges, the over-the-counter market, and the Depository Trust Company, which, if any of such entities adopts or implements similar policies, rules or regulations, could negatively affect our relationships with financial institutions and impede our ability to convert Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets to fiat currencies. Such factors could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and harm investors.

In addition to commercial banks, we have experienced reluctance by other service providers including public account firms and insurance companies.

If our co-hosting customers suffer from harm or loss as a result of risks relating to crypto mining operations or determine not to use our co-hosting facility, our co-hosting operations may suffer from significant losses.

We have material customer concentration in our co-hosting business. We have entered into contracts with four customers to utilize our first co-hosting facility which is currently under construction. When our first co-hosting facility begins producing revenue, these four customers will account for 100% of the revenue from our first co-hosting facility (100MW). These customers have also contracted for 85MW of power at our second co-hosting facility once completed and operational. There are inherent risks whenever a large percentage of total revenues are concentrated with a limited number of customers. Additionally, our co-hosting customers are crypto miners themselves and subject to the same risks as we are with respect to their crypto mining businesses. It is not possible for us to predict the future level of demand for our services that will be generated by these customers or the future demand for the products and services of these customers. Should some or all of our co-hosting customers suffer from harm or loss due to a set of circumstances, their businesses could be negatively impacted or prevented. Further, our contracts with these customers permit them to terminate our services at any time (subject to notice and certain other provisions).

If any of our customers experience declining mining operations for any reason or determine to stop utilizing our co-hosting facilities, we could be pressured to reduce the prices we charge for our services or we could lose a major customer. Any such development could have an adverse effect on our margins and financial position, and would negatively affect our revenues and results of operations.

We may not be able to compete with other companies, some of whom have greater resources and experience.

We may not be able to compete successfully against present or future competitors. We do not have the resources to compete with larger providers of similar products or services at this time. The cryptoasset industry has attracted various high-profile and well-established operators, some of which have substantially greater liquidity and financial resources than we do. With the limited resources we have available, we may experience great difficulties in expanding and improving our network of computers to remain competitive. Competition from existing and future competitors, particularly those that have access to competitively priced

 

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energy, could result in our inability to secure acquisitions and partnerships that we may need to expand our business in the future. This competition from other entities with greater resources, experience and reputations may result in our failure to maintain or expand our business, as we may never be able to successfully execute our business plan. If we are unable to expand and remain competitive, our business could be negatively affected which would have an adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock, which would harm our investors.

The impact of geopolitical and economic events on the supply and demand for cryptoassets is uncertain.

Geopolitical crises may motivate large-scale purchases of cryptoassets, which could increase the price of Bitcoin , Ether and other cryptoassets rapidly. This may increase the likelihood of a subsequent price decrease as crisis-driven purchasing behavior dissipates, adversely affecting the value of our inventory following such downward adjustment. Such risks are similar to the risks of purchasing commodities in general uncertain times, such as the risk of purchasing, holding or selling gold. Alternatively, as an emerging asset class with limited acceptance as a payment system or commodity, global crises and general economic downturn may discourage investment in Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets as investors focus their investment on less volatile asset classes as a means of hedging their investment risk.

As an alternative to fiat currencies that are backed by central governments, Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets, which are relatively new, are subject to supply and demand forces. How such supply and demand will be impacted by geopolitical events is largely uncertain but could be harmful to us and investors in our common stock. Political or economic crises may motivate large-scale acquisitions or sales of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoasset either globally or locally. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any cryptoasset we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account.

Governmental actions may have a materially adverse effect on the cryptoasset mining industry as a whole, which would have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

China is the world’s largest producer of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets and a large majority of the world’s cryptoasset mining power (some observers estimate that China produces as high as 80% of the world’s cryptoasset mining power) is located there. China has already made transacting in cryptoassets illegal for Chinese citizens in mainland China, and additional restrictions may follow. However, thus far, China has permitted cryptoasset mining on a national scale, but provincial governments have taken action to restrict and even ban cryptoasset mining within their province. For example, actions were taken in March 2021 by the governmental authorities for the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia, which represents roughly 8% of the world’s total mining power, to ban cryptoasset mining in the province due in part to the industry’s intense electrical power demands and its negative environmental impacts (both in terms of the waste produced by mining the rare earth metals used to manufacture miners and the production of electrical power used in cryptoasset mining). On September 24, 2021, China imposed a ban on all crypto transactions and mining. Other governments around the world are also reviewing their rules and regulations concerning the cryptoasset industry, including the United States.

On May 3, 2021, a bill was presented to the New York Senate’s Environmental Conservation Committee that, if passed, would establish a three-year moratorium on the operation of cryptoasset mining centers pending an environmental impact study on the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the cryptoasset mining industry in the State of New York. Because we are unable to influence or predict future regulatory actions taken by governments in China, the United States or elsewhere, we may have little opportunity or ability to respond to rapidly evolving regulatory positions which may have a materially adverse effect on our industry and, therefore, our business and results of operations. If further extreme regulatory action is taken by various government entities, our business may suffer and investors in our securities may lose part or all of their investment.

Acceptance and/or widespread use of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets is uncertain.

Currently, there is a relatively limited use of any cryptoasset in the retail and commercial marketplace, thus contributing to price volatility that could adversely affect an investment in our common stock. Banks

 

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and other established financial institutions may refuse to process funds for cryptoasset transactions, process wire transfers to or from cryptoasset exchanges, cryptoasset-related companies or service providers, or maintain accounts for persons or entities transacting in cryptoasset. Conversely, a significant portion of cryptoasset demand is generated by investors seeking a long-term store of value or speculators seeking to profit from the short- or long-term holding of the asset. Price volatility undermines cryptoassets’ role as a medium of exchange, as retailers are much less likely to accept it as a form of payment. Market capitalization for cryptoasset as a medium of exchange and payment method may always be low.

The relative lack of acceptance of cryptoasset in the retail and commercial marketplace, or a reduction of such use, limits the ability of end users to use them to pay for goods and services. Such lack of acceptance or decline in acceptances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account.

It may be illegal now, or in the future, to acquire, own, hold, sell or use Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets, participate in blockchains or utilize similar cryptoassets in one or more countries, the ruling of which would adversely affect us.

Although currently cryptoassets generally are not regulated or are lightly regulated in most countries, one or more countries such as China and Russia, which have taken harsh regulatory action in the past, may take regulatory actions in the future that could severely restrict the right to acquire, own, hold, sell or use these cryptoassets or to exchange for fiat currency. In many nations, particularly in China and Russia, it is illegal to accept payment in cryptoassets for consumer transactions and banking institutions are barred from accepting deposits of some or all cryptoassets. Such restrictions may adversely affect us as the large-scale use of Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets as a means of exchange is presently confined to certain regions globally. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, and harm investors.

There is a lack of liquid markets, and possible manipulation of blockchain/cryptoassets.

Cryptoassets that are represented and trade on a ledger-based platform may not necessarily benefit from viable trading markets. Stock exchanges have listing requirements and vet issuers; requiring them to be subjected to rigorous listing standards and rules, and monitor investors transacting on such platform for fraud and other improprieties. These conditions may not necessarily be replicated on a distributed ledger platform, depending on the platform’s controls and other policies. The laxer a distributed ledger platform is about vetting issuers of cryptoassets or users that transact on the platform, the higher the potential risk for fraud or the manipulation of the ledger due to a control event. These factors may decrease liquidity or volume or may otherwise increase volatility of investment securities or other assets trading on a ledger-based system, which may adversely affect us. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, and harm investors.

Cryptoassets may have concentrated ownership and large sales or distributions by holders of such cryptoassets could have an adverse effect on the market price of such cryptoasset.

As of December 31, 2020, the largest 100 Ether wallets held approximately 35% of the Ether in circulation. As of December 31, 2020, the largest 100 Bitcoin wallets held approximately 14% of the Bitcoins in circulation. Moreover, it is possible that other persons or entities control multiple wallets that collectively hold a significant number of Ether or Bitcoin, even if they individually only hold a small amount, and it is possible that some of these wallets are controlled by the same person or entity. Similar or more concentrated levels of concentrated ownership may exist for other cryptoassets as well. As a result of this concentration of ownership, large sales or distributions by such holders could have an adverse effect on the market price of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets.

 

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Our operations, investment strategies and profitability may be adversely affected by competition from other methods of investing in Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets.

We compete with other users and/or companies that are mining Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets and other potential financial vehicles, including securities backed by or linked to cryptoassets through entities similar to us. Market and financial conditions, and other conditions beyond our control, may make it more attractive to invest in other financial vehicles, or to invest in Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets directly, which could limit the market for our shares and reduce their liquidity. The emergence of other financial vehicles and exchange-traded funds have been scrutinized by regulators and such scrutiny and the negative impressions or conclusions resulting from such scrutiny could be applicable to us and impact our ability to successfully pursue our strategy or operate at all, or to establish or maintain a public market for our securities. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, and harm investors.

The development and acceptance of competing blockchain platforms or technologies may cause consumers to use alternative distributed ledgers or other alternatives.

The development and acceptance of competing blockchain platforms or technologies may cause consumers to use alternative distributed ledgers or an alternative to distributed ledgers altogether. Our business utilizes presently existent digital ledgers and blockchains and we could face difficulty adapting to emergent digital ledgers, blockchains, or alternatives thereto. This may adversely affect us and our exposure to various blockchain technologies and prevent us from realizing the anticipated profits from our investments. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, and harm investors.

The price of Ether/Bitcoin may be affected by the sale of Ether/Bitcoin by other vehicles investing in ETH/​Bitcoin or tracking Ether/Bitcoin markets.

The global market for Ether/Bitcoin is characterized by supply constraints that differ from those present in the markets for commodities or other assets such as gold and silver. To the extent that other vehicles investing in Ether/Bitcoin or tracking Ether/Bitcoin markets form and come to represent a significant proportion of the demand for Ether/Bitcoin, large redemptions of the securities of those vehicles and the subsequent sale of Ether/Bitcoin by such vehicles could negatively affect Ether/Bitcoin prices and therefore affect the value of the Ether/Bitcoin inventory we hold. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Ether/Bitcoin we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account.

The nature of our business requires the application of complex financial accounting rules, and there is limited guidance from accounting standard setting bodies. If financial accounting standards undergo significant changes, our operating results could be adversely affected.

The accounting rules and regulations that we must comply with are complex and subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), the SEC, and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results, and may even affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement or effectiveness of a change. Recent actions and public comments from the FASB and the SEC have focused on the integrity of financial reporting and internal controls. In addition, many companies’ accounting policies are being subject to heightened scrutiny by regulators and the public. Further, there have been limited precedents for the financial accounting of cryptoassets and related valuation and revenue recognition, and no official guidance has been provided by the FASB or the SEC. As such, there remains significant uncertainty on how companies can account for cryptoasset transactions, cryptoassets, and related revenue. Uncertainties or changes in regulatory or financial accounting standards

 

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could result in the need to change our accounting methods and restate our financial statements and impair our ability to provide timely and accurate financial information, which could adversely affect our financial statements, result in a loss of investor confidence, and more generally impact our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We may not adequately respond to rapidly changing technology or methods of, rules of, or access to, platforms which may negatively affect our business. Rapidly changing technology or platform methods, rules and access may render our crypto mining and related equipment and facilities obsolete, unprofitable or unusable.

Competitive conditions within the cryptoasset industry require that we use sophisticated technology in the operation of our business. The industry for blockchain technology is characterized by rapid technological changes, new product introductions, enhancements and evolving industry standards. New technologies, techniques or products could emerge that might offer better performance than the software and other technologies we currently utilize, and we may have to manage transitions to these new technologies to remain competitive. We may not be successful, generally or relative to our competitors in the cryptoasset industry, in timely implementing new technology into our systems, or doing so in a cost-effective manner. During the course of implementing any such new technology into our operations, we may experience system interruptions and failures and may find existing crypto mining equipment and infrastructure investments become obsolete. Furthermore, there can be no assurances that we will recognize, in a timely manner or at all, the benefits that we may expect as a result of our implementing new technology into our operations. Additionally, the methods, rules and access to the platforms which we mine change rapidly and could result in the platforms becoming obsolete or unusable by us. As a result of such changes to technology and/or platforms, our business and operations may suffer, and there may be adverse effects on the value of our securities.

Our future success will depend upon the value of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets; the value of such cryptoasset may be subject to pricing risk and has historically been subject to wide swings.

Our operating results will depend on the value of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets we mine. Specifically, our revenues from our mining operations are based on two factors: (1) the number of Ether/Bitcoin rewards and other cryptoassets we successfully mine and (2) the value of the same. In addition, our operating results are directly impacted by changes in the value of Ether/Bitcoin, because under the value measurement model, both realized and unrealized changes will be reflected in our statement of operations (i.e., we will be marking cryptoasset to fair value each quarter). This means that our operating results will be subject to swings based upon increases or decreases in the value of the cryptoassets we mine. Further, our mining equipment is principally utilized for mining Ether and Bitcoin. If other cryptoassets were to achieve acceptance at the expense of Ethereum/Bitcoin causing the value of our Ether/Bitcoin and other cryptoassets to decline, or if Ethereum/Bitcoin were to switch its proof of work encryption algorithm to one for which our miners are not specialized, or the value of Ether/Bitcoin and our other cryptoassets were to decline for other reasons, particularly if such decline were significant or over an extended period of time, our operating results would be adversely affected, and there could be a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations, and harm investors.

Cryptoasset market prices, which have historically been extremely volatile and are impacted by a variety of factors (including those discussed herein), are determined primarily using data from various exchanges, over-the-counter markets and derivative platforms. Furthermore, such prices may be subject to factors such as those that impact commodities, more so than business activities, which could be subjected to additional influence from fraudulent or illegitimate actors, real or perceived scarcity, and political, economic, regulatory or other conditions. Pricing may be the result of, and may continue to result in, speculation regarding future appreciation in the value of Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets we mine, or our share price, inflating and making their market prices more volatile or creating “bubble” type risks for both our cryptoasset and shares of our securities.

If the award of Ether/Bitcoin reward for solving blocks and transaction fees, is not sufficiently high, we may not have an adequate incentive to continue mining and may cease mining operations, which will likely lead to our failure to achieve profitability.

If the number of Ether/Bitcoin awarded for solving a block in a blockchain decreases, our ability to achieve profitability worsens. Decreased use and demand for Ether/Bitcoin rewards may adversely affect our

 

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incentive to expend processing power to solve blocks. If the award of Ether/Bitcoin rewards for solving blocks and transaction fees are not sufficiently high, we may not have an adequate incentive to continue mining and may cease our mining operations. Miners ceasing operations would reduce the collective processing power on the network, which would adversely affect the confirmation process for transactions (i.e., temporarily decreasing the speed at which blocks are added to a blockchain until the next scheduled adjustment in difficulty for block solutions) and make the Ethereum network more vulnerable to a malicious actor or botnet obtaining control in excess of 50 percent of the processing power active on a blockchain, potentially permitting such actor or botnet to manipulate a blockchain in a manner that adversely affects our activities. A reduction in confidence in the confirmation process or processing power of the network could result and be irreversible. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any cryptoasset we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account. In addition, such events could have a material adverse effect on the usefulness of our crypto mining equipment and co-hosting facilities, particularly any investment or commitments made by us for co-hosting facilities.

If the number of Ether/Bitcoin token rewards awarded for solving a block in a blockchain decreases, the incentive for miners to continue to contribute to the network may transition from a set reward to transaction fees. In order to incentivize miners to continue to contribute to the network, the network may either formally or informally transition from a set reward to transaction fees earned upon solving a block. This transition could be accomplished by miners independently electing to record in the blocks they solve only those transactions that include payment of a transaction fee. If transaction fees paid for transactions become too high, the marketplace may be reluctant to accept Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets as a means of payment and existing users may be motivated to switch from Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets to another cryptoasset or to fiat currency. Either the requirement from miners of higher transaction fees in exchange for recording transactions in a blockchain or a software upgrade that automatically charges fees for all transactions may decrease demand for Ether or Bitcoin and prevent the expansion of these networks to retail merchants and commercial businesses, resulting in a reduction in the price of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets that could adversely impact an investment in our securities. Decreased use and demand for Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets that we have accumulated may adversely affect their value and may adversely impact an investment in us.

Because the number of Bitcoin awarded for solving a block in the Bitcoin network blockchain continually decreases, miners must invest in increasing processing power to maintain their yield of Bitcoins, which might make Bitcoin mining uneconomical for us.

The award of new Bitcoin for solving blocks continually declines, so that Bitcoin miners must invest in increasing processing power in order to maintain or increase their yield of Bitcoin. If the pricing of Bitcoin were to decline significantly, there can be no assurance that we would be able to recover our investment in the computer hardware and processing power required to upgrade our mining operations. There can, moreover, be no assurance that we will have the resources to upgrade our processing power in order to maintain the continuing profitability of our mining operations. Also, the developers of the Bitcoin network or other programmers could propose amendments to the network’s protocols and software that, if accepted, might require us to modify our Bitcoin operations, and increase our investment in Bitcoin, in order to maintain profitability. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to do so. In addition, any decrease in demand for crypto mining resources would adversely impact our investment in, and operation of, our co-hosting facilities and negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.

Cryptoasset mining is capital intensive.

Remaining competitive in the cryptoasset mining industry requires significant capital expenditure on new chips and other hardware necessary to increase processing power as the cryptoasset network difficulty increases, as well as commitments for power and co-hosting arrangements. If we are unable to fund our capital expenditures, either through our revenue stream or through other sources of capital, we may be unable to remain competitive and experience a deterioration in our result of operations and financial condition.

 

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The limited rights of legal recourse against us, and our lack of insurance protection expose us and our stockholders to the risk of loss of our cryptoassets for which no person is liable.

The cryptoassets held by us are not insured. Therefore, a loss may be suffered with respect to our cryptoassets which is not covered by insurance and for which no person is liable in damages which could adversely affect our operations and, consequently, an investment in us.

We do not hold our cryptoassets with a banking institution or a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) and, therefore, our cryptoassets are not subject to the protections enjoyed by depositors with FDIC or SIPC member institutions.

Intellectual property rights claims may adversely affect the operation of some or all cryptoasset networks.

Third parties may assert intellectual property claims relating to the holding and transfer of cryptoassets and their source code. Regardless of the merit of any intellectual property or other legal action, any threatened action that reduces confidence in some or all cryptoasset networks’ long-term viability or the ability of end-users to hold and transfer cryptoassets may adversely affect an investment in us. Additionally, a meritorious intellectual property claim could prevent us and other end-users from accessing some or all cryptoasset networks or holding or transferring their cryptoassets. As a result, an intellectual property claim against us or other large cryptoasset network participants could adversely affect an investment in us.

