UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

________________________________________

FORM 20-F

________________________________________

(Mark One)

☐ REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Or

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

☐ SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission file number: 001-40368

________________________________________

SAI.TECH GLOBAL CORPORATION
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

________________________________________

Cayman Islands
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

#01-05 Pearl’s Hill Terrace
Singapore, 168976
(Address of principal executive offices)

Ian Zou
#01-05 Pearl’s Hill Terrace
Singapore, 168976
Telephone: +65 9656 5641
(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

________________________________________

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act

________________________________________

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital stock or common stock as of the close of business covered by this annual report.

On December 31, 2022, the issuer had 13,315,903 Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $0.0001 per share.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards † provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

____________

†        The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, all references in this annual report on Form 20-F (the “Annual Report”) to the terms “SAI,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to SAI.TECH Global Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted holding company, together as a group with its subsidiaries.

Our consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars. All references in this Annual Report to “$,” “U.S. $,” “U.S. dollars” and “dollars” mean U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted.

On April 29, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), SAI.TECH Global Corporation (formerly known as TradeUP Global Corporation), consummated the previously announced business combination (the “Business Combination”) pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), dated September 27, 2021, by and among the SAITECH Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Old SAI”), TradeUP Global Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company (“TradeUP”), and TGC Merger Sub, a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, each of the following transactions occurred at the closing of the Business Combination:

•        Immediately prior to the date and time at which all documentation and declarations required under the Cayman Act, duly executed and properly filed, became effective (the “Merger Effective Date”), (1) each Class A Ordinary Share, par value $0.0001 per share, of Old SAI outstanding as of immediately prior to the Merger Effective Date was converted into a right to receive a number of Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $0.0001 per share, determined on the basis of an exchange ratio derived from an implied equity value for Old SAI of $188.0 million and $10.00 per share (the “exchange ratio”); and (2) each Class B Ordinary Share, par value $0.0001 per share, of Old SAI outstanding as of immediately prior to the Merger Effective Date was converted into a right to receive a number of Class B Ordinary Shares, par value $0.0001 per share, determined on the basis of the exchange ratio. As of the Closing Date, the exchange ratio was approximately 0.13376;

•        the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub ceased, and Old SAI continued as the surviving entity, and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of TradeUP, which was subsequently renamed SAI.TECH Global Corporation;

•        each outstanding unit of TradeUP immediately prior to the effective time of the Business Combination (the “Merger Effective Time”) was automatically separated, and the holder thereof was deemed to hold one share of TradeUP Class A Ordinary Share, par value $0.0001 per share (each, a “TradeUP Class A Ordinary Share”), and one-half of one redeemable warrant of TradeUP (each, a “TradeUP Warrant”). Each whole TradeUP Warrant entitled the holder to purchase one TradeUP Class A Ordinary Share at the price of $11.50 per share;

•        each issued and outstanding TradeUP Class A Ordinary Share, immediately prior to the Merger Effective Time, was automatically cancelled and exchanged for the right of the holder thereof to receive one Class A Ordinary Share of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (each, a “Class A Ordinary Share”);

•        each issued and outstanding Class B Ordinary Share of TradeUP, par value $0.0001 per share (each, a “TradeUP Class B Ordinary Share”), immediately prior to the Merger Effective Time, was transferred and exchanged for the right of the holder thereof to receive one TradeUP Class A Ordinary Share, each of which subsequently was transferred and exchanged for a Class A Ordinary Share;

•        each issued and outstanding public warrant of TradeUP, immediately prior to the Merger Effective Time, were automatically converted into the right of the holder thereof to receive one warrant of the Company entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share on substantially the same terms and conditions with respect to the TradeUP Warrants (each, a “IPO Warrant”);

•        following completion of the merger (the “Merger”), holders of 3,492,031 TradeUP Class A Ordinary Shares, remaining after the redemption of 2,071,735 shares, received 3,492,031 Class A Ordinary Shares, holders of 272,247 TradeUP Class B Ordinary Shares received 272,247 Class A Ordinary Shares, and holders of 2,244,493 TradeUP Warrants received IPO Warrants to purchase 2,244,493 Class A Ordinary Shares;

•        following the Merger, TradeUP acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company from the shareholders of the Company in exchange for the payment, issuance and delivery of the Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares to the shareholders of the Company (the “Share Acquisition”). As a result of the Share Acquisition, Old SAI became a wholly owned subsidiary of SAI, and shareholders of Old SAI became shareholders of the Company; and

•        following the completion of the Business Combination, there was an aggregate of 12,933,653 Class A Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding.

Following the closing of the Business Combination, the Company had 12,933,653 Class A Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding, and 2,244,493 IPO Warrants to purchase Class A Ordinary Shares at an exercise price of $11.50 per share issued and outstanding.

As a result of the Business Combination, Old SAI became a wholly-owned subsidiary of TradeUP, subsequently renamed to “SAI.TECH Global Corporation. On May 2, 2022, the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares and IPO Warrants commenced trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols “SAI” and “SAITW”, respectively.

Except as otherwise indicated or required by context, references in this Form 20-F (the “Report”) to “we”, “us”, “our”, “SAI”, or the “Company” refer to SAI.TECH Global Corporation, an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and its consolidated subsidiaries.

SELECTED DEFINITIONS

•        “bitcoin” means the type of virtual currency based on an open source cryptographic protocol existing on the Bitcoin Network.

•        “Business Combination” means the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, including, the merger;

•        “Business Combination Agreement” means the Business Combination Agreement, as amended dated as of September 27, 2021, among TradeUP, Merger Sub and Old SAI, as amended as of October 20, 2021, and January 26, 2022, and March 22, 2022;

•        “Class A Ordinary Shares” means the Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of SAI;

•        “Class B Ordinary Shares” means the Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of SAI;

•        “Closing” means the closing of the Business Combination;

•        “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

•        “Companies Act” means the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, as amended, modified, re-enacted or replaced;

•        “current memorandum and articles of association” means the amended and restated certificate memorandum and articles of association of TradeUP, effective April 28, 2021;

•        “Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended;

•        “GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles in the United States;

•        “hash rate” means a measure of the computational power per second used when mining;

•        “Investment Company Act” means the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;

•        “IPO Warrants” means the warrants issued upon the exchange of TradeUP Warrants in connection with the closing of the Business Combination, each of which is exercisable for one Class A Ordinary Share, in accordance with its terms.

•        “IRS” means the U.S. Internal Revenue Service;

•        “Letter Agreement” means the letter agreement by and among TradeUP, the Sponsor and three directors of TradeUP, as amended by the letter agreement amendment dated September 27, 2021 and further amended by the letter agreement dated January 26, 2022;

•        “Lock-Up Agreements” means (1) the SAI Lock-Up Agreements and (2) the TradeUP Lock-Up Agreement;

•        “Merger” means the merger of Merger Sub with SAI, with SAI surviving such merger and SAI becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of TradeUP, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement;

•        “Merger Sub” means TGC Merger Sub, a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated with limited liability;

•        “MOFCOM” means the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China;

•        “M&A Rules” means the Rules on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprise by Foreign Investors (《(關於外國投資者併購境內企業的規定》), which was jointly issued by six PRC regulatory authorities, including the MOFCOM and other government authorities on August 8, 2006 and was effective as of September 8, 2006 and amended on June 22, 2009.

•        “Nasdaq” means The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC;

•        “Old SAI” means SAITECH Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company, before the Merger Effective Time;

•        “ordinary resolution” means an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the issued ordinary shares of the company that are present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote thereon and who vote at the general meeting;

•        “Ordinary Shares” means the Class A Ordinary Shares;

•        “PBOC” means People’s Bank of China;

•        “PRC” or “China” means the People’s Republic of China;

•        “private shares” are to the aggregate 224,780 Class A Ordinary Shares, at a price of $10.00 per share, issued to the Sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of the TradeUP IPO and the partial exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option to purchase additional units, as were converted in connection with the Closing;

•        “proxy statement/prospectus” means the proxy statement/prospectus included in the Registration Statement on Form F-4 filed with the SEC;

•        “public shares” means TradeUP Class A ordinary shares included in the units issued in the TradeUP IPO;

•        “redemption” means the right of public shareholders to have their public shares redeemed in accordance with the procedures set forth in the proxy statement on From F-4/A filed on March 29, 2022;

•        “Registration Rights Agreement” means the registration rights agreement, dated as of April 28, 2021, among TradeUP and TradeUP initial shareholders;

•        “SAI” means SAI.TECH Global Corporation (formerly named TradeUP Global Corporation) following the consummation of the Business Combination;

•        “SAI Affiliate Lock-Up Agreement” means the lock-up agreement to be entered into by SAI Founder, certain affiliates of SAI and SAI Founder, and the other persons party thereto at the closing;

•        “SAI Founder” means Energy Science Artist Holding Limited, a wholly owned entity controlled by Risheng Li;

•        “SAI Incentive Plan” means SAI.TECH Global Corporation 2021 Equity Incentive Plan;

•        “SAI Shareholder Lock-Up Agreement” means the lock-up agreement entered into by the shareholders of SAI at the closing other than shareholders party to the SAI Affiliate Lock-Up Agreement;

•        “Sarbanes-Oxley Act” means the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002;

•        “SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission;

•        “Securities Act” means the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended;

•        “special resolution” means a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a two-thirds majority of the issued ordinary shares of the company that are present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote thereon and who vote at the general meeting;

•        “Sponsor” means TradeUP Global Sponsor LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company;

•        “Stablecoin” means a kind of crypto asset that is designed to minimize price volatility, and to track the price of an underlying asset such as fiat money or an exchange-traded commodity (such as precious metals or industrial metals), while other stablecoins utilize algorithms that are designed to maintain a relative stable price of the asset. Stablecoins can be backed by fiat money, physical commodities, or other crypto assets.

•        “TradeUP Class A ordinary shares” means the Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of TradeUP;

•        “TradeUP Class B Ordinary Shares” means the Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of TradeUP, which shares were converted automatically in connection with the merger into TradeUP Class A Ordinary Shares and cease to be outstanding; such shares are also referred to and defined herein as the “founder shares”;

•        “TradeUP initial shareholders” means the Sponsor and each of TradeUP’s directors and officers that hold founder shares;

•        “TradeUP IPO” means TradeUP’s initial public offering, consummated on May 3, 2021, through the sale of 4,488,986 units (including the 488,986 units sold pursuant to the underwriters’ partial exercise of their over-allotment option at $10.00 per unit);

•        “TradeUP Lock-Up Agreement” means the lock-up agreement entered into by the Sponsor, certain affiliates of TradeUP and the other persons party thereto at the;

•        “TradeUP Support Agreement” means the support agreement, dated as of September 27, 2021, among the Sponsor certain affiliates of TradeUP and the Sponsor and the other persons party thereto;

•        “TradeUP Warrant(s)” means the warrants included in the units issued in the TradeUP IPO, each of which is exercisable for one TradeUP Class A ordinary share, in accordance with its terms.

•        “Trust Account” means the trust account that holds a portion of the proceeds of the TradeUP IPO and the sale of the private shares; and

•        “units” means one TradeUP Class A ordinary share and one-half of one warrant, whereby each warrant entitles the holder thereto to purchase one TradeUP Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, sold in the TradeUP IPO;

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report includes statements that express our opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or projections regarding future events or future results and therefore are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “seeks,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will” or “should” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this Annual Report and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations. Such forward-looking statements are based on available current market material and management’s expectations, beliefs and forecasts concerning future events impacting SAI.TECH Global Corporation. Factors that may impact such forward-looking statements include:

•        our financial performance;

•        the ability to maintain the listing of our Class A Ordinary Shares and IPO Warrants on the Nasdaq Capital Market;

•        our growth strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected capex, prospects and plans;

•        our strategic advantages and the impact those advantages will have on future financial and operational results;

•        the implementation, market acceptance and success of the Company’s platform and new offerings;

•        our approach and goals with respect to technology;

•        our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection and not infringe on the rights of others;

•        the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business;

•        changes in applicable laws or regulations;

•        the outcome of any known and unknown litigation and regulatory proceedings;

•        the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Company;

•        the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the Business Combination, and identify and realize additional opportunities;

•        our ability to attract and retain users;

•        our dependence upon third-party licenses;

•        the risk that we may never achieve or sustain profitability;

•        the risk that we will need to raise additional capital to execute our business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all;

•        the risk that we may experiences difficulties in managing our growth and expanding operations;

•        that we have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting which, if not corrected, could affect the reliability of our financial statements;

•        the possibility that we may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and

•        other risks disclosed in the Annual Report (as defined below).

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report. Accordingly, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Report. We undertake no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this Annual Report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should, however, review the factors and risks described in the reports we will file from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) after the date of this Annual Report.

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements were reasonable at the time made, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section in connection with the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report and any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that may be issued by us or persons acting on our behalf.

PART I

ITEM 1.  IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

Not applicable.

ITEM 2.  OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not applicable.

ITEM 3.  KEY INFORMATION

A.     [Reserved]

B.     Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C.     Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D.     Risk Factors

An investment in our securities carries a significant degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risks and other information in this Annual Report, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes included herein, in connection with your ownership of our securities. If any of the events described below occur, our business and financial results could be adversely affected in a material way. This could cause the trading price of our securities to decline, perhaps significantly, and you therefore may lose all or part of your investment. The risks set out below are not exhaustive and do not comprise all of the risks associated with an investment in the Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or which we currently deem immaterial may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Summary Risk Factors

The below summary risks provide an overview of the material risks we are exposed to in the normal course of our business activities. The below summary risks do not contain all of the information that may be important to you, and you should read the summary risks below together with the more detailed discussion of risks set forth following this section under the heading “Risk Factors,” as well as elsewhere in this Annual Report. The summary risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem less significant may also affect our business operations or financial results. Consistent with the foregoing, we are exposed to a variety of risks, including those associated with the following:

•        We have a limited operating history in an evolving and highly volatile industry and are undergoing a business transition, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.

•        Our IPO Warrants may never be in the money, and they may expire worthless.

•        Our operating results may fluctuate due to the highly volatile nature of cryptocurrencies in general and, specifically, bitcoin.

•        Bitcoin mining activities are energy-intensive, which may restrict the geographic locations of mining machines and have a negative environmental impact. Government regulators may potentially restrict the ability of electricity suppliers to provide electricity to mining operations, such as ours.

•        If bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are determined to be investment securities, and we hold a significant portion of its assets in such cryptocurrency, investment securities or non-controlling equity interests of other entities, we may inadvertently violate the Investment Company Act. We could incur large losses to modify our operations to avoid the need to register as an investment company or could incur significant expenses to register as an investment company or could terminate operations altogether.

•        If regulatory changes or interpretations of our activities require our registration as a money services business (“MSB”) under the regulations promulgated by The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) under the authority of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, or otherwise under state laws, we may incur significant compliance costs, which could be substantial or cost-prohibitive. If we become subject to these regulations, our costs in complying with them may have a material negative effect on our business and the results of our operations.

•        There is no one unifying principle governing the regulatory status of cryptocurrency nor whether cryptocurrency is a security in each context in which it is viewed. Regulatory changes or actions in one or more countries may alter the nature of an investment in us or restrict the use of digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, in a manner that adversely affects our business, prospects or operations.

•        The loss or destruction of any private keys required to access our digital wallet may be irreversible. If we are unable to access our private keys (whether due to loss, destruction, security incident or otherwise), it could cause direct financial loss, regulatory scrutiny and reputational harm.

•        Distributing digital assets in connection with our mining pool business involves risks, which could result in loss of customer assets, customer disputes and other liabilities, adversely impact our business, results of operations and/or financial condition.

•        If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position could be harmed.

•        Significant contributors to all or a network for any particular digital asset, such as bitcoin, could propose amendments to the respective network’s protocols and software that, if accepted and authorized by such network, could adversely affect our business.

•        The supply of bitcoin is limited, and production of bitcoin is negatively impacted by the bitcoin halving protocol expected every four years.

•        Any periodic adjustments to the digital asset networks, such as bitcoin, regarding the difficulty for block solutions, with reductions in the aggregate hash rate or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. If the award of new bitcoin for solving blocks and transaction fees for recording transactions are not sufficiently high to incentivize miners, miners may cease expending processing power, or hash rate, to solve blocks and confirmations of transactions on the bitcoin blockchain could be slowed.

•        Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrencies that could be held by us are not insured and not subject to FDIC or SIPC protections.

•        As a company with operations and opportunities outside of the U.S., we may face additional burdens and be subject to a variety of additional risks or considerations associated with companies operating in an international setting that may negatively impact our operations.

•        If relations between the United States and foreign governments deteriorate, they could affect our operations and cause our goods and services to become less attractive.

•        Though we have a Singapore-based auditor and a U.S. based predecessor auditor that are registered with the PCAOB and currently subject to PCAOB inspection, if it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely the company’s auditors because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and as a result an exchange may determine to delist our securities.

•        The PRC government may exert, at any time, with little to no notice, substantial interventions and influences over the manner in which a business must conduct its business operations that cannot always be expected nor anticipated, if such business has some presence/operations in China. If the PRC government at any time substantially intervenes, influences, or establishes new policies, regulations, rules, or laws in a business’s industry, such substantial intervention or influence may result in adverse impact on such business’s operations and the value of such business’s securities, including causing the value of such securities to decline.

•        PRC regulations relating to offshore investment activities by PRC residents may expose us or our PRC resident beneficial owners to liability and penalties under PRC law.

•        Events in Kazakhstan, including national unrest and tightened regulation to digital assets mining activities caused by protests over surging fuel prices, have caused significant national disruptions to energy and internet access and have caused us to terminate part of our operations. If the situation in Kazakhstan deteriorates, it may cause adverse impact on our operations and financial results.

•        As a result of our plans to expand operations, including to jurisdictions in which the tax laws may not be favorable, our tax rate may fluctuate, our tax obligations may become significantly more complex and subject to greater risk of examination by taxing authorities or we may be subject to future changes in tax law, the impacts of which could adversely affect our after-tax profitability and financial results.

•        Unfavorable global economic, business or political conditions, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption caused by various countermeasures to reduce its spread, could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

•        We are obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting, and any failure to maintain the adequacy of these internal controls may adversely affect investor confidence in the Company and, as a result, the value of our Ordinary Shares..

In addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report, we have identified the following risks and uncertainties that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operation. Investors should carefully consider the risks described below together with all of the other information in this Annual Report, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report and in our other filings with the SEC, before making an investment decision. The trading price of our securities could decline due to any of these risks, and investors may lose all or part of their investment. In this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “SAI,” “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to SAI.TECH Global Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted holding company, together as a group with its subsidiaries including the Operating Subsidiaries.

Risks Related to Our Business, Industry and Operations

We have a limited operating history in an evolving and highly volatile industry and are undergoing a business transition, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.

We began our operations in 2019 and since then our business model has continued to evolve. We are undergoing a transformation and began bitcoin mining in late 2021. Our bitcoin mining business is in its early stages, and bitcoin, energy pricing and bitcoin mining economics are volatile and subject to uncertainties. Our current strategy will continue to expose it to the numerous risks and volatility associated with the bitcoin mining and power generation sectors, including fluctuating bitcoin prices, the costs of bitcoin mining machines, the number of market participants mining bitcoin, the availability of other power generation facilities to expand operations and regulatory changes.

