Hut 8 Acquires Two Texas Data Centers from Bankrupt Crypto Miner Poolin for $140 Million
Court documents show that Hut 8 has become the winning bidder for two data centers owned by bankrupt crypto miner Poolin in Texas, with a bid of $140 million, which includes cash and other conditions, for the Pyote and Tarbush sites.
The transaction is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey, with a sale hearing scheduled for September 29. Hut 8's bid is nearly three times the combined $52 million minimum bid from the leading bidder Thor CALAP: the latter bid $15 million for Pyote and $37 million for Tarbush. In alternative bids, DigiPower X offered $36.5 million for Pyote; Pecos Industrial Development, designated by AI infrastructure company Fluidstack, offered $100.5 million for Tarbush.
Poolin Technology and its U.S. affiliates Lonestar Dream and Lonestar Taproot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey on July 22, after halting their Texas mining and hosting operations on July 10. The restructuring officer Michael DuFrayne reported pre-bankruptcy debts of approximately $173.1 million, of which about $163.7 million are unsecured promissory notes issued to Poolin Wallet users after withdrawals were suspended in 2022, affecting around 11,700 retail users with balances over $100. Creditors are estimated to number between 10,000 and 25,000, with reported assets of about $1 million to $10 million and liabilities ranging from $100 million to $500 million.
The two assets were initially designed for sale in a disassembled manner to enhance recovery for creditors. The sites were allocated approximately 100 megawatts of power for Bitcoin mining, with the market competing for grid access and space rather than continuing mining operations. In recent years, Hut 8 has shifted its focus to AI data centers, having previously signed at least $9.8 billion in computing power leases and disclosed larger renewal options.
In market mechanics, the buyer is Hut 8, a listed mining company needing power and space, while the seller is the liquidating Poolin bankruptcy consortium. Bids have been driven up by demand for AI infrastructure, with funds flowing from Hut 8 to the bankruptcy consortium for debt distribution. The beneficiary is Hut 8, which gains access to the West Texas power node; the pressured party is the wallet users, whose $163.7 million in unsecured claims rank behind sale costs and priority claims, meaning even if the transaction price rises from $52 million to $140 million, the unsecured side still faces discounted recovery.
The Singapore parent company has largely ceased operations, with the U.S. side retaining only minimal personnel to oversee equipment and advance asset sales, showing no intention to restart mining.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Poolin controlled about 18% to 20% of the global Bitcoin hash rate around 2019, but after the market downturn in 2022, it froze wallet withdrawals and issued promissory notes, leading to a liquidity gap that resulted in bankruptcy liquidation four years later. Hut 8 has shifted from Bitcoin mining to leasing power contracts and space for AI training and inference, utilizing the same type of Western grid access rights for different loads. This auction is about selling the physical shell of the old mining pool to new computing power companies, rather than reviving the mining pool business.
The $140 million purchase is for megawatts and grid points. The leading bid of $52 million only reflects the residual value of the idle mining site, while Hut 8's premium of nearly double indicates a higher cash flow discount under the AI leasing model for the same piece of land. Fluidstack's designated party offered $100.5 million for Tarbush, proving that competition has already emerged among infrastructure buyers. Hut 8 is also stacking billions in leases and gigawatt-scale reserve pipelines, and this acquisition fills in scattered sites into its existing power map.
Similar paths have emerged after the bankruptcies of mining companies like Core Scientific and Compute North, where sites were transferred to hosting or AI lessees; it also approaches the likes of Cipher and Iris Energy, which have rewritten the narrative of hash rate into power developers. The industry is transitioning from "who can mine blocks" to "who can secure power," with mining machines no longer determining pricing, but rather the grid queue.
Structural changes belong to the reconstruction of the industry chain. The wallet debts from 2022 remain in the unsecured layer, while the power assets from 2026 are sold at a different price, effectively splitting the same company into two recovery rates. The mechanism is that the crypto cycle destroys hosting liabilities, while power shortages revalue physical nodes, and the bankruptcy process separates the two, allowing new capital to only buy the half that can be re-contracted.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
- What is often sold in bankruptcy is power, not the original business.
- Unsecured claims pay for the old cycle, while premiums are bid for new loads.
- Whoever can re-sign leases for the same megawatt takes the price difference above the residual value.