Cryptoasset Mining Equipment and Technology Related Risks

The open-source structure of the Ethereum and Bitcoin network protocols means that the contributors to the protocol are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing the protocol. A failure to properly monitor and upgrade the protocol could damage the Ethereum network and an investment in us.

The Ethereum and Bitcoin networks, for example, operate based on an open-source protocol maintained by contributors. As an open-source projects, Ethereum and Bitcoin are not represented by an official organization or authority. As the network protocol is not sold and its use does not generate revenues for contributors, contributors are generally not compensated for maintaining and updating the network protocols. The lack of guaranteed financial incentive for contributors to maintain or develop the networks and the lack of guaranteed resources to adequately address emerging issues with the networks may reduce incentives to address the issues adequately or in a timely manner. Changes to a cryptoasset network which we are mining on may adversely affect an investment in us.

The further development and acceptance of cryptoasset networks and other cryptoassets, which represent a new and rapidly changing industry, are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The slowing or stopping of the development or acceptance of cryptoasset systems may adversely affect an investment in us.

The further development and acceptance of cryptoasset networks and other cryptoassets, which represent a new and rapidly changing industry, are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The slowing or stopping of the development or acceptance of cryptoasset systems may adversely affect an investment in us.

Cryptoassets built on blockchain technology were only introduced in 2008 and remain in the early stages of development. The use of cryptoassets to, among other things, buy and sell goods and services and complete transactions, is part of a new and rapidly evolving industry that employs cryptoassets, including Ether and Bitcoin, based upon a computer-generated mathematical and/or cryptographic protocol. The further growth and development of any cryptoassets and their underlying networks and other cryptographic and algorithmic protocols governing the creation, transfer and usage of cryptoassets represent a new and evolving paradigm that is subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate, including:

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continued worldwide growth in the adoption and use of Ether and Bitcoin as mediums of exchange;

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governmental and quasi-governmental regulation of Ether and Bitcoin and its use, or restrictions on or regulation of access to and operation of the Ethereum and Bitcoin networks or similar cryptoasset systems;

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changes in consumer demographics and public tastes and preferences;

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the maintenance and development of the open-source software protocol of the network, including software updates and changes to network protocols that could introduce bugs or security risks;

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the increased consolidation of contributors to the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains through mining pools;

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the availability and popularity of other forms or methods of buying and selling goods and services, including new means of using fiat currencies;

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the use of the networks supporting cryptoassets for developing smart contracts and distributed applications;

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general economic conditions and the regulatory environment relating to cryptoassets; and

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negative consumer sentiment and perception of Ethereum and Bitcoin specifically and cryptoassets generally.

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The outcome of these factors could have negative effects on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our business strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations as well as a potentially negative effect on the value of any Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, which would harm investors in our securities.

Our reliance on a third-party mining pool service provider for our mining revenue payouts may have a negative impact on our operations such as a result of cyber-attacks against the mining pool operator and/or our limited recourse against the mining pool operator with respect to rewards paid to us.

We receive cryptoasset mining rewards from our mining activity through a third-party mining pool operator. Mining pools allow miners to combine their processing power, increasing their chances of solving a block and getting paid by the network. The rewards are distributed by the pool operator, proportionally to our contribution to the pool’s overall mining power, used to generate each block. Should the pool operator’s system suffer downtime due to a cyber-attack, software malfunction or other similar issues, it will negatively impact our ability to mine and receive revenue. Furthermore, we are dependent on the accuracy of the mining pool operator’s record keeping to accurately record the total processing power provided to the pool for a given cryptoasset mining application in order to assess the proportion of that total processing power we provided.

While we have internal methods of tracking both our power provided and the total used by the pool, the mining pool operator uses its own recordkeeping to determine our proportion of a given reward. We have little means of recourse against the mining pool operator if we determine the proportion of the reward paid out to us by the mining pool operator is incorrect, other than leaving the pool. If we are unable to consistently obtain accurate proportionate rewards from our mining pool operators, we may experience reduced reward for our efforts, which would have an adverse effect on our business and operations.

We may face risks of Internet disruptions, which could have an adverse effect on the price of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets.

A disruption of the Internet may affect the use of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets and subsequently the value of our common stock. Generally, Bitcoin, Ether and our business of mining cryptoassets is dependent upon the Internet. A significant disruption in Internet connectivity could disrupt a currency’s network operations until the disruption is resolved and have an adverse effect on the price of cryptoassets and our ability to mine them.

The properties included in our mining network may experience damages, including damages that are not covered by insurance.

Our current mining operation is, and any future mining operations we establish will be, subject to a variety of risks relating to physical condition and operation, including:

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the presence of construction or repair defects or other structural or building damage;

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any noncompliance with or liabilities under applicable environmental, health or safety regulations or requirements or building permit requirements;

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any damage resulting from natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods and windstorms; and

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claims by employees and others for injuries sustained at our properties.

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For example, our mining operations could be rendered inoperable, temporarily or permanently, as a result of a fire or other natural disaster or by a terrorist or other attack on the facilities where are miners are located. The security and other measures we take to protect against these risks may not be sufficient. We are currently investigating and expect to obtain property insurance that covers mining equipment, and includes business interruption for mining operations, subject to certain deductibles. The insurance we obtain may not be adequate to cover the losses we suffer as a result of any of these events. In the event of an uninsured loss, including a loss in excess of insured limits, at any of the mines in our network, such mines may not be adequately repaired in a timely manner or at all and we may lose some or all of the future revenues anticipated to be derived from such mines. The potential impact on our business is currently magnified because we are only operating from a single location.

The characteristics of cryptoassets have been, and may in the future continue to be, exploited to facilitate illegal activity such as fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and ransomware scams; if any of our customers do so or are alleged to have done so, it could adversely affect us.

Digital currencies and the digital currency industry are relatively new and, in many cases, lightly regulated or largely unregulated. Some types of digital currency have characteristics, such as the speed with which digital currency transactions can be conducted, the ability to conduct transactions without the involvement of regulated intermediaries, the ability to engage in transactions across multiple jurisdictions, the irreversible nature of certain digital currency transactions and encryption technology that anonymizes these transactions, that make digital currency particularly susceptible to use in illegal activity such as fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and ransomware scams. Two prominent examples of marketplaces that accepted digital currency payments for illegal activities include Silk Road, an online marketplace on the dark web that, among other things, facilitated the sale of illegal drugs and forged legal documents using digital currencies and AlphaBay, another darknet market that utilized digital currencies to hide the locations of its servers and identities of its users. Both of these marketplaces were investigated and closed by U.S. law enforcement authorities. U.S. regulators, including the SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Federal Trade Commission, as well as non-U.S. regulators, have taken legal action against persons alleged to be engaged in Ponzi schemes and other fraudulent schemes involving digital currencies. In addition, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has noted the increasing use of digital currency in various ransomware scams.

While we believe that our risk management and compliance framework, which includes thorough reviews we conduct as part of our due diligence process (either in connection with onboarding new customers or monitoring existing customers), is reasonably designed to detect any such illicit activities conducted by our potential or existing customers (or, in the case of digital currency exchanges, their customers), we cannot ensure that we will be able to detect any such illegal activity in all instances. Because the speed, irreversibility and anonymity of certain digital currency transactions make them more difficult to track, fraudulent transactions may be more likely to occur. We or our potential banking counterparties may be specifically targeted by individuals seeking to conduct fraudulent transfers, and it may be difficult or impossible for us to detect and avoid such transactions in certain circumstances. If one of our customers (or in the case of digital currency exchanges, their customers) were to engage in or be accused of engaging in illegal activities using digital currency, we could be subject to various fines and sanctions, including limitations on our activities, which could also cause reputational damage and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The decentralized nature of cryptoasset systems may lead to slow or inadequate responses to crises, which may negatively affect our business.

The decentralized nature of the governance of cryptoasset systems may lead to ineffective decision making that slows development or prevents a network from overcoming emergent obstacles. Governance of

 

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many cryptoasset systems is by voluntary consensus and open competition with no clear leadership structure or authority. To the extent lack of clarity in corporate governance of the Ethereum system leads to ineffective decision making that slows development and growth of Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets, the value of our securities may be adversely affected.

The loss or destruction of private keys required to access any cryptoassets held in custody for our own account may be irreversible. If we are unable to access our private keys or if we experience a hack or other data loss relating to our ability to access any cryptoassets, it could cause regulatory scrutiny, reputational harm, and other losses.

Cryptoassets are generally controllable only by the possessor of the unique private key relating to the digital wallet in which the cryptoassets are held. While blockchain protocols typically require public addresses to be published when used in a transaction, private keys must be safeguarded and kept private in order to prevent a third party from accessing the cryptoassets held in such a wallet. To the extent that any of the private keys relating to our hot wallet or cold storage containing cryptoassets held for our own account or for our customers is lost, destroyed, or otherwise compromised or unavailable, and no backup of the private key is accessible, we will be unable to access the cryptoassets held in the related wallet. Further, we cannot provide assurance that our wallet will not be hacked or compromised. Cryptoassets and blockchain technologies have been, and may in the future be, subject to security breaches, hacking, or other malicious activities. Any loss of private keys relating to, or hack or other compromise of, digital wallets used to store our customers’ cryptoassets could adversely affect our ability to access or sell our cryptoassets, and subject us to significant financial losses. As such, any loss of private keys due to a hack, employee or service provider misconduct or error, or other compromise by third parties could hurt our brand and reputation, result in significant losses, and adversely impact our business. The total value of cryptoassets in our possession and control is significantly greater than the total value of insurance coverage that would compensate us in the event of theft or other loss of funds.

Cryptoassets face significant scaling obstacles that can lead to high fees or slow transaction settlement times.

Cryptoassets face significant scaling obstacles that can lead to high fees or slow transaction settlement times, and attempts to increase the volume of transactions may not be effective. Scaling cryptoassets is essential to the widespread acceptance of cryptoassets as a means of payment, which widespread acceptance is necessary to the continued growth and development of our business. Many cryptoasset networks, including the Ethereum network, face significant scaling challenges. For example, cryptoassets are limited with respect to how many transactions can occur per second. Participants in the cryptoasset ecosystem debate potential approaches to increasing the average number of transactions per second that the network can handle and have implemented mechanisms or are researching ways to increase scale, such as increasing the allowable sizes of blocks, and therefore the number of transactions per block, and sharding (a horizontal partition of data in a database or search engine), which would not require every single transaction to be included in every single miner’s or validator’s block. However, there is no guarantee that any of the mechanisms in place or being explored for increasing the scale of settlement of cryptoasset transactions will be effective, or how long they will take to become effective, which could adversely affect an investment in our securities.

There are risks related to technological obsolescence, the vulnerability of the global supply chain to cryptoasset hardware disruption, and difficulty in obtaining new hardware which may have a negative effect on our business.

Our mining operations can only be successful and ultimately profitable if the costs, including hardware and electricity costs, associated with mining Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets are lower than the price of the Bitcoin, Ether and/or other cryptoassets. As our mining facility operates, our miners experience ordinary wear and tear and general hardware breakdown, and may also face more significant malfunctions caused by a number of extraneous factors beyond our control. The physical degradation of our miners will require us to, over time, replace those miners which are no longer functional. Additionally, as the technology evolves, we may be required to acquire newer models of miners to remain competitive in the market. The cost and availability of new machines is unpredictable. As a result, at times, we may obtain miners and other hardware from third parties at premium prices, to the extent they are available. In order to keep pace with technological advances and competition from other mining companies, it will be necessary to purchase new

 

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miners, which will eventually need to be repaired or replaced along with other equipment from time to time to stay competitive. This upgrading process requires substantial capital investment, and we may face challenges in doing so on a timely and cost-effective basis. Also, because we expect to depreciate all new miners, our reported operating results will be negatively affected.

The global supply chain for mining equipment is presently constrained due to unprecedented demand coupled with a global semiconductor shortage, with a significant portion of available miners being acquired by companies with substantial resources. Prices for both new and older models of miners have been on the rise and these supply constraints are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. China, a major supplier of cryptoasset miners, has seen a production slowdown as a result of COVID-19. Should similar outbreaks or other disruptions to the China-based global supply chain for hardware occur, we may not be able to obtain adequate replacement parts for our existing miners or to obtain additional miners on a timely basis, if at all, or we may only be able to acquire miners at premium prices. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to pursue our strategy, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and the value of our securities.

We may not be able to realize the benefits of forks. Forks in a cryptoasset network may occur in the future which may affect the value of cryptoassets held by us.

To the extent that a significant majority of users and miners on a cryptoasset network install software that changes the cryptoasset network or properties of a cryptoasset, including the irreversibility of transactions and limitations on the mining of new cryptoasset, the cryptoasset network would be subject to new protocols and software. However, if less than a significant majority of users and miners on the cryptoasset network consent to the proposed modification, and the modification is not compatible with the software prior to its modification, the consequence would be what is known as a “fork” of the network, with one prong running the pre-modified software and the other running the modified software. The effect of such a fork would be the existence of two versions of the cryptoasset running in parallel, yet lacking interchangeability and necessitating exchange-type transaction to convert currencies between the two forks. Additionally, it may be unclear following a fork which fork represents the original asset and which is the new asset. Different metrics adopted by industry participants to determine which is the original asset include: referring to the wishes of the core developers of a cryptoasset, blockchains with the greatest amount of hashing power contributed by miners or validators; or blockchains with the longest chain. A fork in the Ethereum network could adversely affect an investment in our securities or our ability to operate.

We may not be able to realize the economic benefit of a fork, either immediately or ever, which could adversely affect an investment in our securities. If we hold Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets at the time of a hard fork into two cryptoassets, industry standards would dictate that we would be expected to hold an equivalent amount of the old and new assets following the fork. However, we may not be able, or it may not be practical, to secure or realize the economic benefit of the new asset for various reasons. For instance, we may determine that there is no safe or practical way to custody the new asset, that trying to do so may pose an unacceptable risk to our holdings in the old asset, or that the costs of taking possession and/or maintaining ownership of the new cryptoasset exceed the benefits of owning the new cryptoasset. Additionally, laws, regulation or other factors may prevent us from benefitting from the new asset even if there is a safe and practical way to custody and secure the new asset.

There is a possibility of Ethereum mining algorithms transitioning to proof of stake validation and other mining related risks, which could make us less competitive and ultimately adversely affect our business and the value of our stock.

Proof of stake is an alternative method for validating Ethereum transactions. Should the algorithm shift from a proof of work validation method to a proof of stake method, mining would require less energy and may render any company that maintains advantages in the current climate (for example, from lower priced electricity, processing, real estate, or hosting) less competitive. We, as a result of our efforts to optimize and improve the efficiency of our Ethereum mining operations, may be exposed to the risk in the future of losing the benefit of our capital investments and the competitive advantage we hope to gain form this as a result, and may be negatively impacted if a switch to proof of stake validation were to occur. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy

 

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at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account.

If a malicious actor or botnet obtains control in excess of 50% of the processing power active on any cryptoasset network, it is possible that such actor or botnet could manipulate the blockchain in a manner that adversely affects an investment in us.

If a malicious actor or botnet (a volunteer or hacked collection of computers controlled by networked software coordinating the actions of the computers) obtains a majority of the processing power dedicated to mining on any cryptoasset network, including the Ethereum network, it may be able to alter the blockchain by constructing alternate blocks if it is able to solve for such blocks faster than the remainder of the miners on the blockchain can add valid blocks. In such alternate blocks, the malicious actor or botnet could control, exclude or modify the ordering of transactions, though it could not generate new cryptoassets or transactions using such control. Using alternate blocks, the malicious actor could “double-spend” its own cryptoassets (i.e., spend the same cryptoassets in more than one transaction) and prevent the confirmation of other users’ transactions for so long as it maintains control. To the extent that such malicious actor or botnet does not yield its majority control of the processing power or the cryptoasset community does not reject the fraudulent blocks as malicious, reversing any changes made to the blockchain may not be possible. Such changes could adversely affect an investment in us.

The approach towards and possible crossing of the 50% threshold indicate a greater risk that a single mining pool could exert authority over the validation of cryptoasset transactions. To the extent that the cryptoassets ecosystems do not act to ensure greater decentralization of cryptoasset mining processing power, the feasibility of a malicious actor obtaining in excess of 50% of the processing power on any cryptoasset network (e.g., through control of a large mining pool or through hacking such a mining pool) will increase, which may adversely impact an investment in us.

Cryptoassets, including those maintained by or for us, may be exposed to cybersecurity threats and hacks.

As with any computer code generally, flaws in cryptoasset codes, including Ethereum codes, may be exposed by malicious actors. Several errors and defects have been found previously, including those that disabled some functionality for users and exposed users’ information. Exploitations of flaws in the source code that allow malicious actors to take or create money have previously occurred. Despite our efforts and processes to prevent breaches, our devices, as well as our miners, computer systems and those of third parties that we use in our operations, are vulnerable to cyber security risks, including cyber-attacks such as viruses and worms, phishing attacks, denial-of-service attacks, physical or electronic break-ins, employee theft or misuse, and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our miners and computer systems or those of third parties that we use in our operations. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any cryptoasset we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account.

Our cryptoassets may be subject to loss, damage, theft or restriction on access.

There is a risk that part or all of our cryptoassets could be lost, stolen or destroyed. We believe that our cryptoassets will be an appealing target to hackers or malware distributors seeking to destroy, damage or steal our cryptoassets. We cannot guarantee that we will prevent loss, damage or theft, whether caused intentionally, accidentally or by act of God. Access to our cryptoassets could also be restricted by natural events (such as an earthquake or flood) or human actions (such as a terrorist attack). Any of these events may adversely affect our operations and, consequently, an investment in us.

We may become reliant on Internet bandwidth and data center providers and other third parties for key aspects of our cryptoasset mining, and any failure or interruption in the services and products provided by these third parties could harm our business.

Until our first hosting facility is operational and our equipment relocated to such facility, we will continue to rely on a third-party vendor, a co-hosting facility, for maintenance of our Internet capabilities,

 

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electricity and physical location for our mining equipment. Any disruption in the colocation or other services provided by such third-party co-hosting facility or any failure of the co-hosting provider to handle current or higher volumes of use could significantly harm our business. Any financial or other difficulties our provider faces may have negative effects on our business, the nature and extent of which we cannot predict. We exercise little control over the third-party vendor, which increases our vulnerability to problems with the services they provide. Any errors, failures, interruptions or delays experienced in connection with the third-party services could adversely affect our business.

Risks Related to our Common Stock

An active, liquid trading market for our common stock does not currently exist and may not develop after this offering, and as a result, you may not be able to sell your common stock at or above the public offering price, or at all.