As digital assets and blockchain technologies become more widely available, we expect the services and products associated with them to evolve, including as part of evolution in their regulatory treatment on the international markets and the countries where we operate. Furthermore, from time to time we may modify aspects of our business model or engage in various strategic initiatives, which may be complimentary to our mining operations. We cannot offer any assurance that these or any other modifications will be successful or will not result in harm to the business, damage our reputation and limit our growth. Additionally, any such changes to our business model or strategy could cause us to become subject to additional regulatory scrutiny and a number of additional requirements, including licensing and permit requirements. All of the abovementioned factors may impose additional compliance costs on our business and higher expectations from regulators regarding risk management, planning, governance and other aspects of our operations.

If, among other things, the price of bitcoin declines or mining economics become prohibitive, we could incur future losses. Such losses could be significant as it incurs costs and expenses associated with recent investments and potential future acquisitions, as well as legal and administrative related expenses. While we closely monitor our cash balances, cash needs and expense levels, significant expense increases may not be offset by a corresponding increase in revenue or a significant decline in bitcoin prices could significantly impact our financial performance.

Our operating results may fluctuate due to the highly volatile nature of cryptocurrencies in general and, specifically, bitcoin.

All of our sources of revenue are dependent on cryptocurrencies and, specifically, bitcoin, and the broader blockchain and bitcoin mining ecosystem. Due to the highly volatile nature of the cryptocurrency markets and the prices of cryptocurrency assets, our operating results may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter in accordance with market sentiments and movements in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Our operating results may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are unpredictable and in certain instances are outside of our control, including:

•        changes in the legislative or regulatory environment, or actions by governments or regulators that impact the cryptocurrency industry generally, or our operations specifically;

•        difficulty in obtaining new hardware and related installation costs;

•        access to cost-effective sources of electrical power;

•        adverse legal proceedings or regulatory enforcement actions, judgments, settlements or other legal proceeding and enforcement-related costs;

•        increases in operating expenses that we expect to incur to grow and expand our operations and to remain competitive;

•        system errors, failures, outages and computer viruses, which could disrupt our ability to continue operating;

•        power outages and certain other events beyond our control, including natural disasters and telecommunication failures;

•        breaches of security or privacy;

•        macroeconomic conditions;

•        our ability to attract and retain talent; and

•        our ability to compete with our existing and new competitors.

As a result of these factors, it may be difficult for us to forecast growth trends accurately and our business and future prospects are difficult to evaluate, particularly in the short term. In view of the rapidly evolving nature of our business and the bitcoin mining ecosystem, period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful, and you should not rely upon them as an indication of future performance. Quarterly and annual expenses reflected in our financial statements may be significantly different from historical or projected rates, and our operating results in one or more future quarters may fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors. As a result, the trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares may increase or decrease significantly.

Delays in the expansion of existing hosting facilities or the construction of new hosting facilities or significant cost overruns could present significant risks to our business and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Since June 2021, we have entered global market and firstly arrived at Kazakhstan seeking hosting facilities to relocate our customers’ mining machines. The first facility in Uralsk in Kazakhstan in scale of 15MW in cooperation with our power supply partner and hosting customers, became operational in the fourth quarter of 2021. The 90 MW in Phase II expansion plan in the same site was delayed and was subsequently terminated in August in consideration of events in Kazakhstan. See “Business Overview — Recent Developments — Kazakhstan”. We also have mining machines currently in operation in Mexico and the United States, and plan to expand our mining operation in those countries. See

“Business Overview — Transition and Expansion into Global Market”. While the remaining definitive agreements in respect of those power arrangements and hosting agreements are currently in various stages of negotiation, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully enter into the definitive agreements for our planned power arrangements. If we experience significant delays in the supply of power required to support any hosting facility expansion or new construction, the progress of such projects could deviate from our original plans, which could cause material and negative effects on our revenue growth, profitability and results of operations. Furthermore, although we expect these definitive agreements to include provisions allowing us to secure the sites for our data centers, actually securing these sites on terms acceptable to our management team may not occur within our timing expectations or at all. Securing the sites for our data centers may also be subject to various governmental approvals and require entry into ancillary agreements.

We are continuing to seek power suppliers, hosting clients and heating partners with whom we intend to achieve our computing and heating expansion plan in North America. There is no assurance that we are able to find suitable suppliers on acceptable terms in a timely manner or at all.

Furthermore, there may be significant competition for suitable cryptocurrency mining sites, and government regulators, including local permitting officials, may potentially restrict our ability to set up cryptocurrency mining operations in certain locations. They can also restrict the ability of electricity suppliers to provide electricity to mining operations in times of electricity shortage, or may otherwise potentially restrict or prohibit the provision of electricity to mining operations. For example, in 2018, the board of commissioners of Chelan County Public Utility District in Washington voted to stop reviewing applications for mining facilities following a review of the impact of existing operations. While we are not aware of the existence of any such restrictions in our planned mining locations in Ohio, new ordinances and other regulations at the federal, state and local levels can be introduced at any time. Specifically, those can be triggered by certain adverse weather conditions or natural disasters, see “— We will be vulnerable to severe weather conditions and natural disasters, including earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, as well as power outages and other industrial incidents, which could severely disrupt the normal operation of our business and adversely affect our results of operations.”

If we are forced to locate alternative sites, we may not be successful in identifying adequate replacement sites to house our mining machines. Even if we identify such sites, we may not be successful in leasing the necessary facilities at rates that are economically viable to support our mining activities.

Even if we successfully secure the sites for our data centers, in the future, we may not be able to renew those on acceptable terms, in which case we would need to relocate our established mining operations. Relocating any mining operation may force us to incur the costs to transition to a new facility including, but not limited to, transportation expenses and insurance, downtime while we are unable to mine, legal fees to negotiate the new lease, de-installation at our current facility and, ultimately, installation at any new facility we identify. These costs may be substantial, and we cannot guarantee that we will be successful in transitioning our mining machines to a new facility. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Bitcoin mining activities are energy-intensive, which may restrict the geographic locations of mining machines and have a negative environmental impact. Government regulators may potentially restrict the ability of electricity suppliers to provide electricity to mining operations, such as ours.

Mining bitcoin requires massive amounts of electrical power, and electricity costs are expected to account for a significant portion of our overall costs. The availability and cost of electricity will restrict the geographic locations of our mining activities. Any shortage of electricity supply or increase in electricity costs in any location where we plan to operate may negatively impact the viability and the expected economic return for bitcoin mining activities in that location.

Further, our business model can only be successful, and our mining operations can only be profitable if the costs, including electrical power costs, associated with bitcoin mining are lower than the price of bitcoin itself. As a result, any mining operation we establish can only be successful if we can obtain sufficient electrical power for that site on a cost-effective basis, and our establishment of new mining data centers requires us to find sites where that is the case. Even if our electrical power costs do not increase, significant fluctuations in, and any prolonged periods of, low bitcoin prices may also cause our electrical supply to no longer be cost-effective.

If we are unable to successfully enter into those definitive agreements with power providers or our counterparties fail to perform their obligations under such agreements, we may be forced to look for alternative power providers. There is no assurance that we will be able to find such alternative suppliers on acceptable terms in a timely manner or at all.

Furthermore, there may be significant competition for suitable cryptocurrency mining sites, and government regulators, including local permitting officials, may potentially restrict our ability to set up cryptocurrency mining operations in certain locations. They can also restrict the ability of electricity suppliers to provide electricity to mining operations in times of electricity shortage or may otherwise potentially restrict or prohibit the provision of electricity to mining operations. For example, at the beginning of January 2022, surges in fuel prices triggered national unrest throughout Kazakhstan, which subsequently resulted in significant disruptions to the nation’s bitcoin mining operations’ access to reliable sources of energy and internet access. From January 24, 2022 to January 31, 2022, the state-run Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company additionally cut off the nation’s electricity to bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining companies. As a result, during this time period, bitcoin and cryptocurrency miners will not have access to power for bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining purposes and will be required to halt their operations. The power cut-off to our and others bitcoin mining company operations during January 2022 negatively impacted our operations for the period, though we have resumed power supply and agreement currently. New ordinances and other regulations at the federal, state and local levels can also be introduced at any time. For example, on June 25, 2021, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Zhomart Tokaev signed legislation officially legalizing crypto-mining in Kazakhstan. As part of this law, Kazakhstan introduced and enforced a new tax, stipulating a fee of one tenge per 1 kilowatt-hour (kW/h) for miners, starting on January 1, 2022. In the first quarter of 2022, our legal counsel in Kazakhstan advised us that the Kazakhstan government partially supports a few amendments to the existing tax code applying to digital asset mining companies in the country, including improving the fee rate based on electricity consumption per kWh that the government charges digital asset miners from the current 1 tenge (about $0.0023 US dollar) per kWh to a higher rate, based on different types of electricity they consume and/or different level of total power consumption scale they consume. The amendments proposal also includes enhancing regulation to digital asset mining activities and control of the power supply. As the date of this Annual Report, the government is still in discussion and drafting of the final amendments to the Tax Code and any laws related to digital asset mining activities and have not brought any of such amendments into enforcement. However, such new orders and regulations could be introduced any time in the country and similarly, in any other countries we plan to expand our mining operations into. Specifically, those can be triggered by certain adverse weather conditions or natural disasters, see “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business, Industry, and Operations — We will be vulnerable to severe weather conditions and natural disasters, including earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, as well as power outages and other industrial incidents, which could severely disrupt the normal operation of our business and adversely affect our results of operations.”

Furthermore, if cryptocurrency mining becomes more widespread, government scrutiny related to restrictions on cryptocurrency mining facilities and their energy consumption may significantly increase. The considerable consumption of electricity by mining operators may also have a negative environmental impact, including contribution to climate change, which could set the public opinion against allowing the use of electricity for bitcoin mining activities. This, in turn, could lead to governmental measures restricting or prohibiting the use of electricity for bitcoin mining activities. Any such development in the jurisdictions where we plan to operate could increase our compliance burdens and have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Additionally, our mining operations could be materially adversely affected by power outages and similar disruptions. Given the power requirements for our mining equipment, it would not be feasible to run this equipment on back-up power generators in the event of a government restriction on electricity or a power outage. If we are unable to receive adequate power supply and are forced to reduce our operations due to the availability or cost of electrical power, it would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

We may be affected by price fluctuations in the wholesale and retail power markets.

While we anticipate that the majority our power and hosting arrangements will contain fixed power prices, we expect that they may contain certain price adjustment mechanisms in case of certain events. Furthermore, some portion of our power and hosting arrangements is expected to have merchant power prices, or power prices reflecting market movements.

Market prices for power, generation capacity and ancillary services, are unpredictable. Depending upon the effectiveness of any price risk management activity undertaken by us, an increase in market prices for power, generation capacity, and ancillary services may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. Long- and short-term power prices may fluctuate substantially due to a variety of factors outside of our control, including, but not limited to:

•        increases and decreases in generation capacity;

•        changes in power transmission or fuel transportation capacity constraints or inefficiencies;

•        volatile weather conditions, particularly unusually hot or mild summers or unusually cold or warm winters;

•        technological shifts resulting in changes in the demand for power or in patterns of power usage, including the potential development of demand-side management tools, expansion and technological advancements in power storage capability and the development of new fuels or new technologies for the production or storage of power;

•        federal and state power, market and environmental regulation and legislation; and

•        changes in capacity prices and capacity markets.

If we are unable to secure power supply at prices or on terms acceptable to us, it would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Our business is dependent on a small number of digital asset mining equipment suppliers.

Our business is dependent upon digital asset mining equipment suppliers such as Bitmain Technologies, Ltd (“Bitmain”) providing an adequate supply of new generation digital asset mining machines at economical prices to customers intending to purchase our hosting and other solutions. The growth in our business is directly related to increased demand for hosting services and digital assets such as bitcoin which is dependent in large part on the availability of new generation mining machines offered for sale at a price conducive to profitable digital asset mining, as well as the trading price of digital assets such as bitcoin. The market price and availability of new mining machines fluctuates with the price of bitcoin and can be volatile. Higher bitcoin prices increase the demand for mining equipment and increases the cost. In addition, as more companies seek to enter the mining industry, the demand for machines may outpace supply and create mining machine equipment shortages. There are no assurances that digital asset mining equipment suppliers, such as Bitmain, will be able to keep pace with any surge in demand for mining equipment. Further, manufacturing mining machine purchase contracts are not favorable to purchasers, and we may have little or no recourse in the event a mining machine manufacturer defaults on its mining machine delivery commitments. If we and our customers are not able to obtain a sufficient number of digital asset mining machines at favorable prices, our growth expectations, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations will be negatively impacted.

Our business is capital intensive, and failure to obtain the necessary capital when needed may force us to delay, limit or terminate our expansion efforts or other operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The costs of constructing, developing, operating and maintaining digital asset mining and hosting facilities, and owning and operating a large fleet of the latest generation mining equipment are substantial. Our mining operations can only be successful and ultimately profitable if the costs, including hardware and electricity costs, associated with mining digital assets are lower than the price of the digital assets we mine when we sell them. Our mining machines experience ordinary wear and tear from operation and may also face more significant malfunctions caused by factors which may be beyond our control. Additionally, as the technology evolves, we may acquire newer models of mining machines to remain competitive in the market. Over time, we replace those mining machines which are no longer functional with new mining machines purchased from third-party manufacturers, who are primarily based in China.

As mining machines become obsolete or degrade due to ordinary wear and tear from usage or are lost or damaged due to factors outside of our control, these mining machines will need to be repaired or replaced along with other equipment from time to time for us to stay competitive. This upgrading process requires substantial capital investment, and we may face challenges in doing so on a timely and cost-effective basis based on availability of new mining machines and our access to adequate capital resources. If we are unable to obtain adequate numbers of new and replacement mining machines at scale, we may be unable to remain competitive in our highly competitive and evolving industry.

Moreover, in order to grow our hosting business, we need additional hosting facilities to increase our capacity for more mining machines. The costs of constructing, developing, operating and maintaining hosting facilities and growing our hosting operations may increase in the future, which may make it more difficult for us to expand our business and to operate our hosting facilities profitably.

We will need to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings in order to meet our operating and capital needs. Additional debt or equity financing may not be available when needed or, if available, may not be available on satisfactory terms. An inability to generate sufficient cash from operations or to obtain additional debt or equity financing would adversely affect our results of operations. Additionally, if this happens, we may not be able to mine digital assets as efficiently or in similar amounts as our competition and, as a result, our business and financial results could suffer.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to mine digital assets profitably in the future and to attract customers for our hosting capabilities. Increases in power costs or our inability to mine digital assets efficiently and to sell digital assets at favorable prices will reduce our operating margins, impact our ability to attract customers for our services and harm our growth prospects and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our growth depends in large part on our ability to successfully mine digital assets in the future and to attract customers for our hosting capabilities. We may not be able to attract customers to our hosting capabilities for a number of reasons, including if:

•        there is a reduction in the demand for our services due to macroeconomic factors in the markets in which we operate;

•        we fail to provide competitive pricing terms or effectively market them to potential customers;

•        we provide hosting services that are deemed by existing and potential customers or suppliers to be inferior to those of our competitors, or that fail to meet customers’ or suppliers’ ongoing and evolving program qualification standards, based on a range of factors, including available power, preferred design features, security considerations and connectivity;

•        businesses decide to host internally as an alternative to the use of our services;

•        we fail to successfully communicate the benefits of our services to potential customers;

•        we are unable to strengthen awareness of our brand;

•        we are unable to provide services that our existing and potential customers’ desire; or

•        our customers are unable to secure an adequate supply of new generation digital asset mining equipment to host with us.

If we are unable to obtain hosting customers at favorable pricing terms or at all, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we do not accurately predict our hosting and self-mining facility requirements and percentage of capacity that utilizes waste heat to save energy cost, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The costs of building out, leasing and maintaining our hosting and self-mining facilities constitute a significant portion of our capital and operating expenses. In order to manage growth and ensure adequate capacity for our digital mining operations and new and existing hosting customers while minimizing unnecessary excess capacity costs, we continuously evaluate our short- and long-term data center capacity requirements. Our chip liquid cooling and waste heat recovery technology and our products were first tested in our pilot programs in China, which was terminated in June 2021. We began operating a heating demonstration project in our first North American distribution center located in Chesterland, Ohio, in August, 2022, as our global expansion has progressed. Although we have made progress to install SAIHUB CAB data centers in North American countries, and are also in active discussions with local potential heat user partners, there is no guarantee of immediate, large-scale operation of such data centers due to the required process of market research, due diligence and business negotiation of these potential installation projects. If

we overestimate our business’ capacity requirements or the demand for our heat supply data centers and secure less data center capacity, our operating margins could be materially reduced. If we underestimate our data center capacity requirements, we may not be able to service the expanding needs of our existing customers and may be required to limit new customer acquisition, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our projections are subject to significant risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties, including assumptions regarding the demand for our hosting services and the adoption of bitcoin and other digital assets. As a result, our projected revenues, market share, expenses and profitability may differ materially from our expectations in any given quarter or fiscal year.

We operate in a rapidly changing and competitive industry and our projections are subject to the risks and assumptions made by management with respect to our industry. Operating results are difficult to forecast as they generally depend on our assessment of the timing of adoption and use of bitcoin and other digital assets, which is uncertain. Furthermore, as we invest in the development of our hosting and self-mining business in the future, whether because of competition or otherwise, we may not recover the often-substantial up-front costs of constructing, developing and maintaining our hosting facilities and purchasing the latest generation of mining machines or recover the opportunity cost of diverting management and financial resources away from other opportunities. Additionally, our business may be affected by reductions in miner demand for hosting facilities and services and the price of bitcoin and other digital assets as a result of a number of factors which may be difficult to predict. Similarly, our assumptions and expectations with respect to margins and the pricing of our hosting services and market price of bitcoin or other digital assets we mine may not prove to be accurate. This may result in decreased revenue, and we may be unable to adopt measures in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected shortfall in revenue. This inability could cause our operating results in a given quarter or year to be higher or lower than expected. If actual results differ from our estimates, analysts or investors may negatively react and our stock price could be materially impacted.

We have experienced difficulties in establishing relationships with banks, leasing companies, insurance companies and other financial institutions that are willing to provide us with customary financial products and services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As an early stage company with operations focused in the digital asset transaction processing industry, we have in the past experienced, and may in the future experience, difficulties in establishing relationships with banks, leasing companies, insurance companies and other financial institutions that are willing to provide us with customary leasing and financial products and services, such as bank accounts, lines of credit, insurance and other related services, which are necessary for our operations. Such difficulties may be exacerbated by proposed regulations under the America COMPETES Act of 2022 which grant the Secretary of Treasury the authority to permanently suspend, without public notice, financial services or accounts for any entity deemed to be of money laundering concern. Such enhanced authority, or other similar future regulations, may be used to prevent entities associated with cryptocurrency, including us, from access to financial services in the United States or other jurisdictions.

To the extent that a significant portion of our business consists of digital asset transaction mining, processing or hosting, we may in the future continue to experience difficulty obtaining additional financial products and services on customary terms, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in tariffs or import restrictions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Equipment necessary for digital asset mining is almost entirely manufactured in Asian countries, especially from Southeast Asian countries. There is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between these Asian countries and various other countries, including Kazakhstan, the United States, the European Union, Canada, and Mexico, with respect to trade policies, treaties, tariffs and customs duties, and taxes. For example, since 2019, the U.S. government has implemented significant changes to U.S. trade policy with respect to China. These tariffs have subjected certain digital asset mining equipment manufactured overseas to additional import duties of up to 25%. The amount of the additional tariffs and the number of products subject to them has changed numerous times based

on action by the U.S. government. These tariffs have increased costs of digital asset mining equipment, and new or additional tariffs or other restrictions on the import of equipment necessary for digital asset mining could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations when we expand to global market.

Our historical financial results may not be indicative of our future performance.

