AUSTIN,
Texas, Aug. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ionic Digital
Inc., a leading innovator in the bitcoin mining
industry (the "Company"), today provided an update to their
shareholders regarding various matters related to the Company.
Business Update
Ionic Digital is pleased to announce that Building 1 at its
Cedarvale facility located in Ward
County, Texas is expected to begin energization later this
week. This milestone marks a significant step in the Company's
expansion strategy, as the total energized load of the site will
increase to 90 megawatts (MW) when Building 1's energization is
complete.
The newly-constructed building is the first of four
state-of-the-art 50 MW Bitcoin mining facilities
planned for the site. It currently houses 15,552
Bitcoin miners, utilizing a combination of new and
relocated machines to optimize performance and efficiency.
Once fully constructed and operational, the Cedarvale site is
expected to house approximately 66,000 miners and be powered by 215
MW of electricity. The remaining three buildings, each identical in
size and capacity to Building 1, are scheduled for energization in
the coming months. The Cedarvale site will add to the Company's
existing capacity of approximately 7 exahash as of July 31, 2024. The Company's mining operations
from emergence through July 31 have
produced approximately 1,331.47 bitcoin, and as of
that date the Company possessed 1,891.68 bitcoin in
total.
Leadership Changes
The Company also announced today a significant leadership
transition. In July 2024, chief
executive officer (CEO) Matt Prusak
informed the Company's Board of Directors of his decision not to
extend his employment agreement beyond its initial term, which
concludes on August 14, 2024. The
Board has initiated a comprehensive search for a new CEO and
expects to appoint the Company's chief financial officer (CFO),
John Penver, as Interim CEO to
ensure a smooth transition and maintain operational continuity.
Emmanuel Aidoo, Chair of Ionic
Digital's Board of Directors, expressed gratitude for Prusak's
contributions: "We are grateful for Matt's leadership and the
significant progress Ionic Digital has made under his guidance. His
strategic vision has positioned us to become a leader in the
bitcoin mining sector. As we move forward, we're
confident that John Penver's experience as CFO will provide stable
leadership during this transition period and keep the Company on
its path towards becoming a public entity and a leading
bitcoin miner."
Changes to Board of Directors
In June and July 2024,
respectively, H. McIntyre (Mac)
Gardner (a new Class B Director who replaced Asher Genoot)
and Scott N. Flanders (who replaced
Max Holmes) joined Emmanuel Aidoo (Chair), Thomas DiFiore, Scott
Duffy and Elizabeth LaPuma on
Ionic Digital's current six-member Board of Directors. The Board
expects a second Class B Director to soon be appointed to fill the
vacancy on the Board resulting from Steven
Price's resignation in July
2024.
Mr. Gardner retired in 2008 from Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
as the Head of Americas Region and Global Bank Group, Global
Private Client. He has been a member of the board of Spirit
Airlines, Inc. since 2010 and chairman of that board since 2013.
Mr. Gardner has served on the boards of several other companies
including Brilliant Light Power, an alternative energy venture
company,
Isola Group, a laminated PCB manufacturer, and Blucora, Inc., a
formerly publicly traded technology-enabled financial solutions
company, and has chaired the audit, compensation and nominating and
governance committees on many of the boards on which he has
served.
Scott Flanders is a seasoned
executive with extensive experience in media, entertainment, and
technology industries. He is an experienced independent director
and currently serves as Chairman of two publicly listed companies:
FTHM and DMS. Flanders is the former CEO and board member of
eHealth, Inc., a position he held since May
2016. Prior to this, Flanders held CEO positions at several
prominent companies, including Playboy Enterprises, Freedom
Communications, and Columbia House. He also served as president of
Macmillan Publishers from 1986 to 1998. Adding to his diverse skill
set, Flanders is both an attorney and a Certified Public Accountant
(CPA).
Auditor Update
In May 2024, RSM US LLP ("RSM")
informed the Company that it would not be able to continue serving
as the Company's auditor due to a strategic decision by RSM to
disengage from all audit engagements with companies in the
cryptocurrency sector. RSM's decision was not a result
of any disagreements with the Company on accounting principles,
practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or
procedure. RSM's reports on the financial statements contained in
the Company's SEC filings do not contain any adverse opinion or a
disclaimer of opinion, nor were qualified or modified as to
uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles.
The Company has made substantial progress in evaluating
potential replacement auditing firms and is working diligently
toward final selection and engagement of a new auditor. In order
for the Company to include the required financial statements in its
SEC filings, those financial statements must be reviewed by a
certified auditor. Thus, the temporary absence of an auditor has
prevented the Company from being able to update its SEC filings,
which in turn has delayed Ionic Digital's efforts to become a
public reporting company. Once a new auditor is engaged, the
Company will work expeditiously to prepare the reviewed financial
statements required to make future SEC filings needed to complete
the process of becoming a public company. Additionally, the Company
amended its managed services agreement with Hut 8 which, among
other things, removed the liquidity deadline provision.
About Ionic Digital
Ionic Digital is North
America's newest best-in-class bitcoin miner
and emerging innovator in energy monetization. With facilities
across North America, Ionic
expects to have the ability to deploy up to 12.7 exahash to the
Bitcoin Network. For more information, visit
ionicdigital.com and follow us on X at @IonicDigital.
Media Contact:
ionic@mgroupsc.com
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ionic-digital-issues-shareholder-update-302218126.html
SOURCE Ionic Digital