A relatively inactive trading market exists for our common stock on the OTC Pink Market. No assurance can be given as to the following:

•

that we will be successful in causing our common stock to become listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, any other national securities exchange or OTCQB or OTCQX;

​

•

the likelihood that a more active trading market for shares of our common stock will develop or be sustained;

​

•

the liquidity of any such market;

​

•

the ability of our stockholders to sell their shares of common stock; or

​

•

the price that our stockholders may obtain for their shares of common stock.

​

If an active market does not develop for our common stock or is not maintained, the market price of our common stock may decline and you may not be able to sell your shares. The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. Our financial performance, government regulatory action, tax laws, interest rates and market conditions in general could have a significant impact on the future market price of our common stock.

The price of our common stock may have little or no relationship to the historical bid prices of our common stock on the OTC Pink.

There has been no public market for our capital stock other than the OTC Pink. Given the limited history of sales and the lack of publicly available information about our business, financing and financial results available, among other factors, this information may have little or no relation to broader market demand for our common stock and thus the price of our common stock. As a result, you should not rely on these historical sales prices as they may differ materially from the opening price of the common stock and subsequent prices of our common stock. For more information about how the public offering price of our common stock will be determined, see the section titled “Plan of Distribution.”

We do not expect to declare or pay dividends in the foreseeable future.

Except for PIK Dividends that we may be required to issue to holders of our Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock if we fail to timely perform our obligations under the Registration Rights Agreement entered in connection with the private placement of our Series C Preferred Stock or the Registration Rights Agreement entered into in connection with the private placement of our Series D Preferred Stock (as described in our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Certificates of Designation and the Registration Rights Agreements entered into), we do not expect to declare or pay dividends in the foreseeable future, as we anticipate that we will invest future earnings in the development and growth of our business. Therefore, holders of our common stock may not receive any return on their investment in our common stock unless and until the value of such common stock increases and they are able to sell such shares of common stock, and there is no assurance that any of the foregoing will occur.

 

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If our common stock does not become publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, another national securities exchange, OTCQB or OTCQX, our access to the capital markets will be limited.

Although we have filed an application to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, there is no guarantee that our common stock will be listed on Nasdaq Global Select Market or another national securities exchange or traded on OTCQB or OTCQX. Listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market will only occur if and when our application is approved and both our registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and our registration statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-261278), or our Primary Offering Registration Statement, filed with the SEC on November 22, 2021, registering a firm commitment underwritten offering by us of up to $75 million of our common stock are declared effective by the SEC. If we are unable to have our common stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market or another national securities exchange, or traded on OTCQB or OTCQX, our access to capital markets will be limited and we will have to rely on funding from private sources. Such limited access to the capital markets could impair our ability to finance our operations and any potential acquisitions and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Failure to establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and stock value.

As a privately held company, we are not currently required to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”), and are therefore not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. Following the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will be a public company and be required to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Section 302 of Sarbanes-Oxley, which will require our management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We will not be required to make our first assessment of our internal control over financial reporting until the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC, likely beginning with the fiscal year ending May 31, 2023. To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we will need to upgrade our systems, including information technology, implement additional financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures and hire additional accounting, finance and legal staff.

We currently have material weaknesses in the design or operation of our internal controls, which could adversely affect our ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data. We have not yet designed and/or implemented user access controls to ensure appropriate segregation of duties that would adequately restrict user and privileged access to the financially relevant systems and data to appropriate personnel. We also do not have a properly designed internal control system that identifies critical processes and key controls.

Our efforts to develop and maintain our internal controls may not be successful, and we may be unable to maintain effective controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future and comply with the certification and reporting obligations under Sections 302 and 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley. Any failure to maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in our implementation or improvement of our internal controls over financial reporting could result in material misstatements that are not prevented or detected on a timely basis, which could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information.

We will incur increased costs as a result of closing this offering and later becoming a public reporting company.

We are not currently a public reporting company, and as such, we will not be responsible for the corporate governance and financial reporting practices and policies required of a public company. Following the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will be a public company. As a public company with listed equity securities, we will need to comply with new laws, regulations and requirements, certain corporate governance provisions of Sarbanes — Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”), related regulations of the SEC and the requirements of the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Complying

 

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with these statutes, regulations and requirements will occupy a significant amount of time of our Board and management and will significantly increase our costs and expenses. We will need to:

•

institute a more comprehensive compliance function;

​

•

design, establish, evaluate and maintain a system of internal controls over financial reporting in compliance with the requirements of Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley and the related rules and regulations of the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board;

​

•

comply with rules promulgated by the Nasdaq Global Select Market or any other national securities exchange or any over the counter market on which our common stock is listed or traded;

​

•

prepare and distribute periodic public reports in compliance with our obligations under the federal securities laws;

​

•

establish new internal policies, such as those relating to disclosure controls and procedures and insider trading;

​

•

involve in and retain to a greater degree outside counsel and accountants for the above activities; and

​

•

establish an investor relations function.

​

In addition, we expect that being a public reporting company subject to these rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. If adequate director and officer liability insurance coverage is not available, it may require us to retain substantial cash balances and further restrict our ability to invest in the business. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our Board, particularly to serve on our audit committee, and qualified executive officers.

You may experience dilution of your ownership interest because of the future issuance of additional equity in our company.

In the future, we may issue additional shares of capital stock in our company, including the issuance of up to $75 million of our common stock being registered on our Primary Offering Registration Statement, resulting in the dilution of current stockholders’ relative ownership. Our board has approved an employee incentive plan and a non-employee director incentive plan and submitted the incentive plans to our stockholders for a vote. If approved by our stockholders, we will reserve 91,000,000 shares of our common stock for future issuance under our plans. Such issuances would also result in dilution of current stockholders’ relative ownership.

On December 2021, we also agreed with Bitmain to a non-binding term sheet to form one or more entities which will be owned 80% by us and 20% by Bitmain. Bitmain’s interest in each such entity will be convertible by Bitmain at any time into a number of shares of our common stock equal to Bitmain’s capital contribution in connection with the acquisition of such interests divided by $1.25. The arrangement is subject to entry into definitive agreements by the parties. There can be no assurance that we will enter into such agreements in a particular time period or at all.

We expect to issue an aggregate of 3,250,000 restricted stock units to certain of our consultants as part of these consulting compensation. We may also issue other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for equity in our company in connection with hiring or retaining employees or consultants, future acquisitions or future sales of our securities.

The holders of our Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock are currently accruing PIK Dividends at an aggregate rate of approximately 217 shares of Series C Preferred Stock and 454 shares of Series D Preferred Stock per day until the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part is declared effective by the SEC and our common stock is listed on a national securities exchange or traded on OTCQB or OTCQX upon effectiveness of the registration statement, all such PIK Dividends will convert to common stock. The resale of such common stock, when calculable, will be included in this registration statement.

 

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Provisions in our Articles, our Bylaws, and Nevada law may discourage a takeover attempt even if a takeover might be beneficial to our stockholders.

Provisions contained in our Articles and Bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us if we have become a publicly traded company. Provisions of our Articles and Bylaws impose various procedural and other requirements, which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions. For example, our Articles authorize our Board to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of unissued series of preferred stock without any vote or action by our stockholders. Thus, our Board can authorize and issue shares of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting or other rights of holders of our other series of capital stock. These rights may have the effect of delaying or deterring a change of control of our company. Additionally, our Bylaws establish limitations on the removal of directors and on the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings.

For a more complete understanding of these provisions, please refer to the Nevada Revised Statutes and our Articles and Bylaws.

Though not now, we may be or in the future we may become subject to Nevada’s control share law. A corporation is subject to Nevada’s control share law if it has more than 200 stockholders, at least 100 of whom are stockholders of record and residents of Nevada, and it does business in Nevada or through an affiliated corporation. The law focuses on the acquisition of a “controlling interest” which means the ownership of outstanding voting shares sufficient, but for the control share law, to enable the acquiring person to exercise the following proportions of the voting power of the corporation in the election of directors: (i) one-fifth or more but less than one-third; (ii) one-third or more but less than a majority; or (iii) a majority or more. The ability to exercise such voting power may be direct or indirect, as well as individual or in association with others.

The effect of the control share law is that the acquiring person, and those acting in association with it, obtains only such voting rights in the control shares as are conferred by a resolution of the stockholders of the corporation, approved at a special or annual meeting of stockholders. The control share law contemplates that voting rights will be considered only once by the other stockholders. Thus, there is no authority to strip voting rights from the control shares of an acquiring person once those rights have been approved. If the stockholders do not grant voting rights to the control shares acquired by an acquiring person, those shares do not become permanent non-voting shares. The acquiring person is free to sell its shares to others. If the buyers of those shares themselves do not acquire a controlling interest, their shares do not become governed by the control share law.

If control shares are accorded full voting rights and the acquiring person has acquired control shares with a majority or more of the voting power, any stockholder of record, other than an acquiring person, who has not voted in favor of approval of voting rights is entitled to demand fair value for the redemption of such stockholder’s shares.

Nevada’s control share law may have the effect of discouraging takeovers of the corporation.

In addition to the control share law, Nevada has a business combination law which prohibits certain business combinations between Nevada corporations and “interested stockholders” for two years after the “interested stockholder” first becomes an “interested stockholder,” unless our Board approves the combination in advance or thereafter by both the Board and 60% of the disinterested stockholders. For purposes of Nevada law, an “interested stockholder” is any person who is (i) the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of ten percent or more of the voting power of the outstanding voting shares of the corporation, or (ii) an affiliate or associate of the corporation and at any time within the two previous years was the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of ten percent or more of the voting power of the then outstanding shares of the corporation. The definition of the term “business combination” is sufficiently broad to cover virtually any kind of transaction that would allow a potential acquiror to use the corporation’s assets to finance the acquisition or otherwise to benefit its own interests rather than the interests of the corporation and its other stockholders.

The effect of Nevada’s business combination law is to potentially discourage parties interested in taking control of us from doing so if it cannot obtain the approval of our Board.

 

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The regulation of penny stocks by the SEC and FINRA may have an effect on the tradability of our securities.

Our shares of common stock are currently listed for trading on the OTC Pink Market. Our common stock is subject to a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that imposes special sales practice requirements upon broker-dealers who sell such securities to persons other than established customers or accredited investors. For purposes of the rule, the phrase “accredited investors” means, in general terms, institutions with assets in excess of $5,000,000, or individuals having a net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or having an annual income that exceeds $200,000 (or that, when combined with a spouse’s income, exceeds $300,000).

For transactions covered by the rule, the broker-dealer must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction prior to the sale. Consequently, the rule may affect the ability of broker-dealers to sell our securities and also may affect the ability of sellers to sell their securities in any market that might therefore develop.

In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a number of rules to regulate “penny stocks.” Such rules include Rules 3a51-1, 15g-1, 15g-2, 15g-3, 15g-4, 15g-5, 15g-6, 15g-7, and 15g-9 under the Exchange Act. Because our securities constitute “penny stocks” within the meaning of the rules, the rules would apply to us and to our securities. The rules may further affect the ability of owners of our common stock to sell our securities in any market that might develop for them.

Stockholders should be aware that, according to Securities and Exchange Commission, the market for penny stocks has suffered in recent years from patterns of fraud and abuse. Such patterns include (i) control of the market for the security by one or a few broker-dealers that are often related to the promoter or issuer; (ii) manipulation of prices through prearranged matching of purchases and sales and false and misleading press releases; (iii) “boiler room” practices involving high-pressure sales tactics and unrealistic price projections by inexperienced sales persons; (iv) excessive and undisclosed bid-ask differentials and markups by selling broker-dealers; and (v) the wholesale dumping of the same securities by promoters and broker-dealers after prices have been manipulated to a desired consequent investor losses. Our management is aware of the abuses that have occurred historically in the penny stock market. Although we do not expect to be in a position to dictate the behavior of the market or of broker-dealers who participate in the market, management will strive within the confines of practical limitations to prevent the described patterns from being established with respect to our securities.

The shares of our common stock may be thinly traded on the OTC Pink Market, meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing our shares of common stock at or near ask prices at any given time may be relatively small or non-existent. This situation is attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company which is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers, institutional investors and others in the investment community that generate or influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the attention of such persons, they tend to be risk-averse and would be reluctant to follow an unproven, early stage company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase of our shares of common stock until such time as we became more seasoned and viable. As a consequence, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity in our shares of common stock is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer which has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

Until November 30, 2021, we were a shell company and as such stockholders cannot rely on the provisions of Rule 144 for the resale of their shares until certain conditions are met.

We have been a shell company as defined under Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933. As securities issued by a former shell company, the securities issued by us can only be resold pursuant to an effective registration statement and not by utilizing the provisions of Rule 144 until certain conditions are met, including that: (i) we are subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, (ii) we have filed all required reports under the Exchange Act of the preceding 12 months and (iii) one year has elapsed since we filed “Form 10” information (e.g. audited financial statements, management information and compensation, stockholder information, etc.).

Thus, a stockholder of the ours will not be able to sell its shares until such time as a registration statement for those shares is filed or we become a reporting company, we have remained current on our Exchange Act filings for 12 months and we have filed the information as would be required by a “Form 10” filing.

 

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Furthermore, as a former shell company, we will not become eligible to use Form S-8 to register offerings of our securities until the later of January 29, 2022 and the date we file information equivalent to what we would be required to file if we filed Form 10 information with the SEC.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they downgrade their recommendations regarding our common stock, its trading price and volume could decline.

We expect the trading market for our common stock to be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us, our business or our industry. As a new public company, we do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of our company, the trading price for our stock may be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline and our common stock to be less liquid. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our stock price could decline.

 

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this prospectus other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future operating results and financial position, our business strategy and plans, market growth, and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “target,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus include, but are not limited to, statements about:

•

our future financial performance, including our expectations regarding our net revenue, operating expenses, and our ability to achieve and maintain future profitability;

​

•

our business plan and our ability to effectively manage our growth;

​

•

anticipated trends, growth rates, and challenges in our business, the cryptoeconomy, and in the markets in which we operate;

​

•

further development and market acceptance of cryptoasset networks and other cryptoassets;

​

•

further development of our co-hosting facilities and customer base for co-hosting services;

​

•

beliefs and objectives for future operations;

​

•

our cryptoassets may be subject to loss, damage, theft or restriction on access;

​

•

the value of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets, which may be subject to pricing risk has historically been subject to wide swings;

​

•

our expectations concerning relationships with third parties;

​

•

the effects of increased competition in our markets and our ability to compete effectively;

​

•

our ability to stay in compliance with laws and regulations that currently apply or become applicable to our business both in the United States and internationally;

​

•

economic and industry trends, projected growth, or trend analysis;

​

•

trends in revenue, cost of revenue, and gross margin;

​

•

trends in operating expenses, including technology and development expenses, sales and marketing expenses, and general and administrative expenses, and expectations regarding these expenses as a percentage of revenue;

​

•

increased expenses associated with being a public company; and

​

•

other statements regarding our future operations, financial condition, and prospects and business strategies.

​

We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our operating results, financial condition, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors.” Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this prospectus may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur. Although we believe

 

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that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, performance, or achievements. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this prospectus or to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part with the understanding that our actual future results, performance, and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

This prospectus contains statistical data, estimates, and forecasts that are based on industry publications or reports generated by third-party providers, or other publicly available information, as well as other information based on internal estimates.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

All the Registered Shares offered by the Selling Stockholders will be sold by them for their respective accounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from these sales.

The Selling Stockholders will pay any underwriting fees, discounts, selling commissions, stock transfer taxes and certain other legal expenses incurred by such Selling Stockholders in disposing of their Registered Shares, and we will bear all other costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of such Registered Shares, including, without limitation, all registration and filing fees, or Nasdaq Global Select Market listing fees, and fees and expenses of our counsel and our independent registered public accountants.

 

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REVERSE STOCK SPLIT

We will effect a    -for-    reverse stock split simultaneously with our listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market pursuant to which holders of our issued and outstanding common stock immediately prior to listing our common stock on Nasdaq Global Select Market will have every    shares of common stock reclassified as    shares of common stock. No fractional shares will be issued.

Unless otherwise indicated, and other than in the consolidated historical financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, the number of shares of our common stock represented in this prospectus is adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

On December 15, 2021 we became obligated to issue an aggregate per day of approximately 217 shares of Series C Preferred Stock and approximately 454 shares of Series D Preferred Stock of paid-in-kind dividends (“PIK Dividends”) to holders of our Series C Preferred Stock and our Series D Preferred Stock. All such PIK Dividends, are convertible into common stock upon effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and the resale of such common stock will be included in such registration statement upon determination of the final calculation of such PIK Dividends. Although we timely caused the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part to be filed with the SEC on August 13, 2021, we failed to cause the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part to become effective and caused our common stock to be listed on a national securities exchange or traded on the OTCQX or OTCQB, in each case in accordance with the terms of the Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock (as described in our Articles, and the certificates of designations of the Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock) and the related Registration Rights Agreements filed as exhibits hereto. At the time the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part becomes effective and our shares of common stock are listed on a national securities exchange or traded on OTCQX or OTCQB, our obligation to issue further PIK Dividends will cease.

We have applied to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “APLD.” Listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market will only occur if and when our application is approved and both our registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and our Primary Offering Registration Statement are declared effective by the SEC. There is no assurance that either of our registration statements will become effective or that our common stock will be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market or another national securities exchange or traded on OTCQB or OTCQX, at the expected times or at all.

Except for such PIK Dividends we do not expect to declare or pay dividends in the foreseeable future, as we anticipate that we will invest future earnings in the development and growth of our business.

Except for such required PIK Dividends, we intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements, general business conditions, and other factors that our Board may deem relevant.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth cash and cash equivalents, as well as our capitalization, as of August 31, 2021 on:

•

an actual basis; and

​

•

a pro forma as adjusted basis, giving effect to the automatic conversions of all outstanding shares of our Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock as of November 15, 2021 into 210,409,130 shares of our common stock, as if such conversions had occurred on August 31, 2021 and giving effect to the Reverse Stock Split and this offering.

​

You should read this table together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes, and the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” each included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding following the effectiveness of this registration statement includes:

•

320,381,519 shares of our common stock outstanding as of January 3, 2022;

​

•

132,000,000 shares of our common stock issuable on the automatic conversion of our Series C Preferred Stock upon effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part; and

​

•

78,409,130 shares of our common stock issuable on the automatic conversion of our Series D Preferred Stock upon effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

​

Upon consummation of the offering of our common stock contemplated in our Primary Offering Registration Statement, each of outstanding shares of common stock, additional paid-in capital, stockholder’s equity and total capitalization will increase. We can not determine the amounts of such increases until the number of shares to be offered and the purchase price for such shares is determined.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this prospectus, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should read the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.