We had a net income of $0.4 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, net loss of $16.7 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and net loss of $8.8 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, our accumulated deficit was $25.3 million. Our historical results are not indicative of our future performance. If we are not able to successfully develop our business, it will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We will be vulnerable to severe weather conditions and natural disasters, including earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, as well as power outages and other industrial incidents, which could severely disrupt the normal operation of our business and adversely affect our results of operations.

Our business is subject to the risks of severe weather conditions and natural disasters, including earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, as well as power outages and other industrial incidents, any of which could result in system failures, power supply disruptions and other interruptions that could harm our business.

We are exposed to risk of nonperformance by counterparties, including our counterparties under the planned power and hosting arrangements.

We are exposed to risk of nonperformance by counterparties, whether contractual or otherwise. Risk of nonperformance includes inability or refusal of a counterparty to perform because of a counterparty’s financial condition and liquidity or for any other reason. For example, our counterparties under the planned power and hosting arrangements may be unable to deliver the required amount of power for a variety of technical or economic reasons. Furthermore, there is a risk that during a period of power price fluctuations or prolonged or sharp power price increases on the market, our counterparties may find it economically preferable to refuse to supply power to us, despite the contractual arrangements. Any significant nonperformance by counterparties, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Mining machines rely on components and raw materials that may be subject to price fluctuations or shortages, including ASIC chips that have been subject to an ongoing significant shortage.

In order to build and sustain our self-mining operations, we are dependent on third parties to provide us with ASIC chips and other critical components for our mining equipment, which may be subject to price fluctuations or shortages. For example, the ASIC chip is the key component of a mining machine as it determines the efficiency of the device. The production of ASIC chips typically requires highly sophisticated silicon wafers, which currently only a small number of fabrication facilities, or wafer foundries, in the world are capable of producing. We believe that the current microchip shortage that the entire industry is experiencing leads to price fluctuations and disruption in the supply of key miner components. Specifically, the ASIC chips have recently been subject to a significant price increases and shortages.

There is also a risk that a manufacturer or seller of ASIC chips or other necessary mining equipment may adjust the prices according to bitcoin, other cryptocurrency prices or otherwise, so the cost of new machines could become unpredictable and extremely high. As a result, at times, we may be forced to obtain mining machines and other hardware at premium prices, to the extent they are even available. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

We are exposed to risks related to disruptions or other failures in the supply chain for cryptocurrency hardware and difficulties in obtaining new hardware.

Manufacture, assembly and delivery of certain components and products for mining operations could be complex and long processes, in the course of which various problems could arise, including disruptions or delays in the supply chain, product quality control issues, as well other external factors, over which we have no control.

Our mining operations can only be successful and ultimately profitable if the costs associated with bitcoin mining, including hardware costs, are lower than the price of bitcoin itself. In the course of the normal operation of our cryptocurrency mining facilities, our mining machines and other critical equipment and materials related to data center construction and maintenance, such as containers, switch gears, transformers and cables, will experience ordinary wear and tear and may also face more significant malfunctions caused by a number of extraneous factors beyond our control. Declines in the condition of our mining machines and other hardware will require us, over time, to repair or replace those mining machines. Additionally, as the technology evolves, we may be required to acquire newer models of mining machines to remain competitive in the market. Any replacement of hardware may require substantial capital investment, and we may face challenges in doing so on a timely and cost-effective basis.

Our business is subject to limitations inherent within the supply chain of certain of our components, including competitive, governmental, and legal limitations, and other events. For example, we expect that we will significantly rely on foreign imports to obtain certain equipment and materials. We anticipate that the cryptocurrency mining machines for our operations will be imported from Southeast Asian countries, and other parts of equipment and materials, including ASIC chips, will be manufactured in and imported from South Korea or Taiwan. Any global trade disruption, introductions of tariffs, trade barriers and bilateral trade frictions, together with any potential downturns in the global economy resulting therefrom, could adversely affect our necessary supply chains. Our third-party manufacturers, suppliers and subcontractors may also experience disruptions by worker absenteeism, quarantines, restrictions on employees’ ability to work, office and factory closures, disruptions to ports and other shipping infrastructure, border closures, or other travel or health-related restrictions, such as those that were triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, for example. Depending on the magnitude of such effects on our supply chain, shipments of parts for our mining machines, or any new mining machines that we order, may be delayed.

Furthermore, the global supply chain for cryptocurrency mining machines is presently heavily dependent on China, which has been severely affected by the China as a main supplier of cryptocurrency mining machines has been called into question in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. China has also in the past limited the shipment of products in and out of its borders, which could negatively impact our ability to receive mining equipment from our China-based suppliers. Should similar outbreaks or other disruptions to the China-based global supply chain for cryptocurrency hardware occur, such as, for example, as result of worsening of the U.S. trade relations with China, including imposition of new tariffs, trade barriers and bilateral trade frictions, we may not be able to obtain adequate equipment from the manufacturer on a timely basis. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

The properties in our mining network may experience damages, including damages that are not covered by insurance.

Cryptocurrency mining sites are subject to a variety of risks relating to physical condition and operation, including:

•        the presence of construction or repair defects or other structural or building damages;

•        any noncompliance with, or liabilities under, applicable environmental, health or safety regulations or requirements or building permit requirements;

•        any damage resulting from extreme weather conditions or natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods and snow or windstorms; and

•        claims by employees and others for injuries sustained at our properties.

For example, our cryptocurrency mining facilities could be rendered inoperable, temporarily or permanently, as a result of, among others, a fire or other natural disasters. The security and other measures we anticipate to take in order to protect against these risks may not be sufficient.

Additionally, our mining operation could be adversely affected by a power outage or loss of access to the electrical grid or loss by the grid of cost-effective sources of electrical power generating capacity.

The loss of any member of our management team, our inability to execute an effective succession plan, or our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel, could adversely affect our business.

We have limited operating history, and our success and future growth depend on the skills and services of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer. We will need to continue to grow our management in order to alleviate pressure on our existing team and in order to set up and develop our business. If our management, including any new hires that we may make, fails to work together effectively and to execute our plans and strategies on a timely basis, our business could be significantly harmed. Furthermore, if we fail to execute an effective contingency or succession plan with the loss of any member of management, the loss of such management personnel may significantly disrupt our business.

Furthermore, the loss of key members of our management could inhibit our growth prospects. Our future success depends, in large part, on our ability to attract, retain and motivate key management and operating personnel. As we continue to develop and expand our operations, we may require personnel with different skills and experiences, who have a sound understanding of our business and the cryptocurrency industry, for example, specialists in power contract negotiations and management, as well as data center specialists. As cryptocurrency, and specifically bitcoin, mining, is a new and developing field, the market for highly qualified personnel in this industry is particularly competitive and we may be unable to attract such personnel. If we are unable to attract such personnel, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

We may experience difficulties in effectively managing our expansion of hosting capacity and, subsequently, managing our growth and expanding our operations.

We expect to experience significant growth in the scope of our operations. Our ability to manage our hosting capacity and our plan to expand our self-mining capacity require us to build upon and to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, compliance programs and reporting systems. We may not be able to implement improvements in an efficient or timely manner and may discover deficiencies in existing controls, programs, systems and procedures, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Additionally, rapid growth in our business may place a strain on our managerial, operational and financial resources and systems. We may not grow as we expect, if we fail to manage our growth effectively or to develop and expand our managerial, operational and financial resources and systems, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

Unfavorable global economic, business or political conditions, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption caused by various countermeasures to reduce its spread, could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Our results of operations could be adversely affected by general conditions in the global economy and in the global financial markets, including conditions that are outside of our control, such as the impact of the coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”). The COVID-19 pandemic that was declared on March 11, 2020 has since caused significant economic dislocation in the United States and globally as governments of more than 80 countries across the world, including the United States, introduced measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, including, amongst others, travel restrictions, closed international borders, enhanced health screenings at ports of entry and elsewhere, quarantines and the imposition of both local and more widespread “work from home” measures. The spread of COVID-19 and the imposition of related public health measures have resulted in, and are expected to continue to result in, increased volatility and uncertainty in the cryptocurrency space. Any severe or prolonged economic downturn, as result of the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise, could result in a variety of risks to our business and we cannot anticipate all the ways in which the current economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business.

We may experience disruptions to our business operations resulting from supply interruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, or other movement and restrictions on the ability of our employees to perform their jobs. For example, we may experience delays in construction and delays in obtaining necessary equipment in a timely fashion. If we are unable to effectively set up and service our mining machines, our ability to mine bitcoin will be adversely affected. The future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is still highly uncertain and there is no assurance that the COVID-19 pandemic or any other pandemic, or other unfavorable global economic, business or political conditions, will not materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

We operate in a fast-growing industry, and we compete against unregulated or less regulated companies and companies with greater financial and other resources, and our business, operating results, and financial condition may be adversely affected if we are unable to respond to our competitors effectively.

The cryptocurrency ecosystem is highly innovative, rapidly evolving, and characterized by healthy competition, experimentation, changing customer needs, frequent introductions of new products and services, and subject to uncertain and evolving industry and regulatory requirements. In the future, we expect competition to further intensify with existing and new competitors, some of which may have substantially greater liquidity and financial resources than we do. We compete against a number of companies operating within Kazakhstan, the United States and other countries in the global cryptocurrency mining market. We may not be able to compete successfully against present or future competitors. We may not have the resources to compete with larger providers of similar services and, consequently, may experience great difficulties in expanding and improving our operations to remain competitive.

Competition from existing and future competitors could result in our inability to secure acquisitions and partnerships that we may need to expand our business in the future. This competition from other entities with greater resources, experience and reputations may result in our failure to maintain or expand our business, as we may never be able to successfully execute our business model. Furthermore, we anticipate encountering new competition if we expand our operations to new locations geographically and into wider applications of blockchain, cryptocurrency mining and mining farm operations. If we are unable to expand and remain competitive, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

We may acquire other businesses, form joint ventures, or make other investments that could negatively affect our operating results, dilute our shareholders’ ownership, increase our debt or cause us to incur significant expenses.

From time to time, we may consider potential acquisitions, joint venture, or other investment opportunities. We cannot offer any assurance that acquisitions of businesses, assets and/or entering into strategic alliances or joint ventures will be successful. We may not be able to find suitable partners or acquisition candidates and may not be able to complete such transactions on favorable terms, if at all. If we make any acquisitions, we may not be able to integrate these acquisitions successfully into the existing business and could assume unknown or contingent liabilities.

Any future acquisitions also could result in the issuance of stock, incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or future write-offs of intangible assets or goodwill, any of which could have a negative impact on our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. Integration of an acquired company may also disrupt ongoing operations and require management resources that otherwise would be focused on developing and expanding our existing business. We may experience losses related to potential investments in other companies, which could harm our financial condition and results of operations. Further, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, strategic alliance or joint venture if such investments do not materialize.

To finance any acquisitions or joint ventures, we may choose to issue shares of common stock, preferred stock or a combination of debt and equity as consideration, which could significantly dilute the ownership of our existing shareholders or provide rights to such preferred stockholders in priority over our common stock holders. Additional funds may not be available on terms that are favorable to us, or at all. If the price of our common stock is low or volatile, we may not be able to acquire other companies or fund a joint venture project using stock as consideration.

If we fail to develop, maintain, and enhance our brand and reputation, our business, operating results, and financial condition may be adversely affected.

Our brand and reputation, particularly in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, is an important factor in success and development of our business. As part of our strategy, we seek to structure our relationships with our power suppliers and other potential partners as long-term partnerships. Thus, maintaining, protecting, and enhancing our reputation is also important to our development plans and relationships with our power suppliers, service providers and other counterparties.

Furthermore, we believe that the importance of our brand and reputation may increase as competition further intensifies. Our brand and reputation could be harmed if we fail to perform under our agreements or if our public image were to be tarnished by negative publicity, unexpected events or actions by third parties. Unfavorable publicity

about us, including our technology, personnel, and bitcoin and crypto assets generally could have an adverse effect on the engagement of our partners and suppliers and may result in our failure to maintain or expand our business and successfully execute our business model.

Our compliance and risk management methods might not be effective and may result in outcomes that could adversely affect our reputation, operating results, and financial condition.

Our ability to comply with applicable complex and evolving laws, regulations, and rules is largely dependent on the establishment and maintenance of our compliance, audit, and reporting systems, as well as our ability to attract and retain qualified compliance and other risk management personnel. While we plan to devote significant resources to develop policies and procedures to identify, monitor and manage our risks, we cannot assure you that our policies and procedures will always be effective against all types of risks, including unidentified or unanticipated risks, or that we will always be successful in monitoring or evaluating the risks to which we are or may be exposed in all market environments.

We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights, which could have a material adverse effect on business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may not be able to obtain broad protection in Kazakhstan or internationally for all of our existing and future intellectual property and other proprietary rights, and we may not be able to obtain effective protection for our intellectual property and other proprietary rights in every country in which we operate. Protecting our intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights may require significant expenditure of our financial, managerial and operational resources. Moreover, the steps that we may take to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights may not be adequate to protect such rights or prevent third parties from infringing or misappropriating such rights. Any of our intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights, whether registered, unregistered, issued or unissued, may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative proceedings and/or litigation.

We may be required to spend significant resources to secure, maintain, monitor and protect our intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights. Despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights. We may initiate claims, administrative proceedings and/or litigation against others for infringement, misappropriation or violation of our intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights to enforce and/or maintain the validity of such rights. Any such action, if initiated, whether or not it is resolved in our favor, could result in significant expense to us, and divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position could be harmed.

To protect all of our confidential and proprietary information, we plan to rely upon trademarks, copyright and trade secret protection, as well as potentially patents, non-disclosure agreements and invention assignment agreements with employees, consultants and third parties. Some elements of our business model are based on unpatented trade secrets and know-how that are not publicly disclosed. In addition to contractual measures, we plan to protect the confidential nature of our proprietary information using physical and technological security measures. Such measures may not, for example, in the case of misappropriation of a trade secret by an employee or third party with authorized access, provide adequate protection for our proprietary information.

The security measures may not prevent an employee or consultant from misappropriating our trade secrets and providing them to a competitor, and the recourse we take against such misconduct may not provide an adequate remedy to protect our interests fully. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret can be difficult, expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. If any of our confidential or proprietary information, such as our trade secrets, were to be disclosed or misappropriated, or if any such information was independently developed by a competitor, our competitive position could be harmed, which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Third Parties may claim that we are infringing upon their intellectual property rights, which may prevent of inhibit our operations and cause us to suffer significant litigation expense even if these claims have no merit.

Our success depends significantly on our ability to operate without infringing the patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties. In recent years, there has been considerable patent, copyright, trademark, domain name, trade secret and other intellectual property development activity in the cryptocurrency space, as well as litigation, based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property, including by large financial institutions. Furthermore, individuals and groups can purchase patents and other intellectual property assets solely for the purpose of making claims of infringement to extract settlements from companies like ours.

Our use of third-party intellectual property rights may be subject to claims of infringement or misappropriation. From time to time, third parties may claim that we are infringing upon or misappropriating their intellectual property rights, and we may be found to be infringing upon such rights. Any claims or litigation could cause us to incur significant expenses and, if successfully asserted against us, could require that we pay substantial damages or ongoing royalty payments.

Furthermore, the occurrence of infringement claims may be likely to grow as the cryptocurrency ecosystem grows and matures. Accordingly, our exposure to damages resulting from infringement claims could increase and this could further exhaust our financial and management resources. Even if intellectual property claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and require significant expenditures. Any of the foregoing could prevent us from competing effectively and could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Risks Related to Government Regulation Regulatory Framework

If bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are determined to be investment securities, and we hold a significant portion of its assets in such cryptocurrency, investment securities or non-controlling equity interests of other entities, we may inadvertently violate the Investment Company Act. We could incur large losses to modify our operations to avoid the need to register as an investment company or could incur significant expenses to register as an investment company or could terminate operations altogether.

The SEC and its staff have taken the position that certain cryptocurrencies fall within the definition of a “security” under the U.S. federal securities laws. The legal test for determining whether any given cryptocurrency is a security is a highly complex, fact-driven analysis that may evolve over time, and the outcome is difficult to predict. The SEC generally does not provide advance guidance or confirmation on the status of any particular cryptocurrency as a security. Furthermore, the SEC’s views in this area have evolved over time and it is difficult to predict the direction or timing of any continuing evolution. It is also possible that a change in the governing administration or the appointment of new SEC commissioners could substantially impact the views of the SEC and its staff. Public statements made by senior officials at the SEC indicate that the SEC does not intend to take the position that bitcoin is a security (as currently offered and sold). However, such statements are not official policy statements by the SEC and reflect only the speakers’ views, which are not binding on the SEC or any other agency or court and cannot be generalized to any other digital asset. As of the date of this Annual Report, with the exception of certain centrally issued digital assets that have received “no-action” letters from the SEC staff, bitcoin and Ethereum are the only cryptocurrencies that senior officials at the SEC have publicly stated are unlikely to be considered securities. With respect to all other cryptocurrencies, there is no certainty under the applicable legal test that such assets are not securities, notwithstanding the conclusions we may draw based on our risk-based assessment regarding the likelihood that a particular digital asset could be deemed a “security” under applicable laws.

Under the Investment Company Act, a company may fall within the definition of an investment company under section 3(c)(1)(A) thereof if it is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, or under section 3(a)(1)(C) thereof if it is engaged or proposes to engage in business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding, or trading in securities, and owns or proposes to acquire “investment securities” (as defined) having a value exceeding 40% of its total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. There is no authoritative law, rule or binding guidance published by the SEC regarding the status of cryptocurrencies as “securities” or “investment securities” under the Investment Company Act. Although we believe that we are not engaged in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in investment securities, and we do not hold ourselves out as being primarily engaged, or proposing to

engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, to the extent the cryptocurrencies that we mine, own, or otherwise acquire may be deemed “securities” or “ investment securities” by the SEC or a court of competent jurisdiction, we may meet the definition of an investment company. If we fall within the definition of an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we would be required to register with the SEC. If an investment company fails to register, it likely would have to stop doing almost all business, and its contracts would become voidable. Generally non-U.S. issuers may not register as an investment company without an SEC order.

If we were unable to qualify for an exemption from registration as an investment company or fail to take adequate steps within the one-year grace period for inadvertent investment companies, it would need to register with the SEC as an investment company under the Investment Company Act or cease almost all business, and its contracts would become voidable. Investment company registration is time consuming and would require a restructuring of our business. Moreover, the operation of an investment company is very costly and restrictive, as investment companies are subject to substantial regulation concerning management, operations, transactions with affiliated persons and portfolio composition, and Investment Company Act filing requirements. The cost of such compliance would result in us incurring substantial additional expenses, and the failure to register if required would have a materially adverse impact on our operations.

There can be no assurances that we will properly characterize any given cryptocurrency as a security or non-security for purposes of determining which cryptocurrencies to mine, hold and trade, or that the SEC or a court, if the question was presented to it, would agree with our assessment. We could be subject to judicial or administrative sanctions for failing to offer or sell cryptocurrencies in compliance with the registration requirements, or for acting as a broker or dealer without appropriate registration. Such an action could result in injunctions, cease and desist orders, as well as civil monetary penalties, fines, and disgorgement, criminal liability, and reputational harm. Further, if bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency that we mine, hold and trade is deemed to be a security under the laws of any U.S. federal, state, or foreign jurisdiction, or in a proceeding in a court of law or otherwise, it may have adverse consequences for such cryptocurrency. For instance, all transactions in such supported cryptocurrency would have to be registered with the SEC or other foreign authority, or conducted in accordance with an exemption from registration, which could severely limit its liquidity, usability and transactability. Further, it could draw negative publicity and a decline in the general acceptance of the digital asset. Also, it may make it difficult for such cryptocurrency to be traded, cleared, and custodied as compared to other cryptocurrencies that are not considered to be securities.

