Hut 8 Mining Corp. and US Bitcoin Corp (USBTC) have merged their operations through an all-stock merger of equals, creating a newly formed U.S.-registered entity named Hut 8 Corp (New Hut). This landmark merger, announced by Canada-based Hut 8 on November 30, is regarded by New Hut CEO Jaime Leverton as the largest M&A transaction within the cryptocurrency industry. Leverton, who previously served as Hut 8's CEO for over three years, lauded the completion of this significant merger.
As a result of the merger, Hut 8 common shares will be delisted from both the Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq by December 4, to be replaced by New Hut common stock under the ticker symbol "HUT." During this transition period, Hut 8 shareholders will receive 0.2 shares of New Hut common stock for each Hut 8 share held.
New Hut's President Asher Genoot highlighted the company's strategy to prepare for Bitcoin's impending halving. Through the consolidation of resources, New Hut gains access to roughly 825 MW of total energy across six sites, employing self-mining, colocation, and managed service operations.
The merger plan between Hut 8 and USBTC received final approval from the British Columbia Supreme Court in September, initiating the preparation process starting February. However, the merger required regulatory approvals from U.S. and Canadian authorities.
A complicating factor for USBTC has been a legal dispute with the city of Niagara Falls, New York, related to noise pollution complaints from local residents about the mining operation. This dispute was ultimately resolved on April 7. Concurrently, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter (now known as X) and Block, has recently advocated for the decentralization of Bitcoin mining operations.
Dorsey spearheaded a $6.2 million seed round for Mummolin, the parent company of Ocean—a novel decentralized Bitcoin mining pool. The pool aims to enhance transparency in the mining process and empower miners to directly withdraw Bitcoin as block rewards instead of relying on traditional mining pools.