Trends and Uncertainties

In June 2021, we began our crypto mining operations. Prior to that time, we had no operating business or revenues since 2014. As a result, we were deemed to be a shell company until November 30, 2021. During June 2021, we also began planning and executing a strategy to develop co-hosting operations to meet the changing challenges and needs of the cryptoasset industry. As our business operations continue or commence and grow, and because of the rapidly changing nature of our industry, our business will continue to change. The regulatory framework in which we operate may change. In the year ended May 31, 2021, we did not have cryptoasset related operations. In the future we will account for such operations as set forth below. These accounting rules and regulations we follow are likely to change in the future as discussed below.

Regulatory Matters

Our business is subject to extensive laws, rules, regulations, policies and legal and regulatory guidance, including those governing securities, commodities, cryptoasset custody, exchange and transfer, data governance, data protection, cybersecurity and tax. Many of these legal and regulatory regimes were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet, mobile technologies, cryptoassets and related technologies. As a result, they do not contemplate or address unique issues associated with the crypto economy, are subject to significant uncertainty, and vary widely across U.S. federal, state and local and international jurisdictions. These legal and regulatory regimes, including the laws, rules and regulations thereunder, evolve frequently and may be modified, interpreted and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another. Moreover, the complexity and evolving nature of our business and the significant uncertainty surrounding the regulation of the crypto economy requires us to exercise our judgement as to whether certain laws, rules and regulations apply to us, and it is possible that governmental bodies and regulators may disagree with our conclusions. To the extent we have not complied with such laws, rules and regulations, we could be subject to significant fines and other regulatory consequences, which could adversely affect our business, prospects or operations. As cryptoassets have grown in popularity and in market size, the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Congress and certain U.S. agencies (e.g., the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the SEC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) have begun to examine the operations of cryptoasset networks, cryptoasset users and cryptoasset exchange markets. Other countries around the world are likewise reviewing and, in some cases, increasing regulation of the cryptoasset industry. For instance, on September 24, 2021, China imposed a ban on all crypto transactions and mining.

Ongoing and future regulatory actions could effectively prevent our ongoing or planned crypto mining and co-hosting operations, limiting or preventing future revenue generation by us and rendering our operations and crypto mining equipment obsolete. Such actions could severely impact our ability to continue to operate and our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.

Accounting Matters

Hosting revenue

We are constructing our first facility in which we will provide energized space and operating and maintenance services to third-party mining companies who locate their mining hardware within our

 

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co-hosting facility. We will account for these agreements as a single performance obligation for services being delivered in a series with delivery being measured by energy consumption by our co-hosting customers, subject in certain cases to minimum monthly fees to be paid to us. As such, we will recognize revenue over the life of the contracts as our series of performance obligations are met. Hosting contracts may require payment in advance of the service delivery. We will recognize such payments as deferred revenue until our performance obligations are met, at which time we will recognize the revenue. We do not have any significant warranty obligations. Hosting revenue will be included in hosting revenue in our consolidated statements of operations.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 virus has had unpredictable and unprecedented impacts in the United States and around the world. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a “pandemic,” or a worldwide spread of a new disease. Many countries around the world have imposed quarantines and restrictions on travel and large gatherings to slow the spread of the virus. In the United States, federal, state and local governments have enacted restrictions on travel, gatherings, and workplaces, with exceptions made for essential workers and businesses. We are still assessing potential effects on our business from COVID-19 and any actions implemented by the federal, state and local governments. We may experience disruptions to our business operations resulting from quarantines, self-isolations, or other restrictions on the movement or ability of our employees and consultants to perform their jobs. Such restrictions could impact our ability to construct our co-hosting facilities or take delivery of, or effectively service and maintain, our own and our customers’ crypto mining equipment.

China has also limited the shipment of products in and out of its borders, which could negatively impact our ability to receive mining equipment from China-based suppliers. Third-party manufacturers, suppliers, sub-contractors and customers have been and will continue to be disrupted by worker absenteeism, quarantines, restrictions on employees’ ability to work, office and factory closures, disruptions to ports and other shipping infrastructure, border closures, or other travel or health-related restrictions. Depending on the magnitude of such effects on our supply chain, shipments of parts for our existing miners, as well as any new equipment we purchase, may be delayed. As our equipment requires repair or becomes obsolete and requires replacement, our ability to obtain adequate replacements or repair parts from their manufacturer may therefore be hampered. Supply chain disruptions could therefore negatively impact our operations.

The implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on our results of operations and overall financial performance remain uncertain. The economic effects of the pandemic and resulting societal changes are currently not predictable, and the future financial impacts could vary from those foreseen.

Components of Results of Operations

Operating Expenses

Our operating expenses consist primarily of expenses related to salaries of employees hired to develop and start our operating business and costs related to our activities in starting an operating business.

Net Loss

Our net loss is primarily attributable to interest expense and the increase in our net loss from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021 was primarily due to expenses related to starting our business which was dormant in fiscal year 2020.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources of Liquidity

We have only generated cash from the sale of our convertible preferred stock. Since December 2020, when we began planning to acquire or build an operational business, we have raised aggregate gross proceeds of $49.0 million from issuances of our convertible preferred stock. On April 15, 2021, we received $16.5 million in gross proceeds from the issuance of our Series C Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock

 

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and on July 30, 2021, we received $32.5 million in gross proceeds from the issuance of our Series D Preferred Stock. During fiscal year 2021, we did not generate any revenue from crypto mining, co-hosting or otherwise. We have incurred net losses from operations. In June 2021, as a result of commencement of our crypto mining operations, we began to generate revenue. As of May 31, 2021 and May 31, 2020, we had cash of $11.8 million and $0, respectively, and an accumulated deficit of $21.6 million and $21.1 million, respectively.

Funding Requirements

Having ceased our operations in 2014, we have experienced net losses until the first quarter of our fiscal year ended May 31, 2022. Our transition to profitability is dependent on the successful mining of crypto assets, the purchase and installation of additional crypto mining equipment and/or the successful operation of one or more of our own co-hosting facilities. We believe that amounts we received from our April 2021 and July 2021 sales of convertible preferred stock, together with revenue we have begun to achieve in our crypto mining operations, after planned expenditures to purchase new crypto mining equipment and commence building our co-hosting operations, will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months.

We expect that our general and administrative expenses and our operating expenditures will continue to increase as we continue to expand our operations and as we become a public company when the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part becomes effective. We also expect that our revenues will increase as we bring online additional crypto mining equipment and open our first operational co-hosting facility. We expect to need additional capital to fund continued growth, which we may obtain through one or more equity offerings, debt financings or other third-party funding. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the crypto mining industry, we are unable to estimate the amount of increased capital we may need to raise to continue to purchase additional or new crypto mining equipment or parts or build additional co-hosting facilities and we may use our available capital sooner that we currently expect.

We believe that our existing cash, together with the anticipated revenues from current operations, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through at least 12 months. We have based our estimates as to how long we expect we will be able to fund our operations on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect, in which case, we would be required to obtain additional financing sooner than currently projected, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed would have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategy.

Cash Flows

The net cash used by operating activities for fiscal year 2021 consisted primarily of a net loss of $0.57 million due to operating costs associated with wages, consulting expenses, professional fees and general administrative expenses.

The net cash used in investing activities for fiscal year 2021 represents computers and office equipment and the deposits for mining equipment purchase agreements.

The net cash provided by financing activities for fiscal year 2021 represents proceeds from issuance of our Series C Preferred Stock.

In fiscal year 2020 there was no cash used by operating activities, no cash used in investing activities and no cash from financing activities.

Off Balance Sheet Arrangements

None.

Significant Accounting Pronouncements

None.

 

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements

We continually assess any new accounting pronouncements to determine their applicability. When it is determined that a new accounting pronouncement affects our financial reporting, we undertake a study to determine the consequences of the change to its consolidated financial statements and assures that there are proper controls in place to ascertain that our consolidated financial statements properly reflect the change.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, “Income Taxes” ​(Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes” ​(“ASU 2019-12”), which is intended to simplify various aspects related to accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 removes certain exceptions to the general principles in Topic 740 and also clarifies and amends existing guidance to improve consistent application. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted.

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt — Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity, which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. This ASU is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. This update permits the use of either the modified retrospective or fully retrospective method of transition. We are currently evaluating the impact this ASU will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

 

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BUSINESS

Overview

Our Business

We are building next-generation data centers which are designed to provide massive computing power. Our first facility is being constructed in North Dakota. We signed an energy services agreement with a utility to power this facility. The company pays for energy from part of the revenue from customers. Initially, these data centers will primarily host servers securing the Bitcoin network but can also host hardware for other applications such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and other blockchain networks in the future. We have a colocation business model where our customers place hardware they own into our facilities, and we provide full operational and maintenance services for a fixed fee. We typically enter into long term fixed rate contracts with our customers.

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Scaling Hosting Operations:   leveraging partnerships to support scalable, low-cost mining solutions to support crypto and blockchain infrastructure.

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Mining Cryptoassets:   the company currently self-mines Ethereum. Operations will not expand.

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Fleet Management:   value-add services where from time to time we may facilitate the sale of blockchain mining equipment.

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Hosting Operation

Our mission includes building co-hosting facilities in which our customers will lease space and access to electricity to mine cryptoassets. We are targeting bringing 780 MW online in 2022, 1.5GW over the next two years and 5GW over the next 5 years.

We are building next-generation data centers which are designed to provide massive computing power. Initially, these data centers will primarily host servers securing the Bitcoin network but can also host hardware for other applications such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and other blockchain networks in the future. We have a colocation business model where our customers place hardware they own into our facilities and we provide full operational and maintenance services for a fixed fee. We typically enter into long term fixed rate contracts with our customers.

We have purchased property in North Dakota on which we have begun construction of our first co-hosting facility. We have also entered into an Amended and Restated Energy Services Agreement with respect to 100 megawatts to be used by our co-hosting customers. We have also entered into agreements with four customers (JointHash Holding Limited (a subsidiary of GMR), Bitmain Technologies Limited, F2Pool Mining, Inc. and Hashing LLC) which will account for the total available energy under the Amended and Restated Energy Services Agreement at our first facility and 85MW of energy at our second facility once built and able to provide such energy. The company pays for energy from part of the revenue from customers.

Working with expert advisors in the fields of power, crypto mining operations, procurement, and construction, we have designed a plan for a prefabricated facility and organization within the facility that can be delivered and installed quickly and maximize performance and efficiency of the facility and our and our customers’ crypto mining equipment. Construction of our first co-hosting facility began in September 2021. We expect this facility to be completed in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2021.

With low-cost energy powering our co-hosting facilities, our customers can expect an agile and cost competitive crypto mining solution. We have identified at least two additional sites for additional facilities and several potential customers to fill such additional sites. We are negotiating leases and/or purchases of such properties, energy agreements to support such facilities and agreements with potential additional co-hosting customers.

On December 2021, we and Bitmain Technologies Holding Company, or Bitmain, agreed to a non-binding term sheet to form one or more entities owned 80% by us and 20% by Bitmain to develop, acquire, construct, finance, operate, maintain and own one or more next-generation data centers with up to 1.5GW of

 

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capacity for hosting blockchain infrastructure. We will be responsible for all site development, construction, and operations. Bitmain will provide technical, sourcing, operational and financial resources to the venture. In addition, Bitmain will market us as its preferred hosting service provider. Bitmain will have the right at any time to convert all or any portion of its new entity equity units into a number of shares of our common stock equal to the capital contributions by Bitmain in connection with the acquisition of such units being divided by $1.25, which will result in an increase in our ownership percentage of the new entity or entities. Bitmain will also have the right to name one member of the board of managers of each new entity formed pursuant to definitive agreements between Bitmain and us. The arrangement with Bitmain is subject to entry into definitive agreements by the parties. There can be no assurance that we will enter into such agreements in a particular time period or at all.

As our co-hosting operations expand, we believe our business structure will become conducive to a REIT structure. We have begun to investigate the possibility, costs and benefits of converting to a REIT structure.

Mining Operation

Our initial mission was to quickly scale a large mining operation focused on mining Bitcoin and Ethereum (Ether). With a specialized algorithm and advice provided by strategic partners and mining pool managers, we are able to mine the most profitable cryptoassets in the market and adjust in real-time. As a result of changes to Chinese regulations of cryptoasset mining, ultimately leading to the crackdown on mining facilities in locations across the country, this pushed us to explore other co-hosting locations outside of China. By July 2021, we had entered into a co-hosting agreement with Coinmint LLC, had our initial order of mining equipment delivered and installed at Coinmint's co-hosting facility and began our mining operations. We also determined that constructing our own co-hosting facilities would enable us to generate a stable cash flow stream through long-term hosting agreements, lower the cost of power for our own mining operations and eliminate risks to us of relying on a third-party host. During the building of our co-hosting operations, we determined that it would be beneficial to our stockholders to focus more of our resources on building our co-hosting operations than on expanding our mining operations. Accordingly, we have determined not to use further resources to expand our cryptomining business at this time. We do not plan to utilize third-party co-hosting facilities for our equipment other than what is currently hosted by Coinmint.

We do not intend to accept digital assets as payment for services. We do intend to hold digital assets we mine for investment or conversion into fiat currency for working capital purposes. We expect that we will exit our mining operations in the future.

In December 2021, we began selling the Bitcoin mining equipment we had purchased from Bitmain. As of January 3, 2022, we have sold approximately 150 units of such equipment of the 300 that have been delivered to us thus far. Pursuant to the Non-Fixed Price Sales and Purchase Agreement, dated as of April 13, 2021 between us and Bitmain Technologies Limited, we purchased 1,200 such units which are delivered 100 per month. We will continue to pursue buyers for the remainder of such equipment.

Company History

Applied Blockchain, Inc. was incorporated in Nevada in May 2001 under the name of Reel Staff, Inc. to provide staffing services to film, video and television production companies. In September 2002, in connection with a share exchange with the stockholders of Flight Safety Technologies, Inc. (“FSTO”), we discontinued previous operations and changed our name to FSTO, FSTO became our subsidiary and stockholders of FSTO acquired approximately 53% of our outstanding common stock. In June 2003, FSTO merged into us, and we became the owners of certain patents related to air travel safety technology which we planned to develop and market. On July 29, 2009, we filed a Form 15 with the SEC to terminate the registration of our common stock and our obligations to file annual, quarterly and other periodic reports with the SEC in order to conserve financial and other resources for the continuing development and commercialization of our business.

On September 2, 2008, we formed a subsidiary, Advanced Plasma Products, that acquired certain intellectual property and laboratory equipment for the development of products based on patented atmospheric plasma technology. We designed, produced and sold air purification products. The company

 

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also spent significant resources developing a medical device for chronic wound treatment. On October 23, 2009, we filed a certificate of amendment to our Articles with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada to change our name to Applied Science Products, Inc.

On January 13, 2009, we acquired Cummins Family Produce, Inc., an Idaho corporation (“CFP”). CFP was a fresh produce processing and packaging business. The purpose of the acquisition was to acquire a cash generating business to further fund the development of plasma-based products at our other subsidiary, Advanced Plasma Products. Operations ceased in 2013 and the facilities leased by CFP were sold to another company. Thereafter, we were not able to secure additional funding needed to complete development and testing of the wound treatment device and operations ceased in 2014.

Since that time, all of our then existing subsidiaries have been dissolved or have become defunct.

On December 3, 2020, we filed a Certificate of Reinstatement/Revival with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada in order reinstate us. At that time, we began investigating opportunities to acquire, or otherwise build, an operating business. We determined to build a business focused on cryptoassets, and specifically participate in Ethereum (Ether) mining. In March 2021, the Company executed a strategy planning and portfolio advisory services agreement (“Services Agreement”) with GMR Limited, a British Virgin Island limited liability company (“GMR”), Xsquared Holding Limited, a British Virgin Island limited liability company (“SparkPool”) and Valuefinder, a British Virgin Islands limited liability company (“Valuefinder”) and, together with GMR and SparkPool, the “Service Providers”). Jason Zhang, a board member of the Company, is the sole equity holder and manager, of Valuefinder and a related party. Pursuant to the Services Agreement, the Service Providers agreed to provide cryptoasset mining management and analysis and to assist the Company in securing difficult to obtain equipment and the Company agreed to issue 44,640,889 shares of the Company’s common stock to GMR or its designees, 44,640,889 shares of the Company’s common stock to SparkPool or its designees and 18,938,559 shares of the Company’s common stock to Valuefinder or its designees. Each Service Provider has provided such services to the Company which services commenced in June 2021. In July 2021, after clearance of the Company’s name change by FINRA and receipt of additional information from the Service Providers required by the transfer agent, the Company issued 44,640,889 shares of the Company’s common stock to each of GMR and SparkPool and 18,938,559 shares of the Company’s common stock to Jason Zhang, Valuefinder’s designee.

On April 7, 2021, we filed a certificate of amendment to our Articles with the Secretary of State of Nevada, to, among other things, change our name to Applied Blockchain, Inc.

To raise funds to purchase crypto mining equipment and begin building our business, on April 15, 2021, we filed our Articles with the Secretary of State of Nevada, to, among other things, establish Series C Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock and to file the Certificate of Designations related thereto. Also on April 15, 2021, we entered into that certain placement agent agreement, dated as of April 7, 2021, by and between us and B. Riley Securities, Inc. Pursuant to such agreement, on July 16, 2021 we issued 660,000 shares of Series C Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock (the “Series C Preferred Stock”) to certain investors for gross proceeds of $16,500,000. We used the net proceeds from the offering, among other things, to purchase cryptoasset mining equipment and pay for co-hosting services from Coinmint, LLC.

Also on April 15, 2021 holders of a majority of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock opted to convert such shares which triggered a mandatory conversion of all outstanding Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and Series B Convertible Preferred Stock into an aggregate of 172,591,849 shares of our common stock which shares were issued on July 2, 2021. Additionally, on April 15, 2021, we entered into an Exchange Agreement with certain noteholders, including Wes Cummins, our chairman of the Board, chief executive officer, secretary and treasurer, pursuant to which we agreed to exchange all outstanding notes for an aggregate of 30,502,970 shares of our common stock, which shares were issued on July 2, 2021.

In June 2021, we entered into a Co-Hosting and Services Agreement with Coinmint, LLC pursuant to which Coinmint hosts certain of our crypto mining equipment. We subsequently took delivery of our crypto mining equipment, installed the equipment at Coinmint’s co-hosting facility and began mining operations in June 2021.