Any change in the interpretive positions of the SEC or its staff with respect to cryptocurrencies or digital asset mining firms could have a material adverse effect on us.

We intend to conduct our operations so that we are not required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act. Specifically, we do not believe that cryptocurrencies, in particular bitcoin, are securities. The SEC Staff has not provided guidance with respect to the treatment of these assets under the 1940 Act. To the extent the SEC Staff publishes new guidance with respect to these matters, we may be required to adjust our strategy or assets accordingly. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our exclusion from registration as an investment company under the 1940 Act. In addition, as a consequence of our seeking to avoid the need to register under the 1940 Act on an ongoing basis, we may be limited in our ability to engage in cryptocurrency mining operations or otherwise make certain investments, and these limitations could result in our holding assets we may wish to sell or selling assets we may wish to hold, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If regulatory changes or interpretations of our activities require our registration as a money services business (“MSB”) under the regulations promulgated by The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) under the authority of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, or otherwise under state laws, we may incur significant compliance costs, which could be substantial or cost-prohibitive. If we become subject to these regulations, our costs in complying with them may have a material negative effect on our business and the results of our operations.

To the extent that our activities cause us to be deemed an MSB under the regulations promulgated by FinCEN under the authority of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, we may be required to comply with FinCEN regulations, including those that would mandate us to implement anti-money laundering programs, make certain reports to FinCEN and maintain certain records.

To the extent that our activities would cause us to be deemed a “money transmitter” (“MT”) or equivalent designation, under state law in any state in which we may operate, we may be required to seek a license or otherwise register with a state regulator and comply with state regulations that may include the implementation of anti-money laundering programs, maintenance of certain records and other operational requirements. For example, in August 2015, the New York State Department of Financial Services enacted the first U.S. regulatory framework for licensing participants in “virtual currency business activity”. The regulations, known as the “BitLicense”, are intended to focus on consumer protection and regulate the conduct of businesses that are involved in “virtual currencies” in New York or with New York customers and prohibit any person or entity involved in such activity to conduct activities without a license.

Such additional federal or state regulatory obligations may cause us to incur extraordinary expenses. Furthermore, we may not be capable of complying with certain federal or state regulatory obligations applicable to MSBs and MTs. If we are deemed to be subject to and determine not to comply with such additional regulatory and registration requirements, we may act to dissolve and liquidate.

There is no one unifying principle governing the regulatory status of cryptocurrency nor whether cryptocurrency is a security in each context in which it is viewed. Regulatory changes or actions in one or more countries may alter the nature of an investment in us or restrict the use of digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, in a manner that adversely affects our business, prospects or operations.

As cryptocurrencies have grown in both popularity and market size, governments around the world have reacted differently, with certain governments deeming cryptocurrencies illegal, and others allowing their use and trade without restriction. In some jurisdictions, such as in the U.S., digital assets, like cryptocurrencies, are subject to extensive, and in some cases overlapping, unclear and evolving regulatory requirements.

Bitcoin is the oldest and most well-known form of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrencies have been the source of much regulatory consternation, resulting in differing definitional outcomes without a single unifying statement. Bitcoin and other digital assets are viewed differently by different regulatory and standards setting organizations globally as well as in the United States on the federal and state levels. For example, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) consider a cryptocurrency as currency or an asset or property. Further, the IRS applies general tax principles that apply to property transactions to transactions involving virtual currency.

Furthermore, in the several applications to establish an Exchange Traded Fund (“ETF”) of cryptocurrency, and in the questions raised by the Staff under the 1940 Act, no clear principles emerge from the regulators as to how they view these issues and how to regulate cryptocurrency under the applicable securities acts. It has been widely reported that the SEC has recently issued letters and requested various ETF applications be withdrawn because of concerns over liquidity and valuation and unanswered questions about absence of reporting and compliance procedures capable of being implemented under the current state of the markets for exchange traded funds. On April 20, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill titled “Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021” (H.R. 1602). If passed by the Senate and enacted into law, the bipartisan bill would create a digital assets working group to evaluate the current legal and regulatory framework around digital assets in the United States and define when the SEC may have jurisdiction over a particular token or cryptocurrency (i.e., when it is a security) and when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) may have jurisdiction (i.e., when it is a commodity).

If regulatory changes or interpretations require the regulation of bitcoin or other digital assets under the securities laws of the United States or elsewhere, including the Securities Act of 1933, the Exchange Act and the 1940 Act or similar laws of other jurisdictions and interpretations by the SEC, the CFTC, the IRS, Department of Treasury or other agencies or authorities, we may be required to register and comply with such regulations, including at a state or local level. To the extent that we decide to continue operations, the required registrations and regulatory compliance steps may result in extraordinary expense or burdens to us. We may also decide to cease certain operations and change our business model. Any disruption of our operations in response to the changed regulatory circumstances may be at a time that is disadvantageous to us.

Current and future legislation and SEC-rulemaking and other regulatory developments, including interpretations released by a regulatory authority, may impact the manner in which bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are viewed or treated for classification and clearing purposes. In particular, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may not be excluded from the definition of “security” by SEC rulemaking or interpretation requiring registration of all transactions unless another exemption is available, including transacting in bitcoin or cryptocurrency among owners and require registration of trading platforms as “exchanges”.

Furthermore, when the interests of investor protection are paramount, for example in the offer or sale of Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”) tokens, the SEC has no difficulty determining that the token offerings are securities under the “Howey” test as stated by the United States Supreme Court. As such, ICO offerings would require registration under the Securities Act or an available exemption therefrom for offers or sales in the United States to be lawful. Section 5(a) of the Securities Act provides that, unless a registration statement is in effect as to a security, it is unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, to engage in the offer or sale of securities in interstate commerce. Section 5(c) of the Securities Act provides a similar prohibition against offers to sell, or offers to buy, unless a registration statement has been filed. Although, since we do not intend to be engaged in the offer or sale of securities in the form of ICO offerings, and we do not believe our planned mining activities would require registration for us to conduct such activities and accumulate digital assets the SEC, CFTC, Nasdaq or other governmental or quasi-governmental agency or organization may conclude that our activities involve the offer or sale of “securities”, or ownership of “investment securities”, and we may face regulation under the Securities Act or the 1940 Act. Such regulation or the inability to meet the requirements to continue operations, would have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. We may also face similar issues with various state securities regulators who may interpret our actions as requiring registration under state securities laws, banking laws, or money transmitter and similar laws, which are also an unsettled area or regulation that exposes us to risks.

We cannot be certain as to how future regulatory developments will impact the treatment of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under the law. If we fail to comply with such additional regulatory and registration requirements, we may seek to cease certain of our operations or be subjected to fines, penalties and other governmental action. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our business model at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any cryptocurrencies we plan to hold or expect to acquire for our own account.

Regulatory actions in one or more countries could severely affect the right to acquire, own, hold, sell or use certain cryptocurrencies or to exchange them for fiat currency.

One or more countries such as China and Russia, which have taken harsh regulatory action in the past, may take regulatory actions in the future that could severely restrict the right to acquire, own, hold, sell or use cryptocurrencies or to exchange them for fiat currency. In some nations, it is illegal to accept payment in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for consumer transactions and banking institutions are barred from accepting deposits of cryptocurrencies. Such restrictions may adversely affect us as the large-scale use of cryptocurrencies as a means of exchange is presently confined to certain regions.

Furthermore, in the future, foreign governments may decide to subsidize or in some other way support certain large-scale cryptocurrency mining projects, thereby adding hash rate to the overall network. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on the amount of bitcoin we may be able to mine, the value of bitcoin and any other cryptocurrencies we may potentially acquire or hold in the future and, consequently, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Competition from central bank digital currencies (“CBDCs”) could adversely affect the value of bitcoin and other digital assets.

Central banks in some countries have started to introduce digital forms of legal tender. For example, China’s CBDC project, known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment, has reportedly been tested in a live pilot program conducted in multiple cities in China. A 2022 survey of central banks by the Bank for International Settlements found that nine out of 10 central banks are exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and more than half are now developing them or running concrete experiments. Whether or not they incorporate blockchain or similar technology, CBDCs, as legal tender in the issuing jurisdiction, could have an advantage in competing with, or replacing, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange or store of value. As a result, the value of bitcoin could decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

We cannot be certain as to how future regulatory developments will impact our business and any such additional regulatory requirements, or changes in how existing requirements are interpreted and applied, may cause us to cease all or certain of our operations or change our business model.

We cannot be certain as to how future regulatory developments will impact the treatment of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, and other digital assets under the law. For example, if regulatory changes or interpretations require the regulation of bitcoin or other digital assets under certain laws and regulatory regimes in the United States such as those administered by the SEC, the CFTC, the IRS, Department of Treasury or other agencies or authorities or similar laws and regulations of other jurisdictions, including if our digital asset activities cause us to be deemed a “money transmitter,” “money services business” or equivalent designation under U.S. federal law, the law of any U.S. state, or foreign jurisdiction in which we operate, we may be required to register, seek licensure and comply with such regulations, including at a federal, state or local level, and implement an anti-money laundering program, reporting and recordkeeping regimes, consumer protective safeguards, and other operational requirements. To the extent that we decide to continue operations, the required registrations and regulatory compliance steps may result in extraordinary, non-recurring expenses or burdens to us, as well as on-going recurring compliance costs, possibly affecting an investment in the ADSs or our net income in a material and adverse manner. We may also decide to cease some or all operations. Any termination or disruption of our operations in response to the changed regulatory circumstances may be at a time that is disadvantageous to investors. Furthermore, we and our service providers may not be capable of complying with certain federal or state regulatory obligations applicable to money services businesses or state money transmitters. If we are deemed to be subject to and determine not to comply with such additional regulatory and registration requirements, we may act to dissolve and liquidate our company. Any such action may adversely affect an investment in us.

If we fail to comply with such additional regulatory, licensure and registration compliance requirements, we may seek to cease all or certain of our operations or be subjected to fines, penalties, and other governmental action. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our business model at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets we plan to hold or expect to acquire for our own account.

We are subject to an extensive and rapidly-evolving regulatory landscape and any adverse changes to, or our failure to comply with, any laws and regulations could adversely affect our brand, reputation, business, operating results and financial condition.

Our business may be or may become subject to extensive laws, rules, regulations, policies, orders, determinations, directives, treaties, and legal and regulatory interpretations and guidance in the markets in which we operate, including those typically applied to financial services and banking, securities, commodities, the exchange, and transfer of digital assets, cross-border and domestic money and digital asset transmission businesses, as well as those governing data privacy, data governance, data protection, cybersecurity, fraud detection, payment services (including payment processing and settlement services), consumer protection, antitrust and competition, bankruptcy, tax, anti-bribery, economic and trade sanctions, anti-money laundering, and counter-terrorist financing. Many of these legal and regulatory regimes were adopted prior to the advent of the internet, mobile technologies, digital assets, and related technologies. As a result, they often do not contemplate or address unique issues associated with digital assets, are subject to significant uncertainty, and vary widely across U.S. federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These legal and regulatory regimes, including the laws, rules, and regulations thereunder, evolve frequently and may be modified, interpreted, and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another. Moreover, the relative novelty and evolving nature of our business and the significant uncertainty surrounding the regulation of digital assets requires us to exercise our judgement as to whether certain laws, rules, and regulations apply to us, and it is possible that governmental bodies and regulators may disagree with our conclusions. To the extent we have not complied with such laws, rules, and regulations, we could be subject to significant fines, limitations on our business, reputational harm, and other regulatory consequences, as well as criminal penalties, each of which may be significant and could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

In addition to existing laws and regulations, various governmental and regulatory bodies, including legislative and executive bodies, in the United States, as well as in other countries may adopt new laws and regulations, or new interpretations of existing laws and regulations may be issued by such bodies or the judiciary, which may adversely impact the development and use of digital assets as a whole, digital asset mining operations, and our legal and regulatory status in particular by changing how we operate our business, how our operations are regulated, and what products

or services we and our competitors can offer, requiring changes to our compliance and risk mitigation measures, imposing new licensing requirements or new costs of doing business, or imposing a total ban on certain activities or transactions with respect to digital assets, as has occurred in certain jurisdictions in the past.

Due to our business activities, if laws or regulations or their respective interpretation change, we may become subject to ongoing examinations, oversight, and reviews by U.S. federal and state regulators, which would have broad discretion to audit and examine our business if we become subject to their oversight. Adverse changes to, or our failure to comply with, any laws and regulations have had, and may continue to have, an adverse effect on our reputation and brand and our business, operating results and financial condition.

Failure to comply with anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) and similar laws associated with our activities outside of the United States, could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.

We operate an international business and may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. We are subject to the FCPA, and other applicable anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws in certain countries in which we conduct activities. The FCPA prohibits providing, offering, promising, or authorizing, directly or indirectly, anything of value to government officials, political parties, or political candidates for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing any improper business advantage. In addition, U.S. public companies are required to maintain records that accurately and fairly represent their transactions and have an adequate system of internal accounting controls.

In many foreign countries, including countries in which we may conduct business, it may be a local custom that businesses engage in practices that are prohibited by the FCPA, or other applicable laws and regulations. We face significant risks if we or any of our directors, officers, employees, contractors, agents or other partners or representatives fail to comply with these laws and governmental authorities in the United States and elsewhere could seek to impose substantial civil and/or criminal fines and penalties which could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, operating results, prospects and financial condition.

Any violation of the FCPA, other applicable anti-corruption laws, or anti-money laundering laws could result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, loss of export privileges, severe criminal or civil sanctions and, in the case of the FCPA, suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracts, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our reputation, business, operating results, prospects and financial condition. In addition, responding to any enforcement action or internal investigation related to alleged misconduct may result in a significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees.

Enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (the “Infrastructure Act”) may have an adverse impact on our business and financial condition.

On November 15, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden signed the Infrastructure Act. Section 80603 of the Infrastructure Act modifies and amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”) by requiring brokers of digital asset transactions to report their customers to the IRS. This provision was included to enforce the taxability of digital asset transactions. Section 80603 defines “broker” as “any person who (for consideration) is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.” That could potentially include miners, validators, and developers of decentralized applications. These functions play a critical role in our business and in the functioning of the blockchain ecosystem. Importantly, these functions have no way of identifying their anonymous users. Indeed, bitcoin’s blockchain was designed for anonymity.

This reporting requirement went into effect on January 1, 2023 and will impact tax returns filed in 2024. The implementation of these requirements will require further guidance from the federal government. Disclosing the identity of our bitcoin mining operations and associated accounts to ensure they can be taxed by the IRS could cause a significant devaluing of our business, the bitcoin currency, and the entire digital assets market. Additionally, noncompliance with this provision could lead to significant fines and or regulatory actions against our company.

Risks Related to Cryptocurrency

The loss or destruction of any private keys required to access our digital wallet may be irreversible. If we are unable to access our private keys (whether due to loss, destruction, security incident or otherwise), it could cause direct financial loss, regulatory scrutiny and reputational harm.

Digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, are stored in a so-called “digital wallet”, which may be accessed to exchange a holder’s digital assets and is controllable by the processor of both the public key and the private key relating to this digital wallet in which the digital assets are held, both of which are unique. We will publish the public key relating to digital wallets in use when we verify the receipt of transfers and disseminate such information into the network, but we will need to safeguard the private keys relating to such digital wallets.

To the extent that any of the private keys relating to any digital wallets containing our digital assets is lost, destroyed, or otherwise compromised or unavailable, and no backup of the private key is accessible, we will be unable to access the digital assets held in the related wallet and, in most cases, the private key will not be capable of being restored. The loss or destruction of a private key required to access digital assets may be irreversible. Digital assets, related technologies and digital asset service providers such as custodians and trading platforms have been, and may in the future be, subject to security breaches, hacking, or other malicious activities. As such, any loss or misappropriation of the private keys used to control our digital assets due to a hack, employee or service provider misconduct or error, or other compromise by third parties could result in significant losses, hurt our brand and reputation and potentially the value of any bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, and adversely impact our business.

The storage and custody of our bitcoin assets and any other cryptocurrencies that we may potentially acquire or hold in the future are subject to cybersecurity breaches and adverse software events.

In addition to the risk of a private key loss to our digital wallet, see “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Cryptocurrency — The loss or destruction of any private keys required to access our digital wallet may be irreversible.”, the storage and custody of our digital assets could also be subject to cybersecurity breaches and adverse software events. In order to minimize risk, we plan to establish processes to manage wallets, or software programs where assets are held, that are associated with our cryptocurrency holdings.

A “hot wallet” refers to any cryptocurrency wallet that is connected to the Internet. Generally, hot wallets are easier to set up and access than wallets in “cold” storage, but they are also more susceptible to hackers and other technical vulnerabilities. “Cold storage” refers to any cryptocurrency wallet that is not connected to the Internet. Cold storage is generally more secure than hot storage but is not ideal for quick or regular transactions and we may experience lag time in our ability to respond to market fluctuations in the price of our digital assets.

We generally plan to hold the majority of our cryptocurrencies in cold storage to reduce the risk of malfeasance; however, we may also use third-party custodial wallets and, from time to time, we may use hot wallets or rely on other options that may develop in the future. If we use a custodial wallet, there can be no assurance that such services will be more secure than cold storage or other alternatives. Human error and the constantly evolving state of cybercrime and hacking techniques may render present security protocols and procedures ineffective in ways which we cannot predict.

Regardless of the storage method, the risk of damage to or loss of our digital assets cannot be wholly eliminated. If our security procedures and protocols are ineffective and our cryptocurrency assets are compromised by cybercriminals, we may not have adequate recourse to recover our losses stemming from such compromise. A security breach could also harm our reputation. A resulting perception that our measures do not adequately protect our digital assets could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Our bitcoin assets and other cryptocurrencies we may potentially acquire or hold in the future may be subject to loss, theft, hacking, fraud risks and restriction on access.

There is a risk that some or all of our bitcoin assets and any other cryptocurrencies we may potentially acquire or hold in the future could be lost or stolen. Hackers or malicious actors may launch attacks to steal or compromise cryptocurrencies, such as by attacking the cryptocurrency network source code, exchange mining machines, third-party platforms, cold and hot storage locations or software, or by other means. Cryptocurrency transactions and accounts are not insured by any type of government program and cryptocurrency transactions generally are permanent by design of the networks.

Certain features of cryptocurrency networks, such as decentralization, the open source protocols, and the reliance on peer-to-peer connectivity, may increase the risk of fraud or cyber-attack by potentially reducing the likelihood of a coordinated response.

Cryptocurrencies have suffered from a number of recent hacking incidents and several cryptocurrency exchanges and mining machines have reported large cryptocurrency losses, which highlight concerns over the security of cryptocurrencies and in turn affect the demand and the market price of cryptocurrencies. For example, in August 2016, it was reported that almost 120,000 bitcoin worth around $78 million were stolen from Bitfinex, a large bitcoin exchange. The value of bitcoin immediately decreased by more than 10% following reports of the theft at Bitfinex. In addition, in December 2017, Yapian, the operator of Seoul-based digital asset exchange Youbit, suspended digital asset trading and filed for bankruptcy following a hack that resulted in a loss of 17% of Yapian’s assets. Following the hack, Youbit users were allowed to withdraw approximately 75% of the digital assets in their exchange accounts, with any potential further distributions to be made following Yapian’s pending bankruptcy proceedings. In January 2018, Japan-based exchange Coincheck reported that over $500 million worth of the digital asset NEM had been lost due to hacking attacks, resulting in significant decreases in the prices of bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets as the market grew increasingly concerned about the security of digital assets. Following South Korean-based exchange Coinrail’s announcement in early June 2018 about a hacking incident, the price of bitcoin and Ethereum dropped more than 10%. In September 2018, Japan-based exchange Zaif also announced that approximately $60 million worth of digital assets, including bitcoin, was stolen due to hacking activities.

