Poolin Bitcoin mining pool files Chapter 11 with $163.7M in IOUs
In brief
- Poolin Technology filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy owing $163.7 million to 11,700 wallet users
- Texas affiliates Lonestar Taproot and Lonestar Dream seeking court approval for asset sales
- Mining pool once controlled 18% of Bitcoin hashrate and earned 256,805 BTC in rewards
Asset Sales and Recovery Uncertainty
Poolin's two Texas affiliates are seeking court approval for asset sales with opening offers worth $52 million. That sum equals approximately 31.8% of the IOUs owed to wallet holders. A prospective buyer, Thor CALAP LLC, signed stalking-horse agreements: $15 million for Pyote assets and $37 million for Tarbush-related assets.
The opening offers cover assets held by Lonestar affiliates rather than cash in Poolin Technology's wallet business, which reports only about $1.2 million in a New Jersey bank account. No reliable recovery estimate exists while final sale prices, liens, estate allocations, bankruptcy expenses, and allowed claims remain unresolved.
An auction could draw bids from crypto miners and AI data-center operators, pushing the sale price higher.
Rise and Decline of a Mining Giant
Poolin was once one of Bitcoin's largest mining pools, with hashrate above 25 EH/s in 2021 and 2022. Its network share peaked near 18% around 2020. Addresses tagged to Poolin have mined 28,371 blocks and earned 256,805 BTC in rewards.
The pool's collapse traces to its wallet business. Poolin Wallet offered deposit products promising annual returns of roughly 2% to 8.8%, borrowing stablecoins against customers' crypto as collateral. When Bitcoin fell below $20,000 in June 2022, pledged collateral lost value and triggered margin calls. Poolin shifted its financing relationship to Antalpha Technologies, which lent against digital assets.
Poolin used financing proceeds for customer withdrawals, interest payments, mining equipment, US expansion, and ordinary operating costs. The stacking obligations eventually became unsustainable, forcing the bankruptcy filing.