 

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On July 29, 2021, we filed a certificate of amendment to our Articles with the Secretary of State of Nevada, to increase our authorized capital stock to 1,005,000,000 shares and designate 1,000,000,000 as common stock. On the same day, we filed with the Secretary of State of Nevada the certificate of designations to establish Series D Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock (the “Series D Preferred Stock”).

To raise funds to lease or purchase property, purchase and install a physical building on such land to house our co-hosting facility, make deposits for our energy services agreement and purchase additional crypto mining equipment to continue to expand our mining business and build our co-hosting business, on August 4 and 5, 2021, pursuant to that certain placement agent agreement, dated as of July 30, 2021, by and between us and B. Riley Securities, Inc. (the “Placement Agent Agreement”), we issued 1,300,000 shares of Series D Preferred Stock to certain investors for gross proceeds of $32,500,000. On August 25, 2021, pursuant to that certain placement agent agreement, dated as of July 30, 2021, we issued an additional 4,000 shares of Series D Preferred Stock to an investor for gross proceeds of $100,000. On October 7, 2021, we amended the Placement Agent Agreement to extend the duration during which previously unsold shares of Series D Preferred Stock could be sold and issued the remaining 76,000 unsold shares of Series D Preferred Stock to investors for gross proceeds of $1,900,000. We used a portion of the proceeds from the Series D Preferred Stock offering, among other things, to purchase property on which to locate our first co-hosting facility, pay amounts needed to secure an energy services agreement, order the prefabricated building that is being installed to serve as our first co-hosting location and to purchase additional mining equipment.

During the year ended May 31, 2021, we formed two subsidiaries, Shanghai Sparkly Ore Tech, Ltd and Applied Blockchain, Ltd. Shanghai Sparkly Ore Tech, Ltd is a wholly owned foreign entity in China that is currently dormant. Applied Blockchain, Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary formed in Grand Cayman. Applied Blockchain, Cayman was dormant except that it held a digital wallet which we might use in the future if we undertake crypto mining outside of the U.S. until October 12, 2021 when it entered into a services agreement with Xsquared Holding Limited.

In June 2021, we formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, APLD Hosting, LLC, in Nevada. APLD Hosting is entering into agreements to own and operate our co-hosting facilities.

On October 22, 2021, we formed 1.21 Gigawatts LLC in Delaware to develop, construct, finance, operate and maintain data centers.

On November 2, 2021, we formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, Applied Talent Resources LLC, in Nevada to employ and manage our employees, employee staffing among our entities and projects and employment related plans and policies. On November 8, 2021, we formed APLD-JTND Phase II, LLC and on November 15, 2021, we formed APLD-Rattlesnake Den I, LLC and APLD Rattesnake Den II, LLC, each of which is a Delaware limited liability company formed to build and operate a co-hosting facility.

In December 2021, we and Bitmain agreed to a non-binding term sheet to form one or more entities to be owned 80% by us and 20% by Bitmain to develope acquire, construct, finance, operate maintain and own one or more next generation data centers with up to 1.5 GW of capacity for hosting blockchain infrastructure.

Our Competitive Strengths

Premier strategic partnerships with leading industry participants.   We believe that our partnerships with SparkPool, GMR and Bitmain have provided, and certain partners continue to provide, us with a significant competitive advantage. SparkPool operated one of the largest Ethereum mining pools in the world, and was one of the leading software developers for mining software globally. SparkPool provided us mining software, hardware selection, analytics, and purchasing power. SparkPool is currently in the process of shutting down its operations due to the crackdown on mining operations in China and is assisting us in a transition to a new Ether mining pool manager, Ethermine. We have also entered into a new agreement with SparkPool pursuant to which SparkPool will advise us on starting and operating our own Ethereum mining pool as a service to third parties. SparkPool assists us in engineering and designing our sites. GMR has also been a proponent of our hosting strategy, having signed a contract for approximately 50% of our 100MW capacity as part of our hosting operation under development. Bitmain, our newest partner, provides us with preferred

 

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access to Bitcoin mining equipment as well as leads for potential hosting customers. SparkPool, GMR, and Bitmain are each strategic equity investors in our company.

Access to low-cost power with long-term services agreement.   One of the main benefits of our Amended and Restated Electric Service Agreement is the low cost of power for mining. Even prior to the crypto mining restrictions in China, power capacity available for Bitcoin mining was scarce, especially at scalable sites with over 100MW of potential capacity. This scarcity of mining power allows us to realize attractive hosting rates in the current market, in particular given our ability to provide long-term (5-year) hosting contracts. For the first 100MW buildout, we secured 5-years of power from a utility that pre-filled the 100MW of planned capacity before breaking ground.

Access to mining equipment during shortage.   Independent of our Bitmain partnership, we secured an order for Nvidia GPUs from a third-party. The new Bitmain partnership has only reinforced our access to mining equipment, as evidenced by our order through Bitmain for 200PH of mining equipment due late in calendar year 2021. We expect to leverage our strategic partnerships in order to ensure that we receive timely access to the highest quality equipment in the event we determine to expand our crypto mining operations beyond our current capacity.

Hosting provides predictable, recurring revenue and cash flow to complement more volatile mining operations.    The financial performance of mining operations is linked to the value of the underlying cryptocurrencies mined, which can result in volatility in financial results. However, through the recently executed Electric Service Agreement with a utility in the upper Midwest, we have locked in a ceiling for our energy costs. The Electric Service Agreement has also enabled us to launch our hosting business with long-term customer contracts. We intend for the steady cash flows generated by our hosting operations to be reinvested into the hosting business or re-deployed into our mining business in order to opportunistically mine the most profitable crypto currencies.

Strong management team and board of advisors with deep experience in crypto mining and hosting operations.   We have recently expanded our leadership team by attracting top talent in the crypto mining and hosting space. Recent hires from both publicly traded and private company competitors have allowed us to build a team capable of designing hosting data centers, constructing hosting facilities, and efficiently running mining operations at scale. In addition, our board of advisors includes luminaries in the crypto space, including the co-founders of SparkPool and GMR.

Our Growth Strategies

Leverage partners to grow hosting operations while minimizing risk.   Our strategic partners GMR and Bitmain have entered into hosting contracts with us that will utilize the available capacity from our first planned 100MW hosting site which enabled us to pre-fill our initial site before breaking ground. Beyond their own use of our hosting capabilities, our partners have strong relationships across the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and we believe that we will be able to leverage their networks to identify leads for our expansion of hosting operations. In fact, we believe that we have sufficient demand to fill our planned hosting expansion.

Secure scalable power sites in areas favorable for crypto mining.   We have developed a pipeline of potential power sources. We are currently developing our first hosting site in the Midwest, and we have visibility into two additional sites in the Midwest as well as solar and wind assets in Texas. Through our build-out of our first Midwest facility and the prior experience our leadership team brings to our initiatives, we believe that we have developed a repeatable power strategy to significantly scale our operations. In addition, we are currently focused on and will continue to target states that have favorable laws and regulations for the crypto mining industry, which we believe further de-risks the scaling of our operations.

Vertically integrate power assets.    With recent additions to our management team, we are increasingly looking at various types of power assets to support the growth of our mining and hosting operations. This also includes power generation assets, which longer-term could be used to reduce our cost of power. Our management team has experience not only in evaluating and acquiring power assets, but also in the conversion of power assets to crypto mining/hosting operations and the construction of data centers with the specific purpose of mining crypto currency assets.

 

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Expand into other cryptocurrency assets and businesses.    While we do not currently mine cryptoassets other than Ether, we see potential value in the ecosystems developing around cryptoassets. For instance, pursuant to our agreement with SparkPool, formerly one of the largest Ether mining pool managers before shutting down its operations in response to changed regulations in China, SparkPool is advising us on how to manage a mining pool for our own mining activities and potentially as a service to provide to third parties. We deem the following factors important in making a decision to enter into a particular line of business: advice from securities and regulatory legal counsel about the regulatory framework applicable to such line of business, including the Howey test for whether or not a particular asset could be a security and consequences thereof, as applicable at the time, economic conditions, costs and benefits resulting from investing in a new line of business rather than our current mining and co-hosting businesses, other costs of establishing such new or additional line of business, investor appetite, and other factors that may arise from time to time which could impact the costs and benefits to us and our stockholders.

Strategic Relationships

In March 2021, we executed a strategy planning and portfolio advisory services agreement (“Services Agreement”) with GMR Limited, a British Virgin Island limited liability company (“GMR”), Xsquared Holding Limited, a British Virgin Island limited liability company (“SparkPool”) and Valuefinder, a British Virgin Islands limited liability company (“Valuefinder”) and, together with GMR and SparkPool, the “Service Providers”). Jason Zhang, one of our board members, is the sole equity holder and manager, of Valuefinder and a related party. Pursuant to the Services Agreement, the Service Providers agreed to provide cryptoasset mining management and analysis and to assist us in securing difficult to obtain equipment and we agreed to issue 44,640,889 shares of our common stock to GMR or its designees, 44,640,889 shares of our common stock to SparkPool or its designees and 18,938,559 shares of our common stock to Valuefinder or its designees. Each Service Provider has provided such services to us which services commenced in June 2021. In July 2021, after clearance of our name change by FINRA and receipt of additional information from the Service Providers required by the transfer agent, the Company issued 44,640,889 shares of our common stock to each of GMR and SparkPool and 18,938,559 shares of our common stock to Jason Zhang, Valuefinder’s designee. In July 2021, we added a strategic partner, Bitmain Technologies Limited (“Bitmain”), a producer of products for blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Bitmain has assisted us in the identification and analysis of other strategic business initiatives.

Company’s Crypto Mining

The strategic relationships between APLD, SparkPool, GMR and Bitmain have provided APLD access to difficult to acquire hardware needed to begin and grow our mining operations and advice about our mining focus and business plans. SparkPool is currently in process of shutting down its operations and is assisting us in a transition to a new Ether mining pool manager, Ethermine. The terms of mining pool management arrangements with SparkPool and Ethermine are substantially similar, not subject to contracts and may be terminated by us at any time. Accordingly, we do not expect any negative adverse effects on our business as a result of the change of Ether mining pool managers. As we purchase Bitcoin mining hardware and establish our co-hosting business, SparkPool’s advice and assistance acquiring Ether mining hardware which were instrumental in our ability to commence our mining business is becoming less significant to us. GMR’s proprietary algorithm optimizes mining in real-time to maximize return on deployment assets. The GMR team provides services to us with respect to mining asset selection, asset management, trading, etc. We have also entered into an agreement with Bitmain Technologies Limited from whom we have purchased additional mining equipment. Additionally, several of these strategic partners have invested in us and have, or are expected to, become our co-hosting customers.

Company’s Hosting Operations

Valuefinder and Bitmain have provided advice on commencing a co-hosting business in addition to our mining business. On September 12, 2021, we entered into an Amended and Restated Energy Services Agreement with respect to 100 megawatts to be used by us and our co-hosting customers. We have also entered into agreements with several of our Service Providers, or entities introduced to us by them, for our co-hosting services, which will account for 100% of the energy under the Amended and Restated Energy Services

 

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Agreement available at our first co-hosting facility and 85MW at our second facility once built and subject to an energy services agreement.

In October and November 2021, we formed 1.21 Gigawatts, APLD - Rattlesnake Den I, LLC and APLD Rattlesnake Den II, LLC in Delaware to develop, acquire, construct, finance, operate, maintain and own one or more data centers designed for hosting computers, servers and related technology and equipment, including for use in mining or development of cryptoassets, blockchain-based technologies or other encrypted digital public ledgers of transactions.

In December  2021, we and Bitmain Technologies Holding Company, or Bitmain, agreed to a non-binding term sheet to form one or more entities owned 80% by us and 20% by Bitmain to develop, acquire, construct, finance, operate, maintain and own one or more next-generation data centers with up to 1.5GW of capacity for hosting blockchain infrastructure. We will be responsible for all site development, construction, and operations. Bitmain will provide technical, sourcing, operational and financial resources to the venture. In addition, Bitmain will market us as its preferred hosting service provider. Bitmain will have the right at any time to convert all or any portion of its new entity equity units into a number of shares of our common stock equal to the capital contributions by Bitmain in connection with the acquisition of such units being divided by $1.25, which will result in an increase in our ownership percentage of the new entity or entities. Bitmain will also have the right to name one member of the board of managers of each new entity formed pursuant to definitive agreements between Bitmain and us. The arrangement with Bitmain is subject to entry into definitive agreements by the parties. There can be no assurance that we will enter into such agreements in a particular time period or at all.

Future Business Expansion

Our expectations for our future business expansion are:

Calendar Year 2022

First-Second Quarter

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If not already online, install customer equipment and bring online our first facility in Jamestown, ND.

​

•

Complete construction of additional buildings on our Jamestown, ND property, enter into a second energy services agreement for an additional 100MW for this facility and bring it online.

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•

Lease or purchase land in Texas on or near a wind farm, construct a facility on this property (the “Texas Wind Facility”), enter into an energy services agreement for 100MW of wind power for this facility and bring it online.

​

•

Continue to enter into customer contracts for our co-hosting services at existing or planned facilities.

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Third-Fourth Quarter

•

Enter into an energy services agreement for an additional 100MW of wind power for the Texas Wind Facility.

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•

Lease or purchase another property in North Dakota, construct a facility on this property, enter into an energy services agreement for 200MW of power for this facility and bring it online.

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•

Lease or purchase land in Texas on or near a solar farm, construct a facility on this property, enter into an energy services agreement for 180MW of solar power for this facility and bring it online.

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•

Continue to enter into agreements with customers for our co-hosting services at existing or planned facilities.

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Calendar Year 2023

•

Enter into agreements with additional customers for any additional capacity not already contracted for at the existing four and any planned facilities.

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•

Continue to lease or purchase additional land on which to construct additional facilities and construct additional facilities to build out the remainder of the planned 1.5GW of capacity.

​

 

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•

Enter into additional energy services agreements with respect to the remainder of the 1.5GW of planned capacity.

​

Calendar Year 2024 through Calendar Year 2026

•

Enter into agreements with additional customers for any additional capacity not already contracted for at the existing and planned facilities.

​

•

Continue to lease or purchase additional land on which to construct additional facilities and construct additional facilities to build out the remainder of the planned 5GW of capacity.

​

•

Enter into additional energy services agreements with respect to the remainder of the 5GW of planned capacity.

​

Why Ethereum

Enables New Version of the Internet:   Global distributed computing network and growing demand for permissionless platforms without centralized toll takers.

Use of Non Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”) on Ethereum is rising:   represents anything digitally unique and scarce, with current excitement centered around digital art. NFTs are unique and verifiable on the blockchain, they are permanent and programmable and it is a digital ownership that is freely tradable.

Diverse Altcoin Opportunity:   there is a multitude of Altcoins that can be mined on the Ethereum network.

Why Bitcoin

Diversifying our Cryptoasset opportunity:   Mining Bitcoin in addition to Ether provides us more diversity, allowing us to rely less on one type of cryptoasset and alleviating the risk of our business being unable to continue mining if one platform becomes unusable. For instance, Ethereum may move to a proof of stake consensus mechanism. If that happens, mining Ethereum will become obsolete at which point we can become a validator on the network. Mining Bitcoin allows us to continue mining if and when we stop mining Ether.

Largest Market Cap:   Bitcoin has the largest market cap of all cryptocurrency.

Access:   We have access to Bitcoin mining hardware through our strategic relationship with Bitmain.

Wide Acceptance:   Bitcoin is the most widely adopted cryptocurrency by institutional and retail investors.

Competitive Advantage

There is a multitude of cost components to crypto mining operations. Some components are cost of hardware, like ASICS used to mine Bitcoin and GPUs used to mine Ether; electrical costs, and the cost a miner pays to have its crypto mining equipment hosted. Our competitive advantages are:

1.

Our priority access to hardware procurement resulting from vendor relationships secured by strategic partners.

​

2.

The high demand for co-hosting services which we expect to serve as a steady income stream for us once our facilities are operational.

​

3.

Once our co-hosting facilities are operational, we will reduce high electrical and hosting fees by plugging our own crypto mining equipment into our own co-hosting facilities.

​

Co-hosting and mining operations are tightly integrated. The demand for co-hosting skyrocketed following restrictions and prohibitions on crypto mining imposed by China. As a result of this unprecedented demand, we have begun to enter into long-term contracts that will allow us to scale and maintain low costs. We have also entered into long-term agreements with four customers and we have identified additional suppliers and customers with whom we are negotiating additional agreements.

 

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Customers

We have material customer concentration in our co-hosting business. We have entered into contracts with JointHash Holding Limited (a subsidiary of GMR), Bitmain Technologies Limited, F2Pool Mining, Inc. and Hashing LLC to utilize our first co-hosting facility which is currently under construction. When construction of our first co-hosting facility is complete, JointHash has contracted to use 40% of the available power, Bitmain for 45% and F2Pool for 15%. Together these customers will account for 100% of our co-hosting facility revenue until our second facility is constructed and operational. These 4 customers have agreed to use an additional 85 MW of power at our second facility, once it is constructed and operational. We are currently exploring options with respect to property on which our second facility will be built as well as energy services arrangements to provide power to the second facility.

Pursuant to our co-hosting contracts with our all four customers we agree to provide an environment and electricity for normal operation, monitoring, reporting and maintenance of equipment and the customers agree to pay service fees to us. Service fees are made up of hosting fees, operation fees and maintenance fees. Hosting fees to be paid by JointHash, Bitmain and F2Pool are based on the cost of power consumption by the customer plus a surcharge with F2Pool. Operation fees and maintenance fees are to be determined by the parties in each contract and on each purchase order. F2Pool has agreed to pay a monthly minimum services fee determined in relation to then current hosting fees and Hashing agreed to pay a flat fee per month for all services subject to certain additional fees for maintenance fees.

The agreements with JointHash and Bitmain are effective until terminated. In addition to providing for termination for breaches or defaults (subject to certain cure periods) and by mutual agreement of the relevant parties, JointHash and Bitmain may terminate their agreements with respect to all or part of their equipment subject to the relevant agreement with payment of a termination fee calculated by reference to the equipment as to which the agreement is being terminated and its forecasted energy usage.

The terms of the agreements with F2Pool and Hashing are 60 calendar months from the date on which no less than a negotiated number of megawatts of power are available at our first facility. The term may be extended for an additional 24 months without change to the fee structure by agreement of both parties. Unilateral termination rights are only available upon defaults or breaches of the agreement (subject to cure periods), bankruptcy or similar situations and certain assignment, sale or merger of F2Pool to or with a third party.