We may be in control and possession of one of the more substantial holdings of cryptocurrency. As we increase in size, we may become a more appealing target of hackers, malware, cyber-attacks or other security threats. Cyber-attacks may also target our mining machines or third-parties and other services on which we depend.

Any potential security breaches, cyber-attacks on our operations and any other loss or theft of our cryptocurrency assets, which could expose us to liability and reputational harm and could seriously curtail the utilization of our services.

Distributing digital assets in connection with our mining pool business involves risks, which could result in loss of customer assets, customer disputes and other liabilities, adversely impact our business, results of operations and/or financial condition.

Each digital wallet is associated with a unique “public key” and “private key” pair, each of which is a string of alphanumerical characters. In order for us to allocate block rewards to our mining pool customers, customers must provide us with the public key of the wallet that the digital assets are to be transferred to, and we would be required to authorize the transfer. We rely on the information provided by customers to distribute cryptocurrencies to them, and we do not have access to our customers’ private key. A number of errors can occur in the process of distributing digital assets to customers’ wallets, such as typos, mistakes, or the failure to include the information required by the blockchain network. For example, a customer may incorrectly enter the desired recipient’s public key when withdrawing from the mining pool, which may result in the permanent and irretrievable loss of the customer’s digital assets. Such incidents could result in customer disputes, damage to our brand and reputation, legal claims against us, and financial liabilities, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and/or financial condition.

Incorrect or fraudulent cryptocurrency transactions may be irreversible.

Cryptocurrency transactions are irrevocable and stolen or incorrectly transferred cryptocurrencies may be irretrievable. As a result, any incorrectly executed or fraudulent cryptocurrency transactions could adversely affect our investments and assets. Cryptocurrency transactions are not, from an administrative perspective, reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the cryptocurrencies from the transaction. In theory, cryptocurrency transactions may be reversible with the control or consent of a majority of processing power on the network, however, we do not now, nor is it feasible that we could in the future, possess sufficient processing power to effect this reversal. Once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to a blockchain, an incorrect transfer of a cryptocurrency or a theft thereof generally will not be reversible, and we may not have sufficient recourse to recover our losses from any such transfer or theft. It is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, our cryptocurrency rewards could be transferred in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties, or to uncontrolled accounts. To the extent that we are unable to recover our losses from such action, error or theft, such events could result in significant losses, hurt our brand and reputation, and adversely impact our business.

Further, according to the SEC, at this time, there is no specifically enumerated U.S. or foreign governmental, regulatory, investigative or prosecutorial authority or mechanism through which to bring an action or complaint regarding missing or stolen cryptocurrency. The market participants, therefore, are presently reliant on existing private investigative entities to investigate any potential loss of our digital assets. These third-party service providers rely on data analysis and compliance of internet service providers with traditional court orders to reveal information such as the IP addresses of any attackers. To the extent that we are unable to recover our losses from such action, error or theft, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results, including our ability to continue as a going concern.

Acceptance and/or widespread use of cryptocurrency is uncertain.

Currently, there is a relatively limited use for cryptocurrency in the retail and commercial marketplace, which we believe has contributed to price volatility of cryptocurrencies. Price volatility undermines any cryptocurrency’s role as a medium of exchange, as retailers are much less likely to accept it as a form of payment. Use of cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange and payment method may never achieve widespread adoption. Banks and other established financial institutions may, and do, refuse to process funds for cryptocurrency transactions, process wire transfers to or from cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency-related companies or service providers, or maintain accounts for persons or entities transacting in cryptocurrency. Furthermore, a significant portion of cryptocurrency demand, including demand for bitcoin, is generated by investors seeking a long-term store of value or speculators seeking to profit from the short-or long-term holding of the asset. Any such failure in acceptance and/or widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies could have an adverse effect on the value of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies that we otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

The open-source structure of the bitcoin network protocol means that the contributors to the protocol are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing the protocol, which could adversely affect the value of bitcoin and adversely affect our business.

The bitcoin network operates based on an open-source protocol, not represented by an official organization or authority. Instead, it is maintained by a group of core contributors, largely on the Bitcoin Core project on GitHub.com. As the bitcoin network protocol is not sold and its use does not generate revenues for contributors, contributors are generally not compensated for maintaining and updating the bitcoin network protocol. The lack of guaranteed financial incentive for contributors to maintain or develop the bitcoin network and the lack of guaranteed resources to adequately address emerging issues with the bitcoin network may reduce incentives to address the issues adequately or in a timely manner.

There can be no guarantee that developer support will continue or be sufficient in the future. Additionally, some development and developers are funded by companies whose interests may be at odds with other participants in the network or with investors’ interests. To the extent that material issues arise with the bitcoin network protocol and the core developers and open-source contributors are unable or unwilling to address the issues adequately or in a timely manner, the bitcoin network and consequently our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

Significant contributors to all or a network for any particular digital asset, such as bitcoin, could propose amendments to the respective network’s protocols and software that, if accepted and authorized by such network, could adversely affect our business.

The governance of decentralized digital assets, such as bitcoin, is by voluntary consensus and open competition. The bitcoin network is maintained by a group of contributors, largely on the Bitcoin Core project on GitHub.com, and these individuals can propose refinements or improvements to the bitcoin network’s source code through one or more software upgrades that alter the protocols and software that govern the bitcoin network and the properties of bitcoin, including the irreversibility of transactions and limitations on the mining of new bitcoin. Proposals for upgrades and discussions relating thereto take place on online forums. If a significant majority of users and mining machines adopt amendments to a decentralized network based on the proposals of such core developers, such network will be subject to new protocols. Certain modifications may have an adverse effect on a digital asset network or the value of a digital asset or may have unintended consequences. If a developer or group of developers proposes a modification to the bitcoin network that is not accepted by a majority of mining machines and users, but that is nonetheless accepted by a substantial plurality of mining machines and users, two or more competing and incompatible blockchain

implementations could result, with one running the pre-modification software program and the other running the modified version (i.e., a second “bitcoin network”). This is known as a “hard fork.” Such a hard fork in the blockchain typically would be addressed by community-led efforts to reunite the forked blockchains, and several prior forks have been resolved successfully. However, a “hard fork” in the blockchain could materially and adversely affect the perceived value of bitcoin as reflected on one or both incompatible blockchains. Additionally, a “hard fork” will decrease the number of users and mining machines available to each fork of the blockchain as the users and mining machines on each fork blockchain will not be accessible to the other blockchain and, consequently, there will be fewer block rewards and transaction fees may decline in value. Any of the above could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

A temporary or permanent blockchain “fork” could have a negative effect on the values of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency that we mine or otherwise hold, which could adversely affect our business.

The bitcoin protocol has been subject to “forks” that resulted in the creation of new networks, including Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Diamond and others. These forks effectively result in a new blockchain being created with a shared history, and new path forward, and they have a different “proof of work” algorithm and other technical changes. The value of the newly created digital assets may or may not have value in the long run and may affect the price of bitcoin if interest is shifted away from bitcoin to these newly created digital assets. The value of bitcoin after the creation of a fork is subject to many factors including the value of the fork product, market reaction to the creation of the fork product, and the occurrence of forks in the future.

Furthermore, a hard fork can introduce new security risks. For example, when the Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Cash SV network split in November 2018, “replay” attacks, in which transactions from one network were rebroadcast on the other network to achieve “double-spending,” plagued platforms that traded bitcoin, resulting in significant losses to some digital asset trading platforms. Another possible result of a hard fork is an inherent decrease in the level of security. After a hard fork, it may become easier for an individual miner or mining pool’s hashing power to exceed 50% of the processing power of the bitcoin network, thereby making the network more susceptible to attack.

A fork could also be introduced by an unintentional, unanticipated software flaw in the multiple versions of otherwise compatible software that users run. It is possible, however, that a substantial number of users and mining machines could adopt an incompatible version of bitcoin while resisting community-led efforts to merge the two chains. If a fork occurs on a digital asset network which we are mining, such as bitcoin, or hold digital assets in, it may have a negative effect on the value of the digital asset and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Because there has been limited precedent set for financial accounting for bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets, the determinations that we have made for how to account for cryptocurrency assets transactions may be subject to change and our operating results could be adversely affected.

Because there has been limited precedent set for the financial accounting for bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets and related revenue recognition, it is unclear how companies may in the future be required to account for cryptocurrency transactions and assets and related revenue recognition. A change in regulatory or financial accounting standards could result in the necessity to change the accounting methods we currently intend to employ in respect of our anticipated revenues and assets and restate any financial statements produced based on those methods. Such a restatement could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operation.

The development and acceptance of cryptographic and algorithmic protocols governing the issuance of and transactions in cryptocurrencies is subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate.

Digital assets, such as bitcoin, that may be used, among other things, to buy and sell goods and services are a new and rapidly evolving industry of which the digital asset networks are prominent, but not unique, parts. The growth of the digital asset industry, in general, and the digital asset networks, in particular, are subject to a high degree of uncertainty. The factors affecting the further development of the digital asset industry, as well as the digital asset networks, include:

•        continued worldwide growth in the adoption and use of bitcoin and other digital assets;

•        government and quasi-government regulation of bitcoin and other digital assets and their use, or restrictions on or regulation of access to and operation of the digital asset network or similar digital assets systems;

•        the maintenance and development of the open-source software protocol of the Bitcoin network and Ethereum network;

•        changes in user demographics and public tastes and preferences;

•        the availability and popularity of other forms or methods of buying and selling goods and services, including new means of using fiat currencies;

•        general economic conditions and the regulatory environment relating to digital assets; and

•        the impact of regulators focusing on digital assets and digital securities and the costs associated with such regulatory oversight.

The outcome of these factors could have negative effects on our ability to pursue our business strategy, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results as well as potentially negative effect on the value of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies we may potentially acquire or hold in the future.

Banks and financial institutions may not provide banking services, or may cut off services, to businesses that provide cryptocurrency-related services or that accept cryptocurrencies as payment.

In the future, we may be unable to find banks or financial institutions that are willing to provide us with bank accounts and other services or such service may be interrupted by government action. A number of companies that provide bitcoin or other cryptocurrency-related services have been unable to find banks or financial institutions that are willing to provide them with bank accounts and other services. Similarly, a number of companies and individuals or businesses associated with cryptocurrencies may have had and may continue to have their existing bank accounts closed or services discontinued with financial institutions. We also may be unable to maintain these services for our business. The difficulty that many businesses that provide bitcoin or other cryptocurrency-related services have and may continue to have in finding banks and financial institutions willing to provide them services may decrease the usefulness of cryptocurrencies as a payment system and harm public perception of cryptocurrencies. Similarly, the usefulness of cryptocurrencies as a payment system and the public perception of cryptocurrencies could be damaged if banks or financial institutions were to close the accounts of businesses providing bitcoin or other cryptocurrency-related services. This could occur as a result of compliance risk, cost, government regulation or public pressure. The risk applies to securities firms, clearance and settlement firms, national stock and commodities exchanges, the over-the-counter market and the Depository Trust Company. Such factors would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, face significant scaling obstacles that can lead to high fees or slow transaction settlement times.

Cryptocurrencies face significant scaling obstacles that can lead to high fees or slow transaction settlement times and attempts to increase the volume of transactions may not be effective. Scaling cryptocurrencies is essential to the widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, which widespread acceptance is necessary to the continued growth and development of our business. Many cryptocurrency networks face significant scaling challenges. For example, cryptocurrencies are limited with respect to how many transactions can occur per second. Participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem debate potential approaches to increasing the average number of transactions per second that the network can handle and have implemented mechanisms or are researching ways to increase scale, such as increasing the allowable sizes of blocks, and therefore the number of transactions per block, and “sharding”, which is a term for a horizontal partition of data in a database or search engine, which would not require every single transaction to be included in every single miner’s or validator’s block. However, there is no guarantee that any of the mechanisms in place or being explored for increasing the scale of settlement of cryptocurrency transactions will be effective, or how long they will take to become effective, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. In addition, as corresponding increases in throughput lag behind growth in the use of cryptocurrencies, average fees and settlement times may increase considerably. While it is possible that increased transaction fees could result in more revenue for our business, increased fees and decreased settlement speeds could preclude certain uses for cryptocurrencies, and could reduce demand for, and the price of, cryptocurrencies, which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

The development and acceptance of competing blockchain platforms or technologies may cause consumers to use alternative distributed ledgers or other alternatives.

The development and acceptance of competing blockchain platforms or technologies may cause consumers to use alternative distributed ledgers or an alternative to distributed ledgers altogether. Our business intends to rely on presently existent digital ledgers and blockchains and we could face difficulty adapting to emergent digital ledgers, blockchains, or alternatives thereto. This may adversely affect us and our exposure to various blockchain technologies and prevent us from realizing the anticipated profits from our investments. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results and potentially the value of any bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies we may potentially acquire or hold in the future.

If a malicious actor or botnet obtains control in excess of 50% of the processing power active on any digital asset network, including the bitcoin network, it is possible that such actor or botnet could manipulate the blockchain in a manner that may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

If a malicious actor or botnet (a volunteer or hacked collection of computers controlled by networked software coordinating the actions of the computers) obtains a majority of the processing power dedicated to mining on any digital asset network (the so-called “double-spend” or “51%” attacks), including the bitcoin network, it may be able to alter the blockchain by constructing alternate blocks if it is able to solve for such blocks faster than the remainder of the mining machines on the blockchain can add valid blocks. In such alternate blocks, the malicious actor or botnet could control, exclude or modify the ordering of transactions, though it could not generate new digital assets or transactions using such control.

Using alternate blocks, the malicious actor could “double-spend” its own digital assets (i.e., spend the same digital assets in more than one transaction) and prevent the confirmation of other users’ transactions for so long as it maintains control. To the extent that such malicious actor or botnet does not yield its majority control of the processing power, or the digital asset community does not reject the fraudulent blocks as malicious, reversing any changes made to the blockchain may not be possible.

For example, in late May and early June 2014, a mining pool known as GHash.io approached and, during a 24- to 48-hour period in early June may have exceeded, the threshold of 50% of the processing power on the bitcoin network. To the extent that GHash.io did exceed 50% of the processing power on the network, reports indicate that such threshold was surpassed for only a short period, and there are no reports of any malicious activity or control of the blockchain performed by GHash.io. Furthermore, the processing power in the mining pool appears to have been redirected to other pools on a voluntary basis by participants in the GHash.io pool, as had been done in prior instances when a mining pool exceeded 40% of the processing power on the bitcoin network. In the recent years, there have been also a series of 51% attacks on a number of other cryptocurrencies, including Verge and Ethereum Classic, which suffered three consecutive attacks in August 2020.

The approach towards and possible crossing of the 50% threshold indicate a greater risk that a single mining pool could exert authority over the validation of digital asset transactions. To the extent that the cryptocurrency ecosystem does not act to ensure greater decentralization of cryptocurrency mining processing power, the feasibility of a malicious actor obtaining in excess of 50% of the processing power on any digital asset network (e.g., through control of a large mining pool or through hacking such a mining pool) will increase, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

The price of cryptocurrencies may be affected by the sale of such cryptocurrencies by other vehicles investing in cryptocurrencies or tracking cryptocurrency markets, which could have a material adverse effect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We compete with other users and/or companies that are mining cryptocurrencies and other potential financial vehicles that seek to provide exposure to cryptocurrency prices, including securities backed by, or linked to, cryptocurrencies. Market and financial conditions, and other conditions beyond our control, may make it more attractive to invest in certain financial vehicles, or to invest in cryptocurrencies directly. In addition, the emergence of other financial vehicles and exchange-traded funds that provide exposure to digital asset prices have been scrutinized by regulators and such scrutiny and the negative impressions or conclusions resulting from such scrutiny could be applied to our business and impact our ability to successfully pursue our strategy or operate at all, or to establish or maintain a public market for our securities.

The global market for cryptocurrency is characterized by supply constraints that differ from those present in the markets for commodities or other assets such as gold and silver. The mathematical protocols under which certain cryptocurrencies are mined permit the creation of a limited, predetermined amount of currency, while others have no limit established on total supply. To the extent that other vehicles investing in cryptocurrencies or tracking cryptocurrency markets form and come to represent a significant proportion of the demand for cryptocurrencies, large redemptions of the securities of those vehicles and the subsequent sale of cryptocurrencies by such vehicles could negatively affect cryptocurrency prices and therefore affect the value of the cryptocurrency inventory we plan to hold. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

We may face risks of internet disruptions, which could have a material adverse effect on the price of cryptocurrencies and our ability to operate our business.

A disruption of the internet may affect the use of cryptocurrencies and subsequently the value of our securities. Generally, cryptocurrencies and our business of mining cryptocurrencies is dependent upon the internet. A significant disruption in internet connectivity could disrupt a currency’s network operations until the disruption is resolved and have a material adverse effect on the price of cryptocurrencies and, consequently, our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

The impact of geopolitical and economic events on the supply and demand for cryptocurrencies is uncertain.

Geopolitical crises may motivate large-scale purchases of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which could increase the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rapidly. This may increase the likelihood of a subsequent price decrease and fluctuations as crisis-driven purchasing behavior dissipates, adversely affecting the value of our inventory following such downward adjustment. Such risks are similar to the risks of purchasing commodities in general in uncertain times, such as the risk of purchasing, holding or selling gold. Alternatively, as an emerging asset class with limited acceptance as a payment system or commodity, global crises and general economic downturn may discourage investment in cryptocurrencies as investors focus their investment on less volatile asset classes as a means of hedging their investment risk. As an alternative to fiat currencies that are backed by central governments, cryptocurrencies, which are relatively new, are subject to supply and demand forces. How such supply and demand will be impacted by geopolitical events is largely uncertain but could be harmful to us and our investors.

Our interactions with a blockchain may expose us to persons named on The Office of Financial Assets Control of the U.S. Department of Treasury (“OFAC”) specially designated nationals (“SDN”) list or blocked persons or cause us to violate provisions of law that did not contemplate distribute ledger technology.

OFAC requires us to comply with its sanction program and not conduct business with persons named on its SDN list. However, because of the pseudonymous nature of blockchain transactions, we may inadvertently and without our knowledge engage in transactions with persons named on OFAC’s SDN list. Our internal policies prohibit any transactions with such SDN individuals, but we may not be adequately capable of determining the ultimate identity of the individual with whom we transact with respect to selling digital assets. In addition, in the future, OFAC or another regulator, may require us to screen transactions for OFAC addresses or other bad actors before including such transactions in a block, which may increase our compliance costs, decrease our anticipated transaction fees and lead to decreased traffic on our network. Any of these factors, consequently, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Moreover, federal law prohibits any U.S. person from knowingly or unknowingly possessing any visual depiction commonly known as child pornography. Recent media reports have suggested that persons have imbedded such depictions on one or more blockchains. Because our business requires us to download and retain one or more blockchains to effectuate our ongoing business, it is possible that such digital ledgers contain prohibited depictions without our knowledge or consent. To the extent government enforcement authorities literally enforce these and other laws and regulations that are impacted by decentralized distributed ledger technology, we may be subject to investigation, administrative or court proceedings, and civil or criminal monetary fines and penalties, all of which could harm our reputation and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

We may purchase and hold stablecoins as an intermediary means of settlement with vendors or means of exchange prior to purchase and hold of other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and stablecoins have inherent counterparty risks.

