Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining company Bit Digital (BTBT) dismissed allegations of fraud against the company made in a recently published report by J Capital Research.
Without specifically naming the report, a press release from the mining company responded to âfalse accusationsâ about its business. It repeated financial disclosures from Q3 2020 on the size and scale of its operations, noting that âan overview of our bitcoin mining operationsâ is all publicly available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissionâs (SEC) website.Â
Among other allegations, the report from J Capital called Bit Digitalâs filings, which showed it operates nearly 23,000 bitcoin mining machines in China, âsimply a lie.âÂ
In December, Bit Digital announced a $13.9 million agreement to buy nearly 18,000 Whatsminer and Antminer ASICs. Whatsminer manufacturer MicroBT did not respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.Â
J Capital also called Bit Digital a âsham bitcoin business,â claiming to have verified with local Chinese government officials that Bit Digital has âno bitcoin minersâ there, casting doubt over the legitimacy of its Asia-based mining operations in China.Â
Bit Digital said all of its mainland China mining operations are managed by XMAX Hong Kong, and all âutility bills and other expensesâ are paid to Hong Kong suppliers.
The companyâs stock soared over 400% between Dec. 28, 2020, to Jan. 4, 2021, peaking above $32 and pushing the company above a $1 billion market value. J Capital published its report one week later on Jan. 11. Since then, Bit Digital shares have dropped over 35% to around $16.Â
Bit Digital responded to none of CoinDeskâs emails seeking comment. CoinDesk was also unable to contact facility managers of Bit Digitalâs Asia-based mining operations.Â
The company also mines in the U.S., however. In Texas and Nebraska, Bit Digital owns a total of 2,100 machines in facilities managed by Minnesota-based mining infrastructure company Compute North.Â
Compute North CEO Dave Perrill told CoinDesk his company has always had a âvery healthy partnershipâ with Bit Digital, confirming the 2,000 machines in Nebraska and 100 in Texas that his company manages. Â
On a phone call, Perrill said his team is also âin talks about significantly scaling up operationsâ with Bit Digital. He said he could not speak to his clientâs Asian mining facilities.Â
Bit Digital started mining bitcoin in February 2020.