Government Regulations

Our business is subject to extensive laws, rules, regulations, policies and legal and regulatory guidance, including those governing securities, commodities, cryptoasset custody, exchange and transfer, data governance, data protection, cybersecurity and tax. Many of these legal and regulatory regimes were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet, mobile technologies, cryptoassets and related technologies. As a result, they do not contemplate or address unique issues associated with the crypto economy, are subject to significant uncertainty, and vary widely across U.S. federal, state and local and international jurisdictions. These legal and regulatory regimes, including the laws, rules and regulations thereunder, evolve frequently and may be modified, interpreted and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another. Moreover, the complexity and evolving nature of our business and the significant uncertainty surrounding the regulation of the crypto economy requires us to exercise our judgement as to whether certain laws, rules and regulations apply to us, and it is possible that governmental bodies and regulators may disagree with our conclusions. To the extent we have not complied with such laws, rules and regulations, we could be subject to significant fines and other regulatory consequences, which could adversely affect our business, prospects or operations. As cryptoassets have grown in popularity and in market size, the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Congress and certain U.S. agencies (e.g., the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the SEC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) have begun to examine the operations of cryptoasset networks, cryptoasset users and cryptoasset exchange markets. On September 24, 2021, China imposed a ban on all crypto transactions and mining. Other governments around the world are also reviewing their rules and regulations concerning the cryptoasset industry, including the United States.

 

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In 2018, the SEC Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman announced that the Commission would not treat Ether or Bitcoin as securities. The legal test for determining whether or not any given cryptoasset is a security (the Howey test) is a highly complex, fact-driven analysis the outcome of which is difficult to predict. The SEC took the position that initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) are issuances of securities, a position that was upheld by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of NY in the 2020 case SEC v. Telegram Group Inc. & TON Issuer Inc. The SEC’s position on most other cryptoassets, other than Bitcoin, Ether and ICOs, is that it is up to market participants to determine whether or not a particular cryptoasset is a “security.” The SEC generally does not provide advance guidance or confirmation on the status of any particular cryptoasset as a security. Furthermore, the SEC’s views in this area have evolved over time and it is difficult to predict the direction or timing of any continuing evolution. It is also possible that a change in the governing administration or the appointment of new SEC commissioners could substantially impact the views of the SEC and its staff. Public statements by senior officials at the SEC indicate that the SEC does not intend to take the position that Bitcoin or Ether are securities (in their current form). With respect to all other cryptoassets, there is currently no certainty under the applicable legal test that such assets are not securities, notwithstanding the conclusions we may draw based on our risk-based assessment regarding the likelihood that a particular cryptoasset could be deemed a “security” under applicable laws. Similarly, though the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology published a framework for analyzing whether any given cryptoasset is a security in April 2019, this framework is also not a rule, regulation or statement of the SEC and is not binding on the SEC.

Ongoing and future regulatory actions could effectively prevent our ongoing or planned crypto mining and co-hosting operations, limiting or preventing future revenue generation by us and rendering our operations and crypto mining equipment obsolete. Such actions could severely impact our ability to continue to operate and our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.

Environmental Regulations

We have observed increasing media attention directed at the environmental concerns associated with cryptocurrency mining, particularly its energy-intensive nature. While we do not believe any U.S.-based regulators have taken a position adverse to our business, in March 2021, the governmental authorities for the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia, which represented roughly 8% of the world’s total mining power, banned bitcoin mining in the province due to the industry’s intense electrical power demands and its negative environmental impacts (both in terms of the waste produced by mining the rare Earth metals used to manufacture miners and the production of electrical power used in bitcoin mining). We have, and continue to, monitor domestic and international regulations, including regulations relating to environmental impacts of our business.

Our first co-hosting facility is being constructed in North Dakota. North Dakota is one of the States leading the United States in wind power generation. We signed an energy services agreement with a utility in North Dakota to power this facility. The power comes off a grid and we cannot control whether that energy is generated by wind or other methods. We do not have access to information about the amount of energy we used and the sources of that energy. We have, and will continue to, consider opportunities for limiting the impact of our business on the environment.

Employees and Human Capital

As of December 27, 2021, we had 31 employees, all of whom were full time. We also had six independent contractors who focus full time on our business and three independent contractors who worked on a part time basis on our business. We have relied and plan on continuing to rely on independent organizations, advisors and consultants to perform certain services for us, including obtaining opportunities for us to purchase additional crypto mining equipment and managing our mining pool. Such services may not always be available to us on a timely basis, on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our future performance will depend in part on our ability to successfully integrate newly hired employees and to engage and retain consultants, as well as our ability to develop an effective working relationship with our employees and consultants.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTIES

We lease approximately 10,699 square feet of office space at 3811 Turtle Creek Blvd., Suite 2100, Dallas, Texas 75219. We use this location as our principal offices.

Our wholly-owned subsidiary, APLD Hosting LLC, owns in fee simple, free of all encumbrances, a 40-acre parcel of land located in Stutsman County, North Dakota, to be used in our co-hosting business. We are currently constructing our first co-hosting facility at this location.

 

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LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

As of the date of this prospectus, we are not involved in legal proceedings.

 

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MANAGEMENT

Executive Officers and Directors

The following table provides information regarding our executive officers and directors as of January 3, 2022:

(1)

Member of the audit committee.

​

(2)

Member of the compensation committee.

​

(3)

Member of the nominating and governance committee.

​

(4)

Lead independent director.

​

Executive officers

Wes Cummins

Mr. Cummins has served as a member of our Board from 2007 until 2020 and from March 11, 2021 through present. During that time Mr. Cummins also served in various executive officer positions and he is currently serving as our chairman of the Board, chief executive officer, president, secretary and treasurer. Mr. Cummins was also the founder and CEO of 272 Capital LP, a registered investment advisor, which he sold to B. Riley Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: RILY) in August 2021. Following the sale Mr. Cummins joined B. Riley as President of B. Riley Asset Management. Mr. Cummins intends to spend at least 40 hours per week on our business. Mr. Cummins has been a technology investor for over 20 years and held various positions in capital markets including positions at investment banks and hedge funds. Prior to founding 272 Capital and starting our operating business, Mr. Cummins was an analyst with Nokomis Capital, L.L.C., an investment advisory firm, a position he held from October 2012 until February 2020. Mr. Cummins also serves as a member of the boards of Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS), a fabless designer, developer and supplier of cellular semiconductor solutions for massive, broadband and critical Internet of Things markets and Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (VPG), designer, manufacturer and marketer of sensors, and sensor-based measurement systems, as well as specialty resistors and strain gages based upon their proprietary technology. He holds a BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis where he majored in finance and accounting. We believe Mr. Cummins’ experience building a business and as a chief executive

 

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officer and his experience investing in technology gives him insight and perspective into creating and building a technology based company as well as operating as a public company and enables him to be an effective board member.

David Rench

Mr. Rench became our chief financial officer in March 2021 and continues to serve in that capacity. Prior to joining us, Mr. Rench co-founded in 2010, and from 2010 to 2017 served as the VP of Finance and Operations of, a software startup company, ihiji, until the company was acquired by Control4 in 2017. After the acquisition of ihiji, Mr. Rench joined and served as Chief Financial Officer of Hirzel Capital, an investment management company, from 2017 to 2020. Mr. Rench holds a BBA from the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, and an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He is skilled in talent management and focused on long-term business growth, revenue, and profitability. He has strong experience leading the full spectrum of accounting, budgets, financial analysis, forecast planning, IT strategy, and reporting processes to achieve and exceed corporate financial goals. He has demonstrated expertise in developing and implementing streamlined tools and procedures to maximize departmental efficiency.

Regina Ingel

Ms. Ingel became our Vice President of Operations in March 2021. Her experience is in marketing and operations to support growth of companies across sectors. From 2016 to 2018, Ms. Ingel worked with operations in the corporate buying offices at Neiman Marcus, a large department store chain, where she worked closely with the executive team on projections, marketing and planning for the web business. Ms. Ingel also founded an event planning company in Dallas in 2019, which she grew through creative marketing and sales despite a nationwide pandemic. Ms. Ingel sold her company in early 2021 to pursue a career in the cryptocurrency marketplace and specifically as our vice president of operations.

Non-employee directors

Chuck Hastings

Mr. Hastings currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of B. Riley Wealth Management. Mr. Hastings joined B. Riley Financial in 2013 as a portfolio manager and became Director of Strategic Initiatives at B. Riley Wealth Management in 2018 and President in 2019. Prior to joining B. Riley, Mr. Hastings served as Portfolio Manager at Tri Cap LLC and was Head Trader at GPS Partners, a Los Angeles-based hedge fund, where he managed all aspects of trading and process including price and liquidity discovery and trade execution from 2005 to 2009. While at GPS Partners, Mr. Hastings was instrumental in growing the fund with the founding partners from a small start-up to one of the largest funds on the West Coast. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hastings served as a convertible bond trader at Morgan Stanley in New York. Mr. Hastings also serves as a Board member for IQvestment Holdings. Mr. Hastings holds a B.A. in political science from Princeton University. He is a recognized leader in the financial industry with more than two decades of global financial and business expertise. We believe Mr. Hastings’ experience and expertise will be of tremendous value as we pursue opportunities to leverage our initial investment and further scale our mining operations and build our co-hosting operations and enables him to be an effective board member.

Kelli McDonald

Ms. McDonald has a passion for high impact charity work in her local community as well as social and environmental causes. Ms. McDonald has been active in early childhood education since 2006. She has served as the Fundraising Chairperson and Social Media Manager for KSD NOW since 2019 and works in merchandising for an independent bookseller. In addition to work in non-profit development, early childhood education and the Literacy Project from 2017 to 2020, Ms. McDonald founded NG Gives Back — a community service and engagement program focused on the St. Louis area. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. We believe Ms. McDonald’s education and community outreach background bring a unique perspective to the Board and enables her to be an effective board member.

 

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Douglas Miller

Mr. Miller has served as a member of the board of directors of three public companies over the past nine years: Telenav, Inc (NASDAQ: TNAV), CareDx, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNA) and Procera Networks. He has chaired the Audit Committee for each of these companies, and has also served as Lead Independent Director and as chair or committee member on Compensation, Nominating and Governance and Special committees. Prior to his roles as board member, Mr. Miller served as senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Telenav, a wireless application developer specializing in personalized navigation services, from 2006 to 2012. From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Miller served as vice president and chief financial officer of Longboard, Inc., a privately held provider of telecommunications software. Prior to that, from 1998 to 2005, Mr. Miller held various management positions, including senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer, at Synplicity, Inc., a publicly traded electronic design automation company. Mr. Miller also served as chief financial officer of 3DLabs, Inc., a publicly held graphics semiconductor company, and as an audit partner at Ernst & Young LLP, a professional services organization. Mr. Miller is a certified public accountant (inactive). He holds a B.S.C. in Accounting from Santa Clara University. We believe Mr. Miller’s experience as a chief financial officer and board member of public companies gives him insight and perspective into how other boards function and enables him to be an effective board member.

Virginia Moore

Ms. Moore is the Co-founder, and CEO since 2017, of Catavento, a home textiles company based in Los Angeles. For 7 years prior to that, Ms. Moore was a partner and Vice President of Corbis Global, a 100-person architectural and engineering outsourcing firm. Earlier in her career she held positions in Marketing and Category Management with Coca-Cola, ACNielsen and Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Ms. Moore earned a Business Administration degree from Universidad Católica de Cordoba in her native Argentina and an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. Ms. Moore’s business and entrepreneurial experience brings a unique perspective to our Board and enable her to be an effective board member.

Richard Nottenburg

Dr. Nottenburg is currently on the board of directors of Cognyte Software Ltd., (NASDAQ: CGNT),a global leader in security analytics software and Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT), a customer engagement company. He serves as chairman of the compensation committee of both companies. He is also a member of the board of Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS), a leading developer and provider of 5G and 4G chips and modules for massive, broadband and critical IoT applications where he serves on both the audit and compensation committees. Dr. Nottenburg is also Executive Partner at OceanSoundPartners LP, a private equity firm, and an investor in various early stage technology companies. Previously, Dr. Nottenburg served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Sonus Networks, Inc. from 2008 through 2010. From 2004 until 2008, Dr. Nottenburg was an officer with Motorola, Inc., ultimately serving as its Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Technology Officer. We believe that Dr. Nottenberg’s deep experience in global technology-focused businesses and will be a valuable resource to us as we look to leverage our supply chain and scale our operations and enable him to be an effective member of the Board.

Jason Zhang

Mr. Zhang is an investor and entrepreneur in the technology sector. In 2019, Mr. Zhang founded Valuefinder, LLC, a British Virgin Island limited liability company (“Valuefinder”), which advises, or invests in, cryptoasset related companies. Prior to that Mr. Zhang served as an investment analyst at MSD Capital from 2015 to 2017. MSD Capital is a private investment firm established in 1998 to exclusively manage the assets of Michael Dell and his family. From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Zhang was an investment analyst at SCGE Management LP (Sequoia), an investment company that invests in early stage companies. At both MSD Capital and Sequoia, Mr. Zhang focused investments in startup companies, including companies involved with cryptoassets, enterprise software, consumer products and hardware. Mr. Zhang graduated from Harvard College in 2015. We believe that Mr. Zhang’s experience with startup companies and companies

 

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involved in cryptoassets is a valuable resource to us as we build and expand our operations and enable him to be an effective member of the Board.

Appointment of Officers

Our executive officers are appointed by, and serve at the discretion of, our board of directors. There are no family relationships among any of our executive officers or directors.

Board of Directors Composition

Our board of directors currently consists of seven members. Until we are listed on a national securities exchange, we will not be required to meet the corporate governance requirements of a national securities exchange but we have structured our Board composition and corporate governance in order to meet the requirements of the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Each of our current directors serves until the next annual meeting of our stockholders or earlier death, resignation or removal. Despite the expiration of a director’s term, however, the director shall continue to serve until such director’s successor is elected and qualifies or until there is a decrease in the number of directors.

Director Independence

Lead Independent Director

Our Board has appointed Douglas Miller as our lead independent director. Our lead independent director is expected to provide leadership to our Board if circumstances arise in which the role of chief executive officer and chairperson of our Board may be, or may be perceived to be, in conflict, and perform such additional duties as our board of directors may otherwise determine and delegate.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Our Board has established an audit committee, a compensation committee, and a nominating and governance committee, each of which have the composition and responsibilities described below. Members serve on these committees until their resignation or until otherwise determined by our Board. Each committee operates under a written charter approved by our Board that satisfies the applicable rules of the SEC and the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Copies of each committee’s charter are posted on the Investor Relations section of our website.

Audit committee

Our audit committee is comprised of Messrs. Miller, Hastings and Nottenberg. Mr. Miller is the chairperson of our audit committee. Each audit committee member meets the requirements for independence under the current Nasdaq Global Select Market listing standards and SEC rules and regulations. Our Board has not determined whether any of our directors qualify as “audit committee financial experts” as defined in Item 407(d) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act. Prior to having our common stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, our Board will ensure that at least one member of our Audit Committee meets the requirements of the Nasdaq Global Select Market and has accounting or related financial management expertise. This designation does not impose any duties, obligations, or liabilities that are greater than are generally imposed on members of our audit committee and our Board. Each member of our audit committee is financially literate. Our audit committee is directly responsible for, among other things:

•

selecting a firm to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm to audit our consolidated financial statements;

​

•

ensuring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm;

​

•

discussing the scope and results of the audit with the independent registered public accounting firm and reviewing, with management and that firm, our interim and year-end operating results;

​

 

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•

establishing procedures for employees to anonymously submit concerns about questionable accounting or audit matters;

​

•

considering the adequacy of our internal controls and internal audit function;

​

•

inquiring about significant risks, reviewing our policies for risk assessment and risk management, including cybersecurity risks, and assessing the steps management has taken to control these risks;

​

•

reviewing and overseeing our policies related to compliance risks;

​

•

reviewing related party transactions that are material or otherwise implicate disclosure requirements; and

​

•

approving or, as permitted, pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be performed by the independent registered public accounting firm.

​

Compensation committee

Our compensation committee is comprised of Ms. McDonald, Ms. Moore and Messrs. Miller and Nottenberg. Ms. McDonald is the chairperson of our compensation committee. The composition of our compensation committee meets the requirements for independence under the current Nasdaq Global Select Market listing standards and SEC rules and regulations. Each member of this committee is a non-employee director, as defined in Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act. Our compensation committee is responsible for, among other things:

•

reviewing and approving, or recommending that our Board approve, the compensation and the terms of any compensatory agreements of our executive officers;

​

•

reviewing and recommending to our Board the compensation of our directors;

​

•

administering our stock and equity incentive plans;

​

•

reviewing and approving, or making recommendations to our Board with respect to, incentive compensation and equity plans; and

​

•

establishing our overall compensation philosophy.

​

Nominating and governance committee

Our nominating and governance committee is comprised of Ms. Moore, Ms. McDonald and Mr. Hastings. Ms. Moore is the chairperson of our nominating and governance committee. The composition of our nominating and governance committee meets the requirements for independence under the current Nasdaq listing standards and SEC rules and regulations. Our nominating and governance committee is responsible for, among other things:

•

identifying and recommending candidates for membership on our Board;

​

•

recommending directors to serve on board committees;

​

•

reviewing and recommending our corporate governance guidelines and policies;

​

•

reviewing succession plans for senior management positions, including the chief executive officer;

​

•

reviewing proposed waivers of the code of business conduct and ethics for directors, executive officers, and employees (with waivers for directors or executive officers to be approved by the Board);

​

•

evaluating, and overseeing the process of evaluating, the performance of our Board and individual directors; and

​

•

advising our Board on corporate governance matters.

​

Board’s Role in Risk Oversight

Our Board of directors is primarily responsible for overseeing our risk management processes. Our Board, as a whole, determines our appropriate level of risk, assesses the specific risks that we face, and

 

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reviews management’s strategies for adequately mitigating and managing the identified risks. Although our board of directors administers this risk management oversight function, the committees of our Board support our Board in discharging its oversight duties and address risks inherent in their respective areas. The audit committee reviews our major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures, including our procedures and related policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management. Our audit committee also reviews matters relating to compliance, cybersecurity, and security and reports to our Board regarding such matters. The compensation committee reviews risks and exposures associated with compensation plans and programs. We believe this division of responsibilities is an effective approach for addressing the risks we face and that our Board leadership structure supports this approach.