We may purchase and hold stablecoins as an intermediary means of settlement with vendors, or means of exchange prior to purchase and hold of other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. A stablecoin is a digital asset that seeks to maintain a stable value and is backed by an asset or portfolio of assets, such as fiat currency like U.S. dollars. There is a risk that the stablecoin issuer does not hold the corresponding asset underlying each stablecoin in circulation and is therefore unable to fulfil one-for-one redemptions. In addition, many stablecoin issuers are unregulated and do not provide transparent disclosure regarding their compliance with applicable licensing and regulatory requirements or the financial institutions that hold the underlying stable assets. For example, in November 2021, the President’s Working Group for Financial Markets recommended that Congress pass legislation to require that stablecoin issuers be regulated in a manner similar to insured depository institutions. If a stablecoin issuer fails to maintain required licenses to issue a stablecoin, it could subject the issuer to regulatory enforcement and injunctive actions, such as freezing funds underlying the stablecoin. The stablecoin issuer could also lose its relationships with banks and bank accounts where the underlying assets are deposited if it is engaged in unlicensed activities. If the stablecoin is unable to maintain its stable value, the market price of the stable coin could decline. If any of these events affecting stablecoins we hold were to occur, the value of the affected stablecoins we hold could materially decline, and our financial condition could be adversely impacted.

Risks Related to Cryptocurrency Mining

Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that we currently plan to mine and, thus, our future success depends in large part upon the value of bitcoin; the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may be subject to pricing risk and has historically been subject to wide swings.

Our operating results depends in large part upon the value of bitcoin, because it is the only cryptocurrency that we currently plan to mine. Specifically, our revenues from our cryptocurrency mining operations are expected to be based upon two factors: (1) the number of block rewards that we successfully mine and (2) the value of bitcoin. For further details on how our operating results may be directly impacted by changes in the value of bitcoin, see “— Our historical financial statements do not reflect the potential variability in earnings that we may experience in the future relating to bitcoin holdings.”

Furthermore, in our operations we intend to use application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) chips and machines (which we refer to as “mining machines”), which are principally utilized for mining bitcoin. Such mining machines cannot mine other cryptocurrencies, such as Litecoin, that are not mined utilizing the “SHA-256 algorithm”.

If other cryptocurrencies were to achieve acceptance at the expense of bitcoin, causing the value of bitcoin to decline, or if bitcoin were to switch its “proof of work” algorithm from SHA-256 to another algorithm for which the mining machines we plan to use are not specialized (see “— There is a possibility of cryptocurrency mining algorithms transitioning to “proof of stake” validation and other mining related risks, which could make us less competitive and ultimately adversely affect our business”), or the value of bitcoin were to decline for other reasons, particularly if such decline were significant or over an extended period of time, our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results would be adversely affected.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency market prices have historically been volatile. Our business may be adversely affected if the markets for bitcoin deteriorate or if its prices decline, including as a result of the following factors:

•        the reduction in mining rewards of bitcoin, including block reward halving events, which are events that occur after a specific period of time which reduces the block reward earned by miners;

•        disruptions, hacks, “forks”, 51% attacks, or other similar incidents affecting the bitcoin blockchain network;

•        hard “forks” resulting in the creation of and divergence into multiple separate networks;

•        informal governance led by bitcoin’s core developers that lead to revisions to the underlying source code or inactions that prevent network scaling, and which evolve over time largely based on self-determined participation, which may result in new changes or updates that affect their speed, security, usability, or value;

•        the ability for bitcoin blockchain network to resolve significant scaling challenges and increase the volume and speed of transactions;

•        the ability to attract and retain developers and customers to use bitcoin for payment, store of value, unit of accounting, and other intended uses;

•        transaction congestion and fees associated with processing transactions on the bitcoin network;

•        the identification of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous person or persons who developed bitcoin, or the transfer of Satoshi’s bitcoin assets;

•        negative public perception of bitcoin;

•        development in mathematics, technology, including in digital computing, algebraic geometry, and quantum computing that could result in the cryptography being used by bitcoin becoming insecure or ineffective; and

•        laws and regulations affecting the bitcoin network or access to this network, including a determination that bitcoin constitutes a security or other regulated financial instrument under the laws of any jurisdiction.

Furthermore, bitcoin pricing may be the result of, and may continue to result in, speculation regarding future appreciation in the value of cryptocurrencies, inflating and making their market prices more volatile or creating “bubble” type risks for bitcoin. Some market observers have asserted that the bitcoin market is experiencing a “bubble” and have predicted that, in time, the value of bitcoin could fall to a fraction of its current value, or even to zero. Bitcoin has not been in existence long enough for market participants to assess these predictions with any precision, but if these observers are even partially correct, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Our historical financial statements do not reflect the potential variability in earnings that we may experience in the future relating to bitcoin holdings.

The price of bitcoin has historically been subject to dramatic price fluctuations and is highly volatile. We intend to determine the fair value of our bitcoin based on quoted (unadjusted) prices on the active exchange that we have determined is our principal market for bitcoin. We intend to perform an analysis each quarter to identify whether events or changes in circumstances, principally decreases in the quoted (unadjusted) prices on the active exchange, indicate that it is more likely than not that any of our bitcoin assets is impaired. In determining if an impairment has occurred, we will consider the lowest price of one bitcoin quoted on the active exchange at any time since acquiring the specific bitcoin held. If the carrying value of a bitcoin exceeds that lowest price at any time during the quarter, an impairment loss is deemed to have occurred with respect to that bitcoin in the amount equal to the difference between its carrying value and such lowest price, and subsequent increases in the price of bitcoin will not affect the carrying value of our bitcoin. Gains (if any) are not recorded until realized upon sale, at which point they would be presented net of any impairment losses. In determining the gain to be recognized upon sale, we intend to calculate the difference between the sale price and carrying value of the specific bitcoin sold immediately prior to sale.

As a result, any decrease in the fair value of bitcoin below our carrying value for such assets at any time since their acquisition will require us to incur an impairment charge, and such charge could be material to our financial results for the applicable reporting period, which may create significant volatility in our reported earnings and decrease the carrying value of our digital assets, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.

The supply of bitcoin is limited, and production of bitcoin is negatively impacted by the bitcoin halving protocol expected every four years.

The supply of bitcoin is limited and, once the 21 million bitcoins have been “unearthed,” the network will stop producing more. Currently, there are approximately 19 million, or 90% of the total supply of, bitcoin in circulation. Halving is an event within the bitcoin protocol where the bitcoin reward provided upon mining a block is reduced by 50%. While the effect is to slow the pace of the release of new coins, it has no impact on the quantity of total bitcoin already outstanding. Halvings are scheduled to occur once every 210,000 blocks, or roughly every four years, with the latest halving having occurred in May 2020, which revised the block reward to 6.25 bitcoin. As a result, the price of bitcoin could rise or fall based on overall investor and consumer demand. Given a stable network hash rate, should the price of bitcoin remain unchanged after the next halving, our revenue related to mining new coins would be reduced by 50%, with a significant impact on profit.

Furthermore, as the number of bitcoins remaining to be mined decreases, the processing power required to record new blocks on the blockchain may increase. Eventually the processing power required to add a block to the blockchain may exceed the value of the reward for adding a block. Additionally, at some point, there will be no new bitcoin to mine. Once the processing power required to add a block to the blockchain exceeds the value of the reward for adding a block, we may focus on other strategic initiatives, which may be complimentary to our mining operations.

Any periodic adjustments to the digital asset networks, such as bitcoin, regarding the difficulty for block solutions, with reductions in the aggregate hash rate or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. If the award of new bitcoin for solving blocks and transaction fees for recording transactions are not sufficiently high to incentivize miners, miners may cease expending processing power, or hash rate, to solve blocks and confirmations of transactions on the bitcoin blockchain could be slowed.

Bitcoin miners record transactions when they solve for and add blocks of information to the blockchain. They generate revenue from both newly created bitcoin, known as the “block reward” and from fees taken upon verification of transactions.

If the aggregate revenue from transaction fees and the block reward is below a miner’s cost, the miner may cease operations. If the award of new units of bitcoin for solving blocks declines and/or the difficulty of solving blocks increases, and transaction fees voluntarily paid by participants are not sufficiently high, miners may not have an adequate incentive to continue mining and may cease their mining operations. For example, the current fixed reward for solving a new block on the bitcoin network is 6.25 bitcoins per block; the reward decreased from 12.5 bitcoin in May 2020, which itself was a decrease from 25 bitcoin in July 2016. It is estimated that it will “halve” again in about four years after the previous halving.

This reduction may result in a reduction in the aggregate hash rate of the bitcoin network as the incentive for miners decreases. Miners ceasing operations would reduce the aggregate hash rate on the bitcoin network, which would adversely affect the confirmation process for transactions (i.e., temporarily decreasing the speed at which blocks are added to the blockchain until the next scheduled adjustment in difficulty for block solutions). Moreover, a reduction in the hash rate expended by miners on any digital asset network could increase the likelihood of a malicious actor or botnet obtaining control in excess of fifty percent (50%) of the aggregate hash rate active on such network or the blockchain, potentially permitting such actor to manipulate the blockchain.

Periodically, the bitcoin network has adjusted the difficulty for block solutions so that solution speeds remain in the vicinity of the expected ten (10) minute confirmation time targeted by the bitcoin network protocol. We believe that from time to time there may be further considerations and adjustments to the networks, such as bitcoin and Ethereum, regarding the difficulty for block solutions. More significant reductions in the aggregate hash rate on digital asset networks could result in material, though temporary, delays in block solution confirmation time. Any reduction in confidence in the confirmation process or aggregate hash rate of any digital asset network may negatively impact the value of digital assets, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Transactional fees may decrease demand for bitcoin and prevent expansion.

As the number of bitcoins awarded in the form of block rewards for solving a block in a blockchain decreases, the relative incentive for miners to continue to contribute to the bitcoin network may transition to place more importance on transaction fees. If transaction fees paid for bitcoin transactions become too high, the marketplace may be reluctant to accept bitcoin as a means of payment and existing users may be motivated to switch from bitcoin to another cryptocurrency or to fiat currency. Either the requirement from miners of higher transaction fees in exchange for recording transactions in a blockchain or a software upgrade that automatically charges fees for all transactions may decrease demand for bitcoin and prevent the expansion of the bitcoin network to retail merchants and commercial businesses, resulting in a reduction in the price of bitcoin, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Our reliance on any particular model of mining machines may subject our operations to increased risk of failure.

The performance and reliability of our mining machines and our technology are critical to our reputation and our operations. If there is any technological issue with our mining machines, our entire system could be affected. Any system error or failure may significantly delay response times or even cause our system to fail. Any disruption in our ability to continue mining could result in lower yields and harm our reputation and business. Any exploitable weakness, flaw, or error of our mining machine may affect all our mining machines, and if a defect or flaw is exploited, our entire mine could go offline simultaneously. Any technological issue with those mining machines may force us to incur high replacement cost and lead to potential interruption of our mining activities. Any interruption, delay or system failure could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

There is a possibility of cryptocurrency mining algorithms transitioning to “proof of stake” validation and other mining related risks, which could make us less competitive and ultimately adversely affect our business.

“Proof of stake” is an alternative method in validating cryptocurrency transactions. Should the bitcoin network shift from a “proof of work” validation method to a “proof of stake” validation method, mining would require less energy and may render companies, such as ours, that may be perceived as advantageously positioned in the current climate, for example, due to lower priced electricity, processing, real estate, or hosting, less competitive. Our business model and our strategic efforts are fundamentally based upon the “proof of work” validation method and the assumption that use of lower priced electricity in our cryptocurrency mining operations will make our business model more resilient to fluctuations in bitcoin price and will generally provide us with certain competitive advantage. Consequently, if the cryptocurrency mining algorithms transition to “proof of stake” validation, we may be exposed to the risk of losing the benefit of our perceived competitive advantage that we hope to gain, and our business model may need to be reevaluated. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results, including our ability to continue as a going concern.

We may not adequately respond to price fluctuations and rapidly changing technology, which may negatively affect our business.

Competitive conditions within the cryptocurrency industry require that we use sophisticated technology in the operation of our business. The industry for blockchain technology is characterized by rapid technological changes, new product introductions, enhancements and evolving industry standards. New technologies, techniques or products could emerge that might offer better performance than the software and other technologies we currently plan to utilize, and we may have to manage transitions to these new technologies to remain competitive. We may not be successful, generally or relative to our competitors in the cryptocurrency industry, in timely implementing new technology into our systems, or doing so in a cost-effective manner. During the course of implementing any such new technology into our operations, we may experience system interruptions and failures during such implementation. Furthermore, there can be no assurances that we will recognize, in a timely manner or at all, the benefits that we may expect as a result of our implementing new technology into our operations. As a result, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

To the extent that the profit margins of bitcoin mining operations are not high, operators of bitcoin mining operations are more likely to immediately sell bitcoin rewards earned by mining in the market, thereby constraining growth of the price of bitcoin that could adversely impact us, and similar actions could affect other cryptocurrencies.

Over the past several years, bitcoin mining operations have evolved from individual users mining with computer processors, graphics processing units and first-generation ASIC servers. Currently, new processing power is predominantly added by incorporated and unincorporated “professionalized” mining operations.

Professionalized mining operations may use proprietary hardware or sophisticated ASIC machines acquired from ASIC manufacturers. They require the investment of significant capital for the acquisition of this hardware, the leasing of operating space (often in data centers or warehousing facilities), incurring of electricity costs and the employment of technicians to operate the mining farms. As a result, professionalized mining operations are of a greater scale than prior mining machines and have more defined and regular expenses and liabilities. These regular expenses and liabilities require professionalized mining operations to maintain profit margins on the sale of bitcoin.

To the extent the price of bitcoin declines and such profit margin is constrained, professionalized mining machines are incentivized to more immediately sell bitcoin earned from mining operations, whereas it is believed that individual mining machines in past years were more likely to hold newly mined bitcoin for more extended periods. The immediate selling of newly mined bitcoin greatly increases the trading volume of bitcoin, creating downward pressure on the market price of bitcoin rewards.

The extent to which the value of bitcoin mined by a professionalized mining operation exceeds the allocable capital and operating costs determines the profit margin of such operation. A professionalized mining operation may be more likely to sell a higher percentage of its newly mined bitcoin rapidly if it is operating at a low profit margin and it may partially or completely cease operations if its profit margin is negative. In a low profit margin environment, a higher percentage could be sold more rapidly, thereby potentially depressing bitcoin prices. Lower bitcoin prices could result in further tightening of profit margins for professionalized mining operations creating a network effect that may further reduce the price of bitcoin until mining operations with higher operating costs become unprofitable forcing them to reduce mining power or cease mining operations temporarily.

The foregoing risks associated with bitcoin could be equally applicable to other cryptocurrencies, whether existing now or introduced in the future. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

To the extent that any miners cease to record transactions in solved blocks, transactions that do not include the payment of a transaction fee will not be recorded on the blockchain until a block is solved by a miner who does not require the payment of transaction fees. Any widespread delays in the recording of transactions could result in a loss of confidence in that digital asset network, which could adversely impact an investment in us.

To the extent that any miners cease to record transactions in solved blocks, such transactions will not be recorded on the blockchain. Currently, there are no known incentives for miners to elect to exclude the recording of transactions in solved blocks; however, to the extent that any such incentives arise (e.g., a collective movement among miners or one or more mining pools forcing bitcoin users to pay transaction fees as a substitute for or in addition to the award of new bitcoins upon the solving of a block), actions of miners solving a significant number of blocks could delay the recording and confirmation of transactions on the blockchain. Any systemic delays in the recording and confirmation of transactions on the blockchain could result in greater exposure to double-spending transactions and a loss of confidence in certain or all digital asset networks, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Demand for bitcoin is driven, in part, by its status as one of the most prominent and secure digital assets. It is possible that digital assets, other than bitcoin, could have features that make them more desirable to a material portion of the digital asset user base, resulting in a reduction in demand for bitcoin, which could have a negative impact on the price of bitcoin and have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Bitcoin, as an asset, holds a “first-to-market” advantage over other digital assets. This first-to-market advantage is driven in large part by having the largest user base and, more importantly, the largest mining power in use to secure its blockchain and transaction verification system. Having a large mining network results in greater user confidence regarding the security and long-term stability of a digital asset’s network and its blockchain; as a result, the advantage of more users and miners makes a digital asset more secure, which makes it more attractive to new users and miners, resulting in a network effect that strengthens the first-to-market advantage.

Despite the marked first-mover advantage of the bitcoin network over other digital asset networks, it is possible that another digital asset could become materially popular due to either a perceived or exposed shortcoming of the bitcoin network protocol that is not immediately addressed by the bitcoin contributor community or a perceived advantage of an altcoin that includes features not incorporated into bitcoin. If a digital asset obtains significant market share (either in market capitalization, mining power or use as a payment technology), this could reduce bitcoin’s market share as well as other digital assets we may become involved in and have a negative impact on the demand for, and price of, such digital assets and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrencies that could be held by us are not insured and not subject to FDIC or SIPC protections.

Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrencies that could be held by us are not insured. Therefore, any loss that we may suffer with respect to our cryptocurrencies is not covered by insurance and no person may be liable in damages for such loss, which could adversely affect our operations. We will not hold our bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies that we may hold with a banking institution or a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) and, therefore, our cryptocurrencies will also not be subject to the protections enjoyed by depositors with FDIC or SIPC member institutions.

Risks Related to Investments Outside of the United States

As a company with operations and opportunities outside of the U.S., we may face additional burdens and be subject to a variety of additional risks or considerations associated with companies operating in an international setting that may negatively impact our operations.

As a company with operations and opportunities outside of the U.S., we may face additional burdens and be subject to a variety of additional risks or considerations associated with companies operating in an international setting, that may negatively impact our operations, including any of the following:

•        higher costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets;

•        rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

•        laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;

•        tariffs and trade barriers;

•        regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

•        local or regional economic policies and market conditions;

•        unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;

•        longer payment cycles;

•        tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the U.S.;

•        complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

•        currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

•        exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;

•        challenges in managing and staffing international operations;

•        rates of inflation;

•        challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

•        cultural and language differences;

•        employment regulations;

•        underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;

•        corruption;

•        protection of intellectual property;

•        social unrest, crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, regime changes, political upheaval, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars;

•        deterioration of political relations with the U.S.; and

•        government appropriation of assets.

We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer, which may adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Because of the costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations, if in the future we were to operate in multiple countries, our results of operations may be negatively impacted.

Managing businesses, operations, personnel, or assets in another country is challenging and costly. Any management, now or in the future, that we may have (whether based abroad or in the U.S.) may be inexperienced in cross-border business practices and unaware of significant differences in accounting rules, legal regimes, and labor practices in countries where we have a presence or operate. Even with a seasoned and experienced management team, the costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations, personnel and assets can be significant (and much higher than in a purely domestic business) and may negatively impact our financial and operational performance.

If social unrest, acts of terrorism, regime changes, changes in laws and regulations, political upheaval, or policy changes or enactments occur in a country in which we may operate, it may result in a negative impact on our business.

Political events in another country may significantly affect our business, assets, or operations. Social unrest, acts of terrorism, regime changes, changes in laws and regulations, political upheaval, and policy changes or enactments could negatively impact our business in a particular country.

Many countries have difficult and unpredictable legal systems and underdeveloped laws and regulations that are unclear and subject to corruption and inexperience, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

Our ability to seek and enforce legal protections, including with respect to intellectual property and other property rights, or to defend ourselves with regard to legal actions taken against us in a given country, may be difficult or impossible, which could adversely impact our operations, assets or financial condition.

Rules and regulations in many countries are often ambiguous or open to differing interpretation by responsible individuals and agencies at the municipal, state, regional, and federal levels. The attitudes and actions of such individuals and agencies are often difficult to predict and inconsistent.

Delays with respect to the enforcement of particular rules and regulations, including those relating to customs, tax, environmental, and labor, could cause serious disruption to operations abroad and negatively impact our results.

If relations between the United States and foreign governments deteriorate, they could affect our operations and cause our goods and services to become less attractive.

The relationship between the United States and foreign governments, could be subject to sudden fluctuation and periodic tension. For instance, the United States may announce its intention to impose quotas on certain imports. Such import quotas may adversely affect political relations between the two countries and result in retaliatory countermeasures by the foreign government in industries that may affect our operations or presence in certain countries. Changes in political conditions in foreign countries and changes in the state of U.S. relations with such countries are difficult to predict and could adversely affect our operations, presence, or cause our goods and services to become less attractive.

Many of the economies in Asia are experiencing substantial inflationary pressures which may prompt the governments to take action to control the growth of the economy and inflation that could lead to a significant decrease in our profitability.

While many of the economies in Asia have experienced rapid growth over the last two decades, they currently are experiencing inflationary pressures. As governments take steps to address the current inflationary pressures, there may be significant changes in the availability of bank credits, interest rates, limitations on loans, restrictions on currency conversions and foreign investment. There also may be imposition of price controls. If prices for our services rise at a rate that is insufficient to compensate for the rise in the costs of supplies and operations, it may have an adverse effect on our profitability. If these or other similar restrictions are imposed by a government to influence the economy, it may lead to a slowing of economic growth.

If a country in Asia enacts regulations in industry segments that forbid or restrict foreign investment, our ability to continue operating could be severely impaired.

Many of the rules and regulations that companies face concerning foreign ownership are not explicitly communicated. If new laws or regulations forbid or limit foreign investment in the industry in which we operate, they could severely impair our operations and profitability. Additionally, if the relevant central and local authorities find us to be in violation of any existing or future laws or regulations, they would have broad discretion in dealing with such a violation, including, without limitation:

•        levying fines;

•        revoking our business and other licenses;

•        requiring that we restructure our ownership or operations; and

•        requiring that we discontinue any portion or all of our business.

Any of the above could have an adverse effect on our business operations and could materially reduce the value of your investment.

Corporate governance standards in Asia may not be as strict or developed as in the United States and such weakness may hide issues and operational practices that are detrimental to a business.

General corporate governance standards in some countries are weak in that they do not prevent business practices that cause unfavorable related party transactions, over-leveraging, improper accounting, family company interconnectivity and poor management. Local laws often do not go far enough to prevent improper business practices. Therefore, stockholders may not be treated impartially and equally as a result of poor management practices, asset shifting, conglomerate structures that result in preferential treatment to some parts of the overall company, and cronyism. The lack of transparency and ambiguity in the regulatory process also may result in inadequate credit evaluation and weakness that may precipitate or encourage financial crisis. We will endeavor to take steps to implement practices that will cause compliance with all applicable rules and accounting practices. Notwithstanding these intended efforts, there may be endemic practices and local laws that could add risk to our business and result in an adverse effect on our operations and financial results.

If any dividend is declared in the future and paid in a foreign currency, you may be taxed on a larger amount in U.S.

If you are a U.S. holder of our Ordinary Shares, you will be taxed on the U.S. dollar value of your dividends, if any, at the time you receive them, even if you actually receive a smaller amount of U.S. dollars when the payment is in fact converted into U.S. dollars. Specifically, if a dividend is declared and paid in a foreign currency, the amount of the dividend distribution that you must include in your income as a U.S. holder will be the U.S. dollar value of the payments made in the foreign currency, determined at the spot rate of the foreign currency to the U.S. dollar on the date the dividend distribution is includible in your income, regardless of whether the payment is in fact converted into U.S. dollars. Thus, if the value of the foreign currency decreases before you actually convert the currency into U.S. dollars, you will be taxed on a larger amount in U.S. dollars than the U.S. dollar amount that you will actually ultimately receive.

Risks Related to China

It may be illegal now, or in the future, to acquire, own, hold, sell or use bitcoin, Ethereum, or other cryptocurrencies, participate in blockchains or utilize similar bitcoin assets in China, the ruling of which would adversely affect us.

Although currently cryptocurrencies generally are not regulated or are lightly regulated in most countries, one or more countries such as China, which have taken harsh regulatory action, may take regulatory actions in the future that could severely restrict the right to acquire, own, hold, sell or use these bitcoin assets or to exchange for fiat currency. In March 2021, the government of China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (“Inner Mongolia”), where we used to deploy mining machines, has banned cryptocurrency mining in order to constrain growth in energy consumption. In May 2021, other provinces in China have done the same and we terminated our operation in China accordingly. See “BUSINESS — B. Business Overview.”

We face certain risks relating to the real properties that we lease.

We lease real properties from third parties primarily for our wholly owned foreign enterprise’s office use in the PRC, and the lease agreements for all of these leased properties have not been registered with the PRC government authorities as required by the PRC law. Although the failure to do so does not in itself invalidate the leases, we may be ordered by the PRC government authorities to rectify such noncompliance and, if such noncompliance were not rectified within a given period of time, we may be subject to fines imposed by the PRC government authorities ranging from RMB1,000 and RMB10,000 for those of our lease agreements that have not been registered with the relevant PRC government authorities. As of the date of this Annual Report, we are not aware of any regulatory or governmental actions, claims or investigations being contemplated or any challenges by third parties to our use of our leased properties the lease agreements of which have not been registered with the government authorities. However, we cannot assure you that the government authorities will not impose fines on us due to our failure to register any of our lease agreements, which may negatively impact our financial condition.

In addition, some of the ownership certificates or other similar proof of certain leased properties have not been provided to us by the relevant lessors. Therefore, we cannot assure you that such lessors are entitled to lease the relevant real properties to us. If the lessors are not entitled to lease the real properties to us and the owners of such real properties decline to ratify the lease agreements between us and the respective lessors, we may not be able to enforce our rights to lease such properties under the respective lease agreements against the owners. As of the date of this Annual Report, we are not aware of any claim or challenge brought by any third parties concerning the use of our leased properties without obtaining proper ownership proof. If our lease agreements are claimed as null and void by third parties who are the real owners of such leased real properties, we could be required to vacate the properties, in the event of which we could only initiate the claim against the lessors under relevant lease agreements for indemnities for their breach of the relevant leasing agreements. We cannot assure you that suitable alternative locations are readily available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, and if we are unable to relocate our operations in a timely manner, our operations may be interrupted.

In addition, as of the date of this Annual Report, certain of our premises for business operations have not been registered with local administrations. In the PRC, if a company operates business outside its registered address, the company may be required to register those premises for business operation as branch offices with the State Administration for Market Regulation or its local branches at the place where the premises are located and obtain business licenses for them as branch offices, or the company may be subject to fines imposed by the PRC government authorities ranging from RMB10,000 and RMB100,000 for the premises for business operations which have not been registered with local administrations. We may not be able to register the main premises for business operations as branch offices in a timely manner or at all due to complex procedural requirements and relocation of branch offices from time to time. We cannot assure you that we will not be subject to penalties, orders to rectify or other administrative proceedings. As of the date of this Annual Report, we are not aware of any claim or challenge brought by any third parties concerning the premises for business operations without being registered with local administrations.

PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using foreign currency to make loans or additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries.

We are an offshore holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, with no mining operations in China. Our subsidiary, which is located in China, engages in activities that are not part of its profit-making operations, such as supply chain activities, heating equipment research, and other developmental activities that are completely compliant with PRC regulations. To the extent necessary, we may make loans to our PRC subsidiaries subject to the approval, registration, and filing with governmental authorities and limitation of amount, or we may make additional capital contributions to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China. Any loans to our wholly foreign-owned subsidiaries in China, which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC law, are subject to foreign exchange loan registrations with the National Development and Reform Commission, or the NDRC, and SAFE or its local branches. In addition, a foreign invested enterprise shall use its capital pursuant to the principle of authenticity and self-use within its business scope. The capital of a foreign invested enterprise shall not be used for the following purposes: (1) direct or indirect use for payment beyond the business scope of the enterprises or the payment prohibited by relevant laws and regulations; (2) direct or indirect use for investment in securities or investments other than banks’ principal-secured products unless otherwise provided by relevant laws and regulations; (3) the granting of loans to non-affiliated enterprises, except where it is expressly permitted in the business license; and (4) the payment of the expenses related to the purchase of real estate that is not for self-use (except for the foreign-invested real estate enterprises).

In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations on loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary government registrations or obtain the necessary government approvals or filings on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans by us to our PRC subsidiaries or with respect to future capital contributions by us to our PRC subsidiaries. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use the proceeds from any offering of our securities and any accompanied Annual Report on Form 20-F to supplement and capitalize or otherwise fund our PRC operations may be negatively affected.

Though we have a Singapore-based auditor and a U.S. based predecessor auditor that are registered with the PCAOB and currently subject to PCAOB inspection, if it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely the company’s auditors because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and as a result an exchange may determine to delist our securities.

Though we have a Singapore-based auditor and a U.S. based predecessor auditor that are registered with the PCAOB and currently subject to PCAOB inspection, if it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely the company’s auditors because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and as a result an exchange may determine to delist our securities.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections on accounting firms in the PRC without the approval of PRC government authorities. The auditor and its audit work in the PRC may not be inspected fully by the PCAOB. Inspections of other auditors conducted by the PCAOB outside of China have at times identified deficiencies in those auditors’ audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. The lack of PCAOB inspections of audit work undertaken in China prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating the PRC auditor’s audits and its quality control procedures.

Further, future developments in U.S. laws may restrict our ability or willingness to acquire certain businesses. For instance, the recently enacted Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCAA”) would (i) prohibit us from using an auditor that the PCAOB determines it could not inspect or fully investigate and (ii) restrict our ability to acquire a business unless that business met certain standards of the PCAOB and would (i) prohibit the trading of securities of a company and (ii) require delisting of a company from U.S. national securities exchanges if the PCAOB is unable to inspect its public accounting firm, for three consecutive years. The HFCAA also requires public companies to disclose, among other things, whether they are owned or controlled by a foreign government, specifically, those that are based in or have a majority or significant amount of their operations in the PRC.

On November 23, 2020, the SEC issued guidance highlighting certain risks (and their implications to U.S. investors) associated with investments in China-based issuers and summarizing enhanced disclosures the SEC recommends China-based issuers make regarding such risks. On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCA Act. We will be required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies us as having a “non-inspection” year (as defined in the interim final rules) under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC. Furthermore, on June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if enacted, would amend the HFCA Act and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three. On September 22, 2021, the PCAOB adopted a final rule implementing the HFCA Act, which provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCA Act, whether the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction. Future developments in respect of increased U.S. regulatory access to audit information are uncertain, as the legislative developments are subject to the legislative process and the regulatory developments are subject to the rule-making process and other administrative procedures.

We may not be able to in the future acquire a target business due to these laws. Furthermore, the documentation we may be required to submit to the SEC proving certain beneficial ownership requirements and establishing that we are not owned or controlled by a foreign government in the event that we or the target business uses a foreign public accounting firm not subject to inspection by the PCAOB or where the PCAOB is unable to completely inspect or investigate our or the target business’s accounting practices or financial statements because of a position taken by an authority in the foreign jurisdiction could be onerous and time consuming to prepare. As a result, we expressly exclude working with any auditor or any target whose auditor the PCAOB is not able to inspect for three consecutive years and thus, we may not in the future acquire a target business due to these laws.

Additionally, other developments in U.S. laws and regulatory environment, including but not limited to executive orders such as Executive Order (E.O.) 13959, “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments That Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies,” may further restrict our ability to acquire certain PRC-based businesses.

Although the audit reports of Audit Alliance LLP incorporated in this report are prepared by Singapore auditors who are subject to inspection by the Public Company Accounting Overnight Board (the “PCAOB”), there is no guarantee that future audit reports will be prepared by auditors that are completely inspected by the PCAOB and, as such, future investors may be deprived of such inspections, which could result in limitations or restrictions to our access in the U.S. capital markets under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCA Act”) or the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. The United States enacted the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCA Act, in December 2020. The HFCA Act includes requirements for the SEC to identify issuers whose audit reports are prepared by auditors that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a restriction imposed by a non-U.S. authority in the auditor’s local jurisdiction. In addition, under the HFCA Act, if the auditor of a U.S. listed company’s financial statements is not subject to PCAOB inspections for three consecutive “non-inspection” years after the law becomes effective, the SEC is required to prohibit the securities of such issuer from being traded on a U.S. national securities exchange, such as the NYSE and the Nasdaq, or in the U.S. over-the-counter markets. On December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted amendments to finalize rules implementing the HFCA Act, which requires the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. national securities exchange and in the over-the-counter market, if the auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for three consecutive years. Accordingly, our securities may be prohibited from trading on the Nasdaq or other U.S. stock exchanges if our auditor is not inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, and this ultimately could result in our Ordinary Shares being delisted.

Our independent registered public accounting firms issued an audit opinion on the financial statements included in this report filed with the SEC. As an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, our auditor is required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspections by the PCAOB.

Inspections of certain other firms outside of China that the PCAOB has conducted have identified deficiencies in those firms’ audit procedures and quality control procedures; which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. The PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections of audit firms located in China and Hong Kong.

Our auditors, the independent registered public accounting firms that issue the audit reports included elsewhere in this report, as auditors of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, are subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess their compliance with the applicable professional standards. Our current auditor, Audit Alliance LLP included in this report is based in Singapore who is subject to inspection by the Public Company Accounting Overnight Board (the “PCAOB”). As of the date of this report, Audit Alliance LLP was not included in the list of PCAOB Identified Firms in the PCAOB Determination Report issued in December 2021.

As part of a continued regulatory focus in the United States on access to audit and other information currently protected by national law, in particular China’s, in June 2019, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced bills to Congress that would require the SEC to maintain a list of issuers for which the PCAOB is not able to inspect or investigate an auditor report issued by a foreign public accounting firm. The Ensuring Quality Information and Transparency for Abroad-Based Listings on our Exchanges (EQUITABLE) Act prescribes increased disclosure requirements for such issuers, and beginning in 2025, the delisting from national securities exchanges, such as Nasdaq, of issuers included for three consecutive years on the SEC’s list. On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed S. 945, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA. The HFCAA was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 2, 2020. On December 18, 2020, the former U.S. president signed into law the HFCAA. In essence, the HFCAA requires the SEC to prohibit foreign companies from listing securities on U.S. securities exchanges if a company retains a foreign accounting firm that cannot be inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, beginning in 2021. The enactment of the HFCAA and any additional rulemaking efforts to increase U.S. regulatory access to audit information could cause (i) investor uncertainty for affected issuers, including SAI, (ii) the market price of our securities to be adversely affected, and (iii) us to be delisted if we are unable to meet the PCAOB inspection requirement in time (or unable to cure any requirement noncompliance).

On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCAA. We are required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies us as having a “non-inspection” year under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC. The SEC is assessing how to implement other requirements of the HFCAA, including the listing and trading prohibition requirements described above. Furthermore, on June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if enacted, would amend the HFCA Act and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three. On September 22, 2021, the PCAOB adopted a final rule implementing the HFCAA, which provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCAA, whether the Board is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction.

On June 4, 2020, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump issued a memorandum ordering the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, or the PWG, to submit a report to the President within 60 days of the memorandum that includes recommendations for actions that can be taken by the executive branch and by the SEC or PCAOB on Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges and their audit firms, in an effort to protect investors in the U.S. On August 6, 2020, the PWG released a report recommending that the SEC take steps to implement the five recommendations outlined in the report. In particular, to address companies from non-cooperating jurisdictions that do not provide the PCAOB with sufficient access to fulfil its statutory mandate, including China, the PWG recommends enhanced listing standards on U.S. stock exchanges. This would require, as a condition to initial and continued exchange listing, PCAOB access to work papers of the principal audit firm for the audit of the listed company. Companies unable to satisfy this standard as a result of governmental restrictions on access to audit workpapers and practices in non-cooperating jurisdictions may satisfy this standard by providing a co-audit from an audit firm with comparable resources and experience where the PCAOB determines it has sufficient access to audit work papers and practices to conduct an appropriate inspection of the co-audit firm. The report permits the new listing standards to provide for a transition period until January 1, 2022 for listed companies but would apply immediately to new listings once the necessary rulemakings and/or standard-setting are effective. Lastly, on December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the HFCA Act. We are required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies us as having a “non-inspection” year under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC.

Failure to make adequate contributions to various employee benefits plans as required by PRC regulations may subject us to penalties.

We are required by PRC laws and regulations to make social insurance registration and open housing fund account with relevant governmental authorities and pay various statutory employee benefits, including pensions, housing fund, medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance to designated government agencies for the benefit of our employees. The relevant government agencies may examine whether an employer has made adequate payments of the requisite statutory employee benefits, and those employers who fail to make adequate payments may be subject to late payment fees, fines and/or other penalties. If the PRC regulatory authorities determine that we shall be responsible for making up any unpaid social insurance and housing fund contributions, or that we are subject to fines and legal sanctions due to our failure to make social insurance and housing fund contributions in full for our employees, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. Furthermore, there remains uncertainty as to whether the relevant PRC authorities will promulgate new laws and regulations or change their interpretation of existing laws and regulations, and we cannot assure you that our employment practices will be deemed to be in compliance with labor-related laws and regulations in the PRC due to the aforesaid uncertainties, which may subject us to labor disputes or government investigations. If we are deemed to have violated relevant labor laws and regulations, we could be required to provide additional compensation to our employees and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Pursuant to laws and regulations of PRC, there are two ways for foreign legal persons/entities to engaging in operation activities within the territory of China: the first, to establish a foreign-invested enterprise, which is incorporated according to Foreign Investment Law of PRC, within the territory of China and is wholly or partly invested by a foreign investor. The organization form, institutional framework and standard of conduct of a foreign-invested enterprise shall be subject to the provisions of the Company Law of the PRC and the Partnership Enterprise Law of the PRC and other law related regulations; or the second, to complete the approval and registration procedures with the relevant regulatory authorities in accordance with the provisions of Administrative Measures for the Registration of Enterprises of Foreign Countries (Regions) Engaging in Production and Operation Activities within the Territory of China (Revised in 2020), or Order No.31.

Policy risk of foreign investment in China.

The PRC government implements the management systems of pre-establishment national treatment and negative list for foreign investment. Pre-establishment national treatment refers to the treatment given to foreign investors and their investments during the investment access stage, which is not lower than that given to their domestic counterparts; negative list refers to special administrative measures for the access of foreign investment in specific fields as stipulated by the State. The PRC government shall give national treatment to foreign investment beyond the negative list.

Pursuant to the Special Administrative Measures for Access of Foreign Investment (2020 Edition), or the 2020 Edition Negative list, issued by The Ministry of Commerce of the PRC (the “MOFCOM”) and the NDRC on June 23, 2020, which came into effect on July 23, 2020, our business does not fall into the negative list and is permitted for foreign investment as of the date hereof. The Negative list will be revised from time to time. If the industries in which we operate are included on the negative list, our business in China will be adversely affected accordingly.