Board Diversity

Each year, our nominating and governance committee will review, with the Board, the appropriate characteristics, skills, and experience required for the Board as a whole and its individual members. In evaluating the suitability of individual candidates, our nominating and governance committee will consider factors including, without limitation, an individual’s character, integrity, judgment, potential conflicts of interest, other commitments, and diversity. While we have no formal policy regarding board diversity for our Board as a whole nor for each individual member, the nominating and governance committee does consider such factors as gender, race, ethnicity and experience, area of expertise, as well as other individual attributes that contribute to the total diversity of viewpoints and experience represented on the Board.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

We have adopted a code of business conduct and ethics that applies to all of our employees, officers, and directors. The full text of our code of business conduct and ethics is posted on the Investor Relations section of our website: www.appliedblockchaininc.com. We intend to disclose future amendments to certain provisions of our code of business conduct and ethics, or waivers of these provisions, on our website or in public filings.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of the members of our compensation committee is, or has been, our officer or employee. None of our executive officers currently serves, or during the year ended May 31, 2021 served, as a member of the Board, or as a member of the compensation or similar committee, of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our Board or compensation committee.

Legal Proceedings

To our knowledge, (i) no director or executive officer has been a director or executive officer of any business which has filed a bankruptcy petition or had a bankruptcy petition filed against it during the past ten years; (ii) no director or executive officer has been convicted of a criminal offense or is the subject of a pending criminal proceeding during the past ten years; (iii) no director or executive officer has been the subject of any order, judgment or decree of any court permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting his involvement in any type of business, securities or banking activities during the past ten years; and (iv) no director or officer has been found by a court to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law during the past ten years.

 

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EXECUTIVE AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

We are a “smaller reporting company” under applicable SEC rules and are providing disclosure regarding our executive compensation arrangements pursuant to the rules applicable to emerging growth companies, which means that we are not required to provide a compensation discussion and analysis and certain other disclosures regarding our executive compensation. The following discussion relates to the compensation of our named executive officers for fiscal year ended May 31, 2021, consisting of Wes Cummins, our Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, Treasurer, Chairman of the Board, David Rench, our Chief Financial Officer, and Regina Ingel, our Vice President of Operations.

We did not pay any compensation to any employees in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020.

Summary Compensation Table

(a)

Amounts represent compensation for partial year service from March 2021 through May 31, 2021.

​

We recently increased the salaries of our named executive officers as of November 1, 2021 and granted each of them restricted stock, in each case as set forth below:

Restricted Stock Grants to Employees

Salary Increases to Employees

Employment Agreements and Severance Arrangements

None of our employees have employment agreements or severance arrangements.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End

There were no outstanding equity awards held by our named executive officers on May 31, 2021.

 

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Employee Benefit Plans

On October 9, 2021, our Board approved two equity incentive plans, subject to stockholder approval. The two plans consist of the 2021 Incentive Plan (the “Incentive Plan”), which provides for grants of various equity awards to our employees and consultants, and the 2021 Non-Employee Director Stock Plan (the “Director Plan” and, together with the Incentive Plan, the “Plans”), which provides for grants of restricted stock to non-employee directors and for deferral of cash and stock compensation if such deferral provisions are activated at a future date. In accordance with best practices and good governance, and requirements of many stock exchanges including Nasdaq, we are seeking stockholder approval of the Plans.

The Incentive Plan

The following summary of the material features of the Incentive Plan is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Incentive Plan, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.12 to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Administration

The Compensation Committee administers the Incentive Plan. The Compensation Committee has full and exclusive discretionary power to interpret the terms and the intent of the Incentive Plan and any award agreement or other agreement or document ancillary to or in connection with the Incentive Plan, to select eligible employees and third-party service providers to receive awards (“Participants”), to determine eligibility for awards and to adopt such rules, regulations, forms, instruments, and guidelines for administering the Incentive Plan as it may deem necessary or proper. Such authority shall include, but not be limited to, selecting award recipients, establishing all award terms and conditions, including the terms and conditions set forth in award agreements, granting awards as an alternative to or as the form of payment for grants or rights earned or due under compensation plans, service contracts or other of our arrangements, construing any ambiguous provision of the Incentive Plan or any award agreement, and, subject to stockholder or Participant approvals as may be required, adopting modifications and amendments to the Incentive Plan or any award agreement. All actions taken and all interpretations and determinations made by the Compensation Committee shall be final and binding upon Participants, us, and all other interested individuals.

The Compensation Committee may delegate its administrative duties or powers to one or more of its members or to one or more of our officers, our affiliates or subsidiaries, or to one or more agents or advisors. However, the authority to grant awards to individuals who are subject to Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), cannot be delegated to anyone who is not a member of the Compensation Committee. As used in this summary, the term “Incentive Plan Administrator” means the Compensation Committee and any delegate, as appropriate.

Eligibility

Any employee of, and any third-party service provider to, us, an affiliate or a subsidiary is eligible to participate in the Incentive Plan if selected by the Incentive Plan Administrator. We are not able to estimate the number of individuals that the Incentive Plan Administrator will select to participate in the Incentive Plan or the type or size of awards that the Incentive Plan Administrator will approve. Therefore, the benefits to be allocated to any individual or to various groups of individuals are not presently determinable.

Awards

Under the Incentive Plan, if approved by stockholders, we will be able to grant nonqualified stock options, incentive stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance shares, performance units, cash-based awards and other stock-based awards.

Options.   Options granted under the Incentive Plan may be incentive stock options (“ISOs”) or nonqualified stock options. Options entitle the Participant to purchase a specified number of shares of common stock from us at a specified option price, subject to applicable vesting conditions and such other provisions as the Incentive Plan Administrator may determine consistent with the Incentive Plan, including,

 

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without limitation, restrictions on transferability of the underlying shares. The per-share option price will be fixed by the Incentive Plan Administrator at the time the option is granted, but cannot be less than the per-share fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant (or, with respect to ISOs, in the case of a holder of more than 10 percent of outstanding voting securities, 110 percent of such per share fair market value). The option price may be paid, in the Incentive Plan Administrator’s discretion, in cash or its equivalent, with shares of common stock, by a cashless, broker-assisted exercise, or a combination thereof, or any other method accepted by the Compensation Committee.

The minimum vesting period for an option is generally one year. The maximum period in which a vested option may be exercised will be fixed by the Incentive Plan Administrator at the time the option is granted but cannot exceed 10 years (five years for ISOs granted to a holder of more than 10 percent of our outstanding voting securities). The Award Agreement will set forth the extent to which a Participant may exercise the option following termination of employment. No employee may be granted ISOs that are first exercisable in a calendar year for common stock having an aggregate fair market value (determined as of the date the option is granted) exceeding $100,000.

SARs.   A stock appreciation right (“SAR”) entitles the Participant to receive an amount upon exercise equal to the excess of the fair market value of one share of common stock on the exercise date over the grant price of the SAR. SARs shall be subject to applicable vesting conditions and such other provisions as the Incentive Plan Administrator may determine consistent with the Incentive Plan, including, without limitation, mandatory holding periods for any shares received upon exercise. The grant price per SAR shall be determined by the Incentive Plan Administrator, but cannot be less than the fair market value of one share of common stock on the grant date.

The minimum vesting period for a SAR is generally one year. The maximum period in which a vested SAR may be exercised will be fixed by the Incentive Plan Administrator at the time the SAR is granted, but generally cannot exceed 10 years. The Award Agreement shall set forth the extent to which a Participant may exercise the SAR following termination of employment. The amount payable upon the exercise of an SAR may, in the Incentive Plan Administrator’s discretion, be settled in cash, common stock, or a combination thereof, or any other manner approved by the Incentive Plan Administrator.

Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units.   Restricted stock is common stock issued to a Participant subject to applicable vesting and other restrictions. Restricted stock units are similar to restricted stock except that no shares of common stock are actually issued to the Participant unless and until the restrictions on the award lapse. An award of restricted stock or restricted stock units will be forfeitable, or otherwise restricted, until conditions established at the time of the grant are satisfied. These conditions may include, for example, a requirement that the Participant complete a specified period of service or the attainment of certain performance objectives. Any restrictions imposed on an award of restricted stock or restricted stock units will be prescribed by the Incentive Plan Administrator.

The minimum vesting period for restricted stock and restricted stock units is generally one year. The Award Agreement shall set forth the extent to which a Participant may retain restricted stock or restricted stock units following termination of employment. Participants may be granted full voting rights with respect to restricted stock during the applicable restriction period, but will have no voting rights with respect to restricted stock units until common stock is issued in settlement thereof. Restricted stock will become freely transferrable by the Participant after all conditions and restrictions have been satisfied. Vested restricted stock units may, in the Incentive Plan Administrator’s discretion, be settled in cash, common stock, or a combination of cash and common stock or any other manner approved by the Incentive Plan Administrator.

Performance Shares and Performance Units.   A performance share award entitles a Participant to receive a payment equal to the fair market value of a specific number of shares of common stock, subject to applicable performance and vesting conditions. A performance unit award is similar to a performance share award except that a performance unit award is not necessarily tied to the value of common stock. The Incentive Plan Administrator will prescribe, as set forth in an award agreement, the performance conditions that must be satisfied during the applicable performance period for an award of performance shares or performance units to be earned. The Incentive Plan Administrator may also impose time-based vesting conditions on the payment of earned performance shares or performance units.

 

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The minimum performance period or vesting period for performance shares and performance units is generally one year. The award agreement shall set forth the extent to which a Participant may retain performance units and performance shares following termination of employment. To the extent that performance units or performance shares are earned and vested, the obligation may be settled in cash, common stock or a combination of cash and common stock. If the award is settled in shares of common stock, the shares may be subject to additional restrictions deemed appropriate by the Incentive Plan Administrator.

Cash-Based Awards and Other Stock-Based Awards.   The Incentive Plan also allows the Incentive Plan Administrator to make cash-based awards and other stock-based awards to Participants on such terms and conditions as the Incentive Plan Administrator prescribes, including without limitation, time-based and performance-based vesting conditions. The minimum vesting period for other stock-based awards is generally one year. The award agreement shall set forth the extent to which a Participant may retain cash-based and other stock and equity-based awards following termination of employment. To the extent that any cash-based and other stock and equity-based awards are granted, they may, in the Incentive Plan Administrator’s discretion, be settled in cash or common stock.

Dividend Equivalents.   Participants may be granted dividend equivalents based on the dividends declared on shares that are subject to any award during the period between the grant date and the date the Award is exercised, vests or expires. The payment of dividends and dividend equivalents prior to an award becoming vested is prohibited, and the Incentive Plan Administrator shall determine the extent to which dividends and dividend equivalents may accrue during the vesting period.

Minimum Vesting of Stock-Based Awards

Awards granted under the Incentive Plan are generally subject to a minimum vesting period of at least one year. Awards may be subject to cliff-vesting or graded-vesting conditions, with graded vesting starting no earlier than one year after the grant date. The Incentive Plan Administrator may provide for shorter vesting periods in an award agreement for no more than five percent of the maximum number of shares authorized for issuance under the Incentive Plan.

Transferability

In general, awards available under the Incentive Plan will be nontransferable except by will or the laws of descent and distribution.

Performance Objectives

The Compensation Committee shall have full discretionary authority to select performance measures and related performance goals upon which payment or vesting of an award depends. Performance measures may relate to financial metrics, non-financial metrics, GAAP and non-GAAP metrics, business and individual objectives or any other performance metrics that the Compensation Committee deems appropriate.

The Compensation Committee may provide in any award that any evaluation of performance may include or exclude any of the following events that occurs during a performance period: (a) asset write-downs, (b) litigation or claim judgments or settlements, (c) the effect of changes in tax laws, accounting principles, or other laws or provisions affecting reported results, (d) any reorganization and restructuring programs, (e) extraordinary nonrecurring items as described in management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations appearing in the our annual report to stockholders for the applicable year, (f) acquisitions or divestitures, and (g) foreign exchange gains and losses.

The Compensation Committee shall retain the discretion to adjust performance-based awards upward or downward, either on a formula or discretionary basis or any combination, as the Committee determines.

Change in Control

Unless otherwise provided in an award agreement or otherwise determined by the Compensation Committee, upon a Change in Control the following shall occur:

 

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•

For awards other than performance awards, a Replacement Award (that is, an award with a value and terms that are at least as favorable as the outstanding award) may be issued;

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•

For awards other than performance awards, if a Replacement Award is not issued and our common stock ceases to be publicly traded after the Change in Control, such awards shall be immediately vested and exercisable upon such Change in Control;

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•

For unearned performance awards, the award shall be (i) earned on a pro-rata basis at the higher of actual or target performance and (ii) measured as of the end of the calendar quarter before the effective date of the Change in Control, or, if the award is stock-price based, as of the effective date of the Change in Control;

​

•

For earned but unvested performance awards, the award shall be immediately vested and payable as of the effective date of the Change in Control;

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•

For awards other than performance awards, if our common stock continues to be publicly traded after a Change in Control, such awards shall continue under their applicable terms, unless otherwise determined by the Compensation Committee.

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Notwithstanding the forgoing, in the case of awards other than performance awards, the Compensation Committee may cancel such awards, and the award holders shall receive shares or cash equal to the difference between the amount stockholders receive for their shares pursuant to the Change in Control event and the purchase price per share, if any, under the award.

Except as may be provided in a severance compensation agreement between us and the Participant, if, in connection with a Change in Control, a Participant’s payment of any awards will cause the Participant to be liable for federal excise tax levied on certain “excess parachute payments,” then either (i) all payments otherwise due or (ii) the reduced payment amount to avoid an excess parachute payment, whichever will provide the Participant with the greater after-tax economic benefit taking into account any applicable excise tax, shall be paid to the Participant. In no event will any Participant be entitled to receive any kind of gross-up payment or reimbursement for any excise taxes payable in connection with Change in Control payments.

Share Authorization

The maximum aggregate number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the Incentive Plan is 80,000,000 shares, all of which can be issued pursuant to the exercise of incentive stock options.

In connection with any corporate event or transaction (including, but not limited to, a change in our shares or our capitalization) such as a merger, consolidation, reorganization, recapitalization, separation, partial or complete liquidation, stock dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, split up, spin off, or other distribution of our stock or property, combination of shares, exchange of shares, dividend in kind, or other like change in capital structure, number of outstanding shares or distribution (other than normal cash dividends) to our stockholders, or any similar corporate event or transaction, the Compensation Committee, in its sole discretion, in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of Participants’ rights under the Incentive Plan, shall substitute or adjust, as applicable, the number and kind of shares that may be issued under the Incentive Plan or under particular forms of awards, the number and kind of shares subject to outstanding awards, the option price or grant price applicable to outstanding awards, and other value determinations applicable to outstanding awards. The Compensation Committee may also make appropriate adjustments in the terms of any awards under the Incentive Plan to reflect or relate to such changes or distributions and to modify any other terms of outstanding awards, including modifications of performance goals and changes in the length of performance periods.

If an award entitles the holder to receive or purchase shares of common stock, the shares covered by such award or to which the award relates shall be counted against the aggregate number of shares available for awards under the Incentive Plan as follows:

•

With respect to any awards, the number of shares available for awards shall be reduced by one share for each share covered by such award or to which the award relates; and

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•

Awards that do not entitle the holder to receive or purchase shares and awards that are settled in cash shall not be counted against the aggregate number of shares available for awards under the Incentive Plan.

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In addition, any shares related to awards which terminate by expiration, forfeiture, cancellation, or otherwise without issuance of shares shall be available again for grant under the Incentive Plan.

In no event, however, will the following shares again become available for awards or increase the number of shares available for grant under the Incentive Plan: (i) shares tendered by the Participant in payment of the exercise price of an option; (ii) shares withheld from exercised awards for tax withholding purposes; (iii) shares subject to a SAR that are not issued in connection with the settlement of that SAR; and (iv) shares repurchased by us with proceeds received from the exercise of an option.

Amendment and Termination

No award may be granted under the Incentive Plan after 10 years from the date the Incentive Plan was approved by stockholders. The Compensation Committee may, at any time and from time to time, alter, amend, modify, suspend, or terminate the Incentive Plan and any award agreement in whole or in part; provided, however, that, (i) without the prior approval of our stockholders, options or SARs issued under the Incentive Plan will not be repriced, repurchased (including a cash buyout), replaced, or re-granted through cancellation, or by lowering the option price of a previously granted option or the grant price of a previously granted SAR (except in connection with a permitted adjustment in authorized shares described above), (ii) any amendment of the Incentive Plan must comply with the rules of the primary stock exchange or trading market, if any, that our common stock is publicly traded on (the “Trading Market”), and (iii) no material amendment of the Incentive Plan shall be made without stockholder approval if stockholder approval is required by law, regulation, or Trading Market rule.

The Compensation Committee may make adjustments in the terms and conditions of, and the criteria included in, awards in recognition of unusual or nonrecurring events affecting us or our financial statements or of changes in applicable laws, regulations, or accounting principles, whenever the Compensation Committee determines that such adjustments are appropriate in order to prevent unintended dilution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the Incentive Plan.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, no termination, amendment, suspension, or modification of the Incentive Plan or an award agreement shall adversely affect in any material way any award previously granted under the Incentive Plan, without the written consent of the Participant holding such award.

Federal Income Tax Consequences

We have been advised by counsel regarding the federal income tax consequences of the Incentive Plan. No income is recognized by a Participant at the time an option or SAR is granted. If the option is an ISO, no income will be recognized upon the Participant’s exercise of the option (except that the alternative minimum tax may apply). Income is recognized by a Participant when they dispose of shares acquired under an ISO. The exercise of a nonqualified stock option or SAR generally is a taxable event that requires the Participant to recognize, as ordinary income, the difference between the shares’ fair market value and the option price. If a Participant disposes of shares acquired under an ISO before two years after the ISO was granted, or before one year after the ISO was exercised, this is a “disqualifying disposition” and any gain recognized by the Participant upon the disposition of such shares will be taxed as ordinary income to the extent such gain does not exceed the fair market value of such shares on the date the ISO was exercised over the option price.

Income is recognized on account of the award of restricted stock and performance shares when the shares first become transferable or are no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture unless the Participant makes an election to recognize income on the grant date under Section 83(b) of the Code. At the applicable time, the Participant recognizes income equal to the fair market value of the common stock.

With respect to awards of performance units, restricted stock units, and cash-based awards, a Participant will recognize ordinary income equal to any cash that is paid and the fair market value of common stock that is received in settlement of an award.

 

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Except in the case of a disqualifying distribution of shares acquired upon the exercise of an ISO, as described above, upon the sale or other disposition of shares acquired by a Participant under the Incentive Plan, the Participant will recognize short-term or long-term capital gain or loss, depending on whether such shares have been held for more than one year at such time. Such capital gain or loss will equal the difference between the amount realized on the sale of the shares and the Participant’s tax basis in such shares (generally, the amount previously included in income by the Participant in connection with the grant or vesting of the shares or the exercise of the related option).

We generally will be entitled to claim a federal income tax deduction on account of the exercise of a nonqualified stock option or SAR or upon the taxability to the recipient of restricted stock and performance shares, the settlement of a performance unit or restricted stock unit, and the payment of a cash-based or other stock-based award (subject to tax limitations on our deductions in any year that certain remuneration paid to certain executives exceeds $1 million). The amount of the deduction is equal to the ordinary income recognized by the Participant. We will not be entitled to a federal income tax deduction on account of the grant or the exercise of an ISO unless the Participant has made a “disqualifying disposition” of the shares acquired on exercise of the ISO, in which case we will be entitled to a deduction at the same time and in the same amount as the Participant’s recognition of ordinary income. Except in the case of a disqualifying disposition of shares acquired on exercise of an ISO, a Participant’s sale or other disposition of shares acquired under the Incentive Plan should have no tax consequences for us.

The Director Plan

The following summary of the material features of the Director Plan is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Director Plan, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.13 to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Awards and Deferrals

The Director Plan permits (1) the grant of shares of common stock to each of our non-employee directors and (2) if and when authorized by the Board, the deferral by the directors of some or all of their directors’ cash retainer fee and stock compensation. The Director Plan will have a term of ten years from the date on which it is approved by stockholders.

Administration

Our Chief Financial Officer (“Director Plan Administrator”) will administer the Director Plan. The Director Plan Administrator will interpret all provisions of the Director Plan, establish administrative regulations to further the purposes of the Director Plan and take any other action necessary for the proper operation of the Director Plan. All decisions and acts of the Director Plan Administrator shall be final and binding upon all participants in the Director Plan.

Eligibility

Each of our non-employee director is eligible to be a participant in the Director Plan (a “Director”) until they no longer serve as a non-employee director. The Board currently includes six (6) non-employee directors.

Share Authorization

The maximum aggregate number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the Director Plan is 11,000,000 shares. The aggregate fair market value (determined as of the grant date) of shares that may be issued as stock compensation to a Director in any year shall not exceed $750,000, provided, however, that with respect to new directors joining the Board, the maximum amount shall be $1,000,000 for the first year, or portion thereof, of service.

In connection with the occurrence of any corporate event or transaction (including, but not limited to, a change in our shares or our capitalization) such as a merger, consolidation, reorganization, recapitalization,

 

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separation, partial or complete liquidation, stock dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, split up, spin-off, or other distribution of our stock or property, combination of shares, exchange of shares, dividend in kind, or other like change in capital structure, number of outstanding shares or distribution (other than normal cash dividends) to our stockholders, or any similar corporate event or transaction, the Director Plan Administrator, in its sole discretion, in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the Directors’ rights under the Director Plan, shall substitute or adjust, as applicable, the number and kind of shares that may be issued under the Director Plan, the number and kind of shares subject to outstanding grants, the annual grant limits, and other value determinations applicable to outstanding grants. The Director Plan Administrator may also make appropriate adjustments in the terms of any grants under the Director Plan to reflect or relate to such changes or distributions and to modify any other terms of outstanding grants.

Grant of Shares

As of the first day of each compensation year (as defined in the Director Plan), we will, unless a different formula is selected in accordance with the last sentence of this paragraph, grant each Director a number of shares of our common stock for such year determined by (i) dividing the amount of each Director’s cash retainer for the compensation year by the fair market value of the shares on the first day of the compensation year, and (ii) rounding such number of shares up to the nearest whole share. We may revise the foregoing formula for any year without stockholder approval, subject to the Plan’s overall share limits.

Vesting of Shares

Shares granted under the Director Plan will vest on the first anniversary of the grant date unless otherwise determined by the Director Plan Administrator. Unvested shares will be forfeited when a Director’s service as a director terminates, except that (i) a Director’s unvested shares shall become fully vested upon the Director’s death or disability and (ii) a Director who elects not to stand for reelection as a Director for the following compensation year shall vest in a pro-rata portion of their outstanding grants at the annual meeting at which their service as a Director terminates.

Deferral Elections

While the deferral provision is not initially effective, at any point after the Director Plan is approved, the Board may determine that non-employee directors may defer all or part of their cash compensation (in 10% increments) into a deferred cash account, and they may defer all or part of their stock compensation (in 10% increments) into a deferred stock account. Prior to the Board’s taking action to permit deferrals under the Director Plan, no cash or stock deferrals shall be permitted. Deferred cash and stock accounts, once permitted and created, would be unfunded and maintained for record keeping purposes only, and directors wishing to defer amounts under the 2021 Directors’ Plan would be required to make their deferral elections by December 31st (or such earlier date as the Director Plan Administrator may designate) of the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which such compensation is earned or granted or, if later, within 30 days after first becoming eligible to make deferrals under the Director Plan.

Distributions of Deferrals

Distributions of deferrals under the Director Plan, once permitted, would generally be paid in a lump sum unless the Director specifies installment payments over a period up to 10 years. Deferred cash account amounts would be paid in cash, and deferred stock would be paid in whole shares of common stock. Unless otherwise elected by the Director, distributions would begin on February 15th of the year following the year in which the Director ceases to be a non-employee director. A Director could also elect to have their distributions commence on (a) the February 15th of the year following the later of the year in which they cease to be a non-employee director and the year in which they attain a specified age, or (b) the February 15th of the year following the year in which they attain a specified age, without regard to whether they are still a non-employee director.

Cash deferral accounts would be credited with earnings and losses on such basis as determined by the Board or its designee, and stock deferral accounts would be credited with additional shares equal to the

 

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value of any dividends paid during the deferral period on deferred stock. Under limited hardship circumstances, Directors could withdraw some or all of the amounts of deferred cash and stock in their deferral accounts.

Change in Control

Unless otherwise determined by the Director Plan Administrator in connection with a grant, a Change in Control shall have the following effects on outstanding awards.

•

On a Change in Control in which a Director receives a replacement award with a value and terms that are at least as favorable as the Director’s outstanding awards (a “Replacement Award”), the Director’s outstanding awards shall remain outstanding subject to the terms of the Replacement Award.

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•

On a Change in Control in which our shares cease to be publicly traded, the Director’s outstanding awards shall become immediately vested unless the Director receives Replacement Awards.

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•

On a Change in Control in which our shares continue to be publicly traded, a Director’s outstanding awards shall remain outstanding and be treated as Replacement Awards.

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Notwithstanding the forgoing, the Director Plan Administrator may determine that any or all outstanding awards granted under the Director Plan will be canceled and terminated upon a Change in Control, and that in connection with such cancellation and termination, the Director shall receive for each share of common stock subject to such award a cash payment (or the delivery of shares of stock, other securities or a combination of cash, stock and securities equivalent to such cash payment) equal to the consideration received by our stockholders for a share of common stock in such Change in Control.

Amendment and Termination

The Director Plan Administrator may, at any time, alter, amend, modify, suspend, or terminate the Director Plan in whole or in part; provided, however, that, without the prior approval of our stockholders, no such amendment shall increase the number of shares that may be granted to any Director, except as otherwise provided in the Director Plan, or increase the total number of shares that may be granted under the Director Plan. In addition, any amendment of the Director Plan must comply with the rules of the Trading Market, and no material amendment of the Director Plan shall be made without stockholder approval if stockholder approval is required by law, regulation, or stock exchange rule.

Federal Income Tax Consequences

With respect to shares granted under the Director Plan, unless deferred if and when the Board authorizes the deferral feature, the Director will be taxed on the fair market value of such shares at ordinary income rates at the time such shares vest or, if the Director made an election under Section 83(b), on the grant date. We will receive a corresponding deduction for the same amount at the same time.

With respect to cash or shares deferred under the Director Plan, Directors will be taxed on amounts distributed to them from their deferred cash and deferred stock accounts at ordinary income rates at the time of such distributions. We will receive a deduction for the same amounts at the same time.

Upon the sale or other disposition of shares acquired by a Director under the Director Plan, the Director will recognize short-term or long-term capital gain or loss, depending on whether such shares have been held for more than one year at such time. Such capital gain or loss will equal the difference between the amount realized on the sale of such shares and the Director’s tax basis in such shares (generally, the amount previously included in income by the Director in connection with the grant or vesting of such shares). Such sale or other disposition by a Director should have no tax consequences for us.

Other Information

The number of shares to be issued in each year is not determinable, as it varies based on the amount of stock awards determined to be paid to Directors as part of their retainer fees.

 

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Welfare and other benefits

We provide health, dental, and vision insurance benefits to our named executive officers, on the same terms and conditions as provided to all other eligible U.S. employees except for a recently hired employee in North Dakota for whom separate benefit arrangements are being put together due to North Dakota laws.

We also sponsor a broad-based 401(k) plan intended to provide eligible U.S. employees other than our recently hired employee in North Dakota for whom all benefits are being put into place in accordance with North Dakota law, with an opportunity to defer eligible compensation up to certain annual limits. As a tax-qualified retirement plan, contributions (if any) made by us are deductible by us when made, and contributions and earnings on those amounts are generally not taxable to the employees until withdrawn or distributed from the 401(k) plan. Our named executive officers are eligible to participate in our employee benefit plans, including our 401(k) plan, on the same basis as our other employees.

Fiscal Year ended May 31, 2021 Director Compensation

None of our non-employee members of our Board who served on our Board during the year ended May 31, 2021 received compensation during the year ended May 31, 2021.

Director Compensation

Non-Employee Director Compensation

The following table shows the annual cash retainer fees for non-employee directors.

Directors serving in multiple leadership roles receive incremental compensation for each role. Directors are not expected to receive additional compensation for attending regularly scheduled Board or committee meetings. For less than full years of service, the compensation paid to the non-employee directors will be prorated based on the number of days of service. Directors also receive customary reimbursement for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses related to Board service.

In November 2021, each non-employee director was granted 600,000 shares of restricted stock vesting half on each of April 1, 2022 and April 1, 2023.

 

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

In addition to the compensation arrangements discussed in the sections titled “Management” and “Executive Officer and Director Compensation,” the following is a description of each transaction since June 1, 2018 and each currently proposed transaction in which:

•

we have been or are to be a participant;

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•

the amount involved exceeded or will exceed $120,000; and

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•

any of our directors, executive officers, or holders of more than 5% of our capital stock, or any immediate family member of, or person sharing the household with, any of these individuals, had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.

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During 2009, we entered into notes payable with Mr. Wesley Cummins, our chairman of the Board, chief executive officer, president, secretary and treasurer, for $220,000. The notes had accrued interest of approximately $779,459 as of May 31, 2021. On April 15, 2021, we entered into an Exchange Agreement, with Mr. Cummins and the other holders of notes, pursuant to which we agreed to exchange the Notes for shares of our common stock. On July 7, 2021, we issued 14,277,986 shares of our common stock to Mr. Cummins in satisfaction of the Exchange Agreement.

In March 2021, we executed a strategy planning and portfolio advisory services agreement (“Services Agreement”) with GMR Limited, a British Virgin Island limited liability company (“GMR”), Xsquared Holding Limited, a British Virgin Island limited liability company (“SparkPool”) and Valuefinder, a British Virgin Islands limited liability company (“Valuefinder”) and, together with GMR and SparkPool, the “Service Providers”). Jason Zhang, one of our board members, is the sole equity holder and manager, of Valuefinder and a related party. Pursuant to the Services Agreement, the Service Providers agreed to provide cryptoasset mining management and analysis and to assist us in securing difficult to obtain equipment and we agreed to issue 44,640,889 shares of our common stock to GMR or its designees, 44,640,889 shares of our common stock to SparkPool or its designees and 18,938,559 shares of our common stock to Valuefinder or its designees. Each Service Provider has provided such services to us which services commenced in June 2021. In July 2021, after clearance of our name change by FINRA and receipt of additional information from the Service Providers required by the transfer agent, the Company issued 44,640,889 shares of our common stock to each of GMR and SparkPool and 18,938,559 shares of our common stock to Jason Zhang, Valuefinder’s designee.

In 2009, certain affiliates of B. Riley Securities, Inc., including members of senior management, purchased preferred shares of, and funded certain loans to, us. Such shares and loans have been converted into an aggregate of approximately 21.7 million shares of our common stock. In April 2021, certain employees of B. Riley Securities, Inc. purchased an aggregate of 67,400 shares of our Series C Preferred Stock. B. Riley Securities, Inc. provided investment banking services in connection with the offering of our Series C Preferred Stock. Additionally, in July 2021, certain employees of B. Riley Securities, Inc. purchased an aggregate of 85,960 shares of our Series D Preferred Stock. B. Riley Securities, Inc. provided investment banking services in connection with the offering of our Series D Preferred Stock. B.Riley Securities, Inc. is the representative of the underwriters for our firm commitment underwritten offering of up to $75 million of our common stock being registered on our Primary Offering Registration Statement.

Mr. Cummins, our Chairman of the Board, CEO, President, Secretary and Treasurer founded, and served as CEO of, 272 Capital LP, a registered investment advisor, which he sold to B. Riley Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: RILY) in August 2021. Following the sale, Mr. Cummins became President of B. Riley Asset Management. Mr. Cummins intends to spend at least 40 hours per week on our business.

Review, Approval, or Ratification of Transactions with Related Parties

In July 2021, we adopted a charter of the audit committee, pursuant to which all related party transactions including those between us, our directors, executive officers, majority stockholders and each of our respective affiliates or family members will be reviewed and approved by our audit committee, or if no audit committee exists, by a majority of the independent members of our Board. Our existing policies are designed to comply with applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing requirements and rules of Nasdaq.

 

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SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock, as of January 3, 2022, by:

•

each of our named executive officers;

​

•

each of our directors;

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•

all of our directors and executive officers as a group; and

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•

each stockholder known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock.

​

We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC. Unless otherwise indicated below, to our knowledge, based on information furnished to us, the persons and entities named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares that they beneficially own, subject to applicable community property laws. Shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of our Series C Preferred Stock or Series D Preferred Stock within 60 days of January 3, 2022 are deemed to be outstanding and to be beneficially owned by the person holding the shares of restricted stock for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of that person but are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.

We have based our calculation of the percentage ownership of our common stock before this offering on 530,790,650 shares of our common stock which includes (1) 320,381,519 shares of our common stock outstanding as of January 3, 2022, (2) 132,000,000 shares of our common stock resulting from the conversion of 660,000 outstanding shares of our Series C Preferred Stock at a conversion price of $0.13 and (3) 78,409,130 shares of our common stock resulting from the conversion of 1,380,000 shares of our Series D Preferred Stock at an assumed conversion price of $0.44, as if these conversions had occurred as of January 3, 2022. Such conversions will occur upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

 

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*

Less than 1%.

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(a)

Unless otherwise indicated, the business address of each person or entity named in the table is c/o Applied Blockchain, Inc., 3811 Turtle Creek Blvd., Suite 2100, Dallas, TX 75219.

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(b)

Includes (i) 105,541,428 shares of common stock held by Cummins Family Ltd, of which Mr. Cummins is the CEO and (ii) 4,453,000 shares of common stock held by Wesley Cummins IRA Account.

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(c)

Includes (i) 930,000 shares of common stock, and 2,645,455 shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of 46,560 shares of our series D Preferred Stock, held by B. Riley Securities, Inc., of which Andrew Moore, Ms. Moore’s spouse, is the Chief Executive Officer, (ii) 136,364 shares of common stock issuable upon the conversion of 2,400 shares of Series D Preferred Stock held directly by Mr. Moore and (iii) 1,120,000 shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of 5,600 shares of Series C Preferred Stock held directly by Mr. Moore.

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(d)

Xin Xu, as sole director of Xsquared Holding Limited, has voting and dispositive power over the 44,640,889 shares of our common stock held by Xsquared Holding Limited. Mr. Xu disclaims beneficial ownership of such shares.

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(e)

Guo Chen, as sole director of GMR Limited, has voting and dispositive power over the 44,640,889 shares of our common stock held by GMR Limited. Mr. Chen disclaims beneficial ownership of such shares.

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(f)

Include 930,000 shares of common stock held by B. Riley Securities, Inc., of which Mr. Moore, Ms. Moore’s spouse, is the Chief Executive Officer.

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SELLING STOCKHOLDERS

This prospectus relates to the resale by the Selling Stockholders from time to time of up to 210,409,048 shares of our common stock, (the Registered Shares, including:

•

up to 132,000,000 shares of common stock issuable upon automatic conversion of 660,000 shares of our Series C Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock when the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part is declared effective by the Securities Exchange Commission, or the SEC. The shares of Series C Preferred Stock were issued in a private placement pursuant to subscription agreements entered into on April 15, 2021; and

​

•

up to 78,409,130 shares of common stock issuable upon automatic conversion of 1,380,000 shares of our Series D Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock when the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part is declared effective by the SEC. The shares of Series D Preferred Stock were issued in a private placement pursuant to subscription agreements entered into on July 30, 2021, August 24, 2021 and October 7, 2021.

​

The Selling Stockholders may from time to time offer and sell any or all of the Registered Shares set forth below pursuant to this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement. When we refer to the “Selling Stockholders” in this prospectus, we mean the persons listed in the table below, and the pledgees, donees, transferees, assignees, successors, designees and others who later come to hold any of the Selling Stockholders’ interest in the Registerable Shares other than through a public sale.

The following table sets forth, as of the date of this prospectus, the names of the Selling Stockholders, the aggregate number of shares of common stock beneficially owned, the aggregate number of shares of Registered Shares that the Selling Stockholders may offer pursuant to this prospectus and the number of shares our common stock beneficially owned by the Selling Stockholders after the sale of the Registered Shares offered hereby. We have based percentage ownership on 320,381,519 shares of common stock outstanding as of November 15, 2021 plus the aggregate 210,409,130 shares which will be issued upon the automatic conversion of our Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock when the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part is declared effective.

We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC and the information is not necessarily indicative of beneficial ownership for any other purpose. Unless otherwise indicated below, to our knowledge, the persons and entities named in the table have sole voting and sole investment power with respect to all securities that they beneficially own, subject to community property laws where applicable.

We cannot advise you as to whether the Selling Stockholders will in fact sell any or all of their Registered Shares. In addition, the Selling Stockholders may sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of, at any time and from time to time, the Registered Shares or other shares of our common stock in transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act after the date of this prospectus.

Selling Stockholder information for each additional Selling Stockholder, if any, will be set forth by prospectus supplement to the extent required prior to the time of any offer or sale of such Selling Stockholder’s shares pursuant to this prospectus. Any prospectus supplement may add, update, substitute, or change the information contained in this prospectus, including the identity of each Selling Stockholder and the number of shares registered on its behalf. A Selling Stockholder may sell or otherwise transfer all, some or none of such shares in this offering. See “Plan of Distribution.”

 

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