Foreign company engaged in profit-making activities in China.

According to Order No.31, foreign enterprises engaged in profit-making activities in China shall apply to the provincial market regulatory administration, or the registration authorities, for registration upon the approval of the State Council and the competent agencies authorized by the State Council, or the approving authorities; without the approval of the approving authorities and the registration approval of the registration authorities, the foreign enterprises may not conduct any production and operation activities within the territory of China. Without the approval of the approving authorities and the registration of registration authorities, foreign enterprise engaging in profit-making activities authority may be imposed penalties such as warning, fine, confiscation of illegal income, suspension of business for rectification on a case-by-case basis.

Since the inception, we mainly carried out our research and development activities through our wholly owned foreign enterprise (“WOFE”), Hangzhou Dareruohan Technology Co., Ltd., and have registered with competent registration authority.

Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of Chinese laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to us.

The PRC legal system is based on written statutes and prior court decisions have limited value as precedents. Since the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties.

China is one of the jurisdictions to implement strict foreign exchange control. As a matter of fact, the free flow of bitcoin blurs the boundary of foreign exchange control. In some public speeches, officials of the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”) have expressed concerns about the challenges of cryptocurrency to foreign exchange control. In the event regulators believe that the circulation of bitcoin has a significant adverse impact on financial security, they may restrict the trading of bitcoin and the mining business in its jurisdiction.

From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. However, since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy than in more developed legal systems. Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules (some of which are not published in a timely manner or at all) that may have retroactive effect. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

In addition to the unified policies at the national level, the attitudes of the Chinese local or provincial governments towards mining enterprises have also changed from time to time. The sharp rise in bitcoin prices this year results in increase of mining activity and electricity consumption, which may draw further attention and trigger new regulatory measures by local governments.

The M&A Rules and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.

The M&A Rules and some other regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that the MOFCOM be notified in advance of any change-of control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. Moreover, the Anti-Monopoly Law requires that the MOFCOM shall be notified in advance of any concentration of undertaking if certain thresholds are triggered. In addition, the security review rules issued by the MOFCOM that became effective in September 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise “national defense and security” concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise “national security” concerns are subject to strict review by the MOFCOM, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. In the future, we may grow our business by acquiring complementary businesses. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions could be time consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from the MOFCOM or its local counterparts may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

PRC regulations relating to offshore investment activities by PRC residents may expose us or our PRC resident beneficial owners to liability and penalties under PRC law.

SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Relating to Domestic Resident’s Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37, in July 2014 that requires PRC residents or entities to register with SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. In addition, such PRC residents or

entities must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to any change of basic information (including change of such PRC citizens or residents, name and operation term), increases or decreases in investment amount, transfers or exchanges of shares, or mergers or divisions. SAFE Circular 37 is issued to replace the Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for PRC Residents Engaging in Financing and Roundtrip Investments via Overseas Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 75. SAFE promulgated the Notice on Further Simplifying and Improving the Administration of the Foreign Exchange Concerning Direct Investment in February 2015, which took effect on June 1, 2015. This notice has amended SAFE Circular 37 requiring PRC residents or entities to register with qualified banks rather than SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing.

Failure to comply with the SAFE registration described above could result in liability under PRC laws for evasion of applicable foreign exchange restrictions.

Some of our shareholders, who directly or indirectly hold our Ordinary Shares and who were known to us as being PRC residents, have completed the foreign exchange registrations required in connection with our corporate restructuring.

However, we may not be informed of the identities of all the PRC residents or entities holding direct or indirect interest in us, nor can we compel our beneficial owners to comply with SAFE registration requirements. As a result, we cannot assure you that all of our shareholders or beneficial owners who are PRC residents or entities have complied with and will in the future make or obtain any applicable registrations or approvals required by, SAFE regulations. Failure by such shareholders or beneficial owners to comply with SAFE regulations could subject us to fines or legal sanctions, restrict our overseas or cross-border investment activities or affect our ownership structure, which could adversely affect our business and prospects.

Any failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee stock incentive plans may subject the PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

Pursuant to the Notices on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Publicly-Listed Company, promulgated by SAFE in 2012, PRC citizens and non-PRC citizens who reside in China for a continuous period of not less than one year who participate in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company, subject to limited exceptions, are required to register with SAFE through a domestic qualified agent, which could be the PRC subsidiary of such overseas listed company, and complete certain other procedures. In addition, an overseas entrusted institution must be retained to handle matters in connection with the exercise or sale of stock options and the purchase or sale of shares and interests. We and our executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who have resided in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year and who have been granted options or other awards are subject to these regulations because we are an overseas listed company. Failure to complete the SAFE registrations may subject them to fines and legal sanctions.

If we are classified as a PRC resident enterprise for PRC income tax purposes, such classification could result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders.

Under the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with a “defacto management body” within the PRC is considered a resident enterprise and will be subject to the enterprise income tax on its global income at the rate of 25%. The implementation rules define the term “de facto management body” as the body that exercises full and substantial control over and overall management of the business, productions, personnel, accounts and properties of an enterprise. In April 2009, the State Administration of Taxation issued a circular, known as Circular 82, (partly amended) which provides certain specific criteria for determining whether the “de facto management body” of a PRC-controlled enterprise that is incorporated offshore is located in China. Although this circular only applies to offshore enterprises controlled by PRC enterprises or PRC enterprise groups, not those controlled by PRC individuals or foreigners, the criteria set forth in the circular may reflect the State Administration of Taxation’s general position on how the “de facto management body” test should be applied in determining the tax resident status of all offshore enterprises. According to Circular 82, an offshore incorporated enterprise controlled by a PRC enterprise or a PRC enterprise group will be regarded as a PRC tax resident by virtue of having its “de facto management body” in China and will be subject to PRC enterprise income tax on its global income only if all of the following conditions are met: (i) the primary location of the day-to-day operational management is

in the PRC; (ii) decisions relating to the enterprise’s financial and human resource matters are made or are subject to approval by organizations or personnel in the PRC; (iii) the enterprise’s primary assets, accounting books and records, company seals, and board and shareholder resolutions, are located or maintained in the PRC; and (iv) at least 50% of voting board members or senior executives habitually reside in the PRC.

We believe none of our entities outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for PRC tax purposes. However, the tax resident status of an enterprise is subject to determination by the PRC tax authorities and uncertainties remain with respect to the interpretation of the term “de facto management body.” As all of our management members are Chinese citizen, it remains unclear how the tax residency rule will apply to our case. If the PRC tax authorities determine that we or any of our subsidiaries outside of China is a PRC resident enterprise for PRC enterprise income tax purposes, then we or such subsidiary could be subject to PRC tax at a rate of 25% on its world-wide income, which could materially reduce our net income. In addition, WOFE, will also be subject to PRC enterprise income tax reporting obligations. Furthermore, if the PRC tax authorities determine that we are a PRC resident enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes, gains realized on the sale or other disposition of our Class A Ordinary Shares may be subject to PRC tax, at a rate of 10% in the case of non-PRC enterprises or 20% in the case of non-PRC individuals (in each case, subject to the provisions of any applicable tax treaty), if such gains are deemed to be from PRC sources. It is unclear whether our non-PRC shareholders would be able to claim the benefits of any tax treaties between their country of tax residence and the PRC in the event that we are treated as a PRC resident enterprise. Any such tax may reduce the returns on your investment in our Class A Ordinary Shares.

Regulatory bodies of the United States may be limited in their ability to conduct investigations or inspections of our operations in China.

From time to time, we may receive requests from certain U.S. agencies to investigate or inspect the Company’s operations, or to otherwise provide information. While we will be compliant with these requests from these regulators, there is no guarantee that such requests will be honored by those entities who provide services to us or with whom we associate, especially as those entities are located in China. Furthermore, since our operations were mainly conducted in China prior to July 2021, an on-site inspection of our facilities by any of these regulators may be limited or entirely prohibited. Such inspections, though permitted by us and our affiliates, are subject to the unpredictability of the Chinese enforcers, and may therefore be impossible to facilitate.

Enhanced scrutiny over acquisition transactions by the PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on the indirect transfer of equity in the past and potential acquisitions we may pursue in the future.

The PRC tax authorities have enhanced their scrutiny over the direct or indirect transfer of certain taxable assets, including, in particular, equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise, by a non-resident enterprise by promulgating and implementing SAT Circular 59 and Circular 698, which became effective in January 2008, and a Circular 7 in replacement of some of the existing rules in Circular 698, which became effective in February 2015.

Under Circular 7, where a non-resident enterprise conducts an “indirect transfer” by transferring the equity interests of a PRC “resident enterprise” indirectly by disposing of the equity interests of an overseas holding company, the non-resident enterprise, being the transferor, may be subject to PRC enterprise income tax, if the indirect transfer is considered to be an abusive use of company structure without reasonable commercial purposes. As a result, gains derived from such indirect transfer may be subject to PRC tax at a rate of up to 10%.

On October 17, 2017, the SAT issued the Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues Concerning the Withholding of Nonresident Enterprise Income Tax at Source, or SAT Circular 37, which came into effect on December 1, 2017. The SAT Circular 37 further clarifies the practice and procedure of the withholding of non-resident enterprise income tax. SAT Circular 698 was repealed from the date SAT Circular 37 was enacted.

Where a non-resident enterprise transfers taxable assets in China indirectly by disposing of the equity interests of an overseas holding company, which is an Indirect Transfer, the non-resident enterprise as either transferor or transferee, or the PRC entity whose equity is transferred, may report such Indirect Transfer to the relevant tax authority. Using a “substance over form” principle, the PRC tax authority may disregard the existence of the overseas holding company if it lacks a reasonable commercial purpose and was established for the purpose of reducing, avoiding or deferring PRC tax. As a result, gains derived from such Indirect Transfer may be subject to PRC enterprise income tax, and the transferee or other person who is obligated to pay for the transfer is obligated to withhold the applicable taxes, currently at a rate of 10% for the transfer of equity interests in a PRC resident enterprise. Both the transferor and the transferee may be subject to penalties under PRC tax laws if the transferee fails to withhold the taxes and the transferor fails to

pay the taxes. We face uncertainties as to the reporting and other implications of certain past and future transactions where PRC taxable assets are involved, such as offshore restructuring, sale of the shares in our offshore subsidiaries and investments. We may be subject to filing obligations or taxed if we are the transferor in such transactions and may be subject to withholding obligations if we are the transferee in such transactions, under Circular 7 and/or SAT Circular 37. For transfer of our Ordinary Shares by investors who are non-PRC resident enterprises, our PRC subsidiaries may be requested to assist in the filing under SAT Circular 7 and/or Circular 37. As a result, we may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with SAT Circular 7 and/or Circular 37 or to request the relevant transferors from whom we purchase taxable assets to comply with these circulars, or to establish that we should not be taxed under these circulars, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Fluctuations in exchange rates could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment.

Prior to transitioning our business to Singapore in July 2021, substantially all of our revenues and expenditures were denominated in RMB, whereas our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. As a result, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and RMB could affect the relative purchasing power in RMB terms of our U.S. dollar assets. Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar while the functional currency for our future PRC subsidiary is RMB. Gains and losses from the remeasurement of assets and liabilities that are receivable or payable in RMB are included in our consolidated statements of operations. The remeasurement has caused the U.S. dollar value of our results of operations to vary with exchange rate fluctuations, and the U.S. dollar value of our results of operations varied with exchange rate fluctuations. A fluctuation in the value of RMB relative to the U.S. dollar could impact our profits from operations and the translated value of our net assets when reported in U.S. dollars in our financial statements. This could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations as reported in U.S. dollars. If we decide to convert our RMB into U.S. dollars for the purpose of making payments for dividends on our Class A Ordinary Shares or for other business purposes, appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the RMB would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount available to us. In addition, fluctuations in currencies relative to the periods in which the earnings are generated may make it more difficult to perform period-to period comparisons of our reported results of operations.

We primarily conduct our business in Singapore and have re-signed business contracts with current customers and will sign future contracts with customers denominated in U.S. dollar. In 2022, most of our revenue and expenditures were denominated in U.S. dollar and that our function currency is U.S. dollar, consistent with our reporting currency. However, we continue to pursue our supply chain in China, as a result we need to convert U.S dollar into RMB to pay our raw material costs and related expenses, appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar could have an adverse effect on the RMB amount that we receive from the conversion.

Very limited hedging options are available in China to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedges may be limited, and we may not be able to adequately hedge our exposure or at all. In addition, our currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert RMB into foreign currency. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may have some impact on your investment.

The PRC government may exert, at any time, with little to no notice, substantial interventions and influences over the manner in which a business must conduct its business operations that cannot always be expected nor anticipated, if such business has some presence/operations in China. If the PRC government at any time substantially intervenes, influences, or establishes new policies, regulations, rules, or laws in a business’s industry, such substantial intervention or influence may result in adverse impact on such business’s operations and the value of such business’s securities, including causing the value of such securities to decline.

The PRC government may exert, at any time, with little to no notice, substantial interventions and influences over the manner in which a business must conduct its business operations that cannot always be expected nor anticipated, if such business has some presence/operations in China. If the PRC government at any time substantially intervenes, influences, or establishes new policies, regulations, rules, or laws in a business’s industry, such substantial intervention or influence may result in a material change to such business’s operations and the value of those companies’ securities. Without limiting the foregoing, any actions by the PRC government to exert more oversight and control over foreign investment in companies with operations in China could limit or completely hinder those companies’ ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline.

The PRC government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through regulation and state ownership. A company’s ability to operate in China may be harmed by changes in its laws and regulations, including those relating to taxation, environmental regulations, land use rights, property and other matters. The central or local governments of these jurisdictions may impose new, stricter regulations or interpretations of existing regulations that would require additional expenditures and efforts on a company’s part to ensure compliance with such regulations or interpretations. Accordingly, government actions in the future, including any decision not to continue to support recent economic reforms and to return to a more centrally planned economy or regional or local variations in the implementation of economic policies, could have a significant effect on economic conditions in China or particular regions thereof, and could require a company to divest itself of any interests its holds in Chinese properties.

For example, the Chinese cybersecurity regulator announced on July 2, 2021, that it had begun an investigation of Didi Global Inc. (NYSE: DIDI) and two days later ordered that the company’s app be removed from smartphone app stores. On July 24, 2021, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council jointly released the Guidelines for Further Easing the Burden of Excessive Homework and Off-campus Tutoring for Students at the Stage of Compulsory Education, pursuant to which foreign investment in such firms via mergers and acquisitions, franchise development, and variable interest entities are banned from this sector.

Furthermore, on October 29, 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) publicly solicited opinions on the Measures for the Security Assessment of Data Cross-border Transfer for public comments. The Measures for the Security Assessment of Data Cross-border Transfer requires that any data processor collecting important data generated during operations within the territory of the PRC, or personal information that should be subject to security assessment according to law to an overseas recipient, shall conduct security assessment. On November 14, 2021, the CAC publicly solicited opinions on the Regulations on the Administration of Cyber Data Security for public comments (“Draft Data Security Regulations”, together with the Measures for the Security Assessment of Data Cross-border Transfer, the “Measures and Regulations”). According to the Draft Data Security Regulations, data processors shall, in accordance with relevant state provisions, apply for cyber security review when carrying out the following activities: (1) the merger, reorganization or separation of Internet platform operators that have acquired a large number of data resources related to national security, economic development, or public interests, which affect or may affect national security; (2) data processors that handle the personal information of more than one million people intending to be listed abroad; (3) data processors intending to be listed in Hong Kong, which affects or may affect national security; and (4) other data processing activities that affect or may affect national security. As such aforementioned draft Measures and Regulations have not been adopted, and it remains unclear whether the formal version to be adopted in the future will have any further material changes, it is uncertain how the measures will be enacted, interpreted, or implemented; including how they will affect us.

As such, a company’s business segments may be subject to various government and regulatory interference in the provinces in which it operates. A company’s business could be subject to regulation by various political and regulatory entities, including various local and municipal agencies and government sub-divisions. A company may incur increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply.

Furthermore, it is uncertain when and whether a company that is currently not required to do so will be required to obtain permission from the PRC government to continue listing on U.S. exchanges in the future, and even when such permission is obtained, whether it will be denied or rescinded.

We are a global mining operator. Our operations have been completed transferred out of China in accordance with PRC regulations. As such, we do not consider ourselves as a China-based issuer. Our subsidiary, which is located in China, engages in activities that are not part of our profit-making operations, such as supply chain activities, heating equipment research, and other developmental activities that are completely compliant with PRC regulations. All of our mining operations are conducted outside of mainland China and are (i) not subject to PRC governmental intervention or risks and (ii) not required to obtain permission from any of the PRC or local governmental authorities. Additionally, we do not operate any internet platforms involving a large number of data resources related to national security, economic development, or public interests. Our business also does not relate to collecting and processing personal information, nor any cross-border data transfers. We therefore believe that we are not subject to regulations and rules of the CAC.

Although we are (i) not subject to PRC governmental intervention or risks and (ii) not required to obtain permission from any of the PRC or local governmental authorities, our business operations could still be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by existing or future PRC laws and regulations relating to our business or industry. We are currently not required to obtain approval from Chinese authorities to list on U.S exchanges.

On February 17, 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”) issued the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (the “Trial Administrative Measures”) and relevant supporting guidelines (collectively, the “New Administrative Rules Regarding Overseas Listings”), which came into force since March 31, 2023. The New Administrative Rules Regarding Overseas Listings refine the regulatory system for domestic company’s overseas offering and listing by subjecting both direct and indirect overseas offering and listing activities to the filing-based administration, and clearly defines the circumstances where provisions for direct and indirect overseas offering and listing apply and relevant regulatory requirements.

According to the New Administrative Rules Regarding Overseas Listings, among other things, a domestic company in the PRC that seeks to offer and list securities in overseas markets shall fulfill the filing procedure with the CSRC as per requirement of the Trial Administrative Measures. Where a domestic company seeks to directly offer and list securities in overseas markets, the issuer shall file with the CSRC. Where a domestic company seeks to indirectly offer and list securities in overseas markets, the issuer shall designate a major domestic operating entity, which shall, as the domestic responsible entity, file with the CSRC. Initial public offerings or listings in overseas markets shall be filed with the CSRC within 3 working days after the relevant application is submitted overseas. The required filing materials with the CSRC include (without limitation): (i) record-filing reports and related undertakings, (ii) compliance certificates, filing or approval documents from the primary regulators of applicants’ businesses (if applicable), (iii) security assessment opinions issued by related departments (if applicable), (iv) PRC legal opinions issued by domestic law firms (with related undertakings), and (v) prospectus or listing documents. If an issuer offers securities in the same overseas market where it has previously offered and listed securities subsequently, filings shall be made with the CSRC within 3 working days after the offering is completed. Upon occurrence of any material event, such as change of control, investigations or sanctions imposed by overseas securities regulatory agencies or other relevant competent authorities, change of listing status or transfer of listing segment, or voluntary or mandatory delisting, after an issuer has offered and listed securities in an overseas market, the issuer shall submit a report thereof to CSRC within 3 working days after the occurrence and public disclosure of such event. Further, an overseas securities company that serves as a sponsor or lead underwriter for overseas securities offering and listing by domestic companies shall file with the CSRC within 10 working days after signing its first engagement agreement for such business, and submit to the CSRC, no later than January 31 each year, an annual report on its business activities in the previous year associated with overseas securities offering and listing by domestic companies. If an overseas securities company has entered into engagement agreements before the effectuation of the Trial Administrative Measures and is serving in practice as a sponsor or lead underwriter for overseas securities offering and listing by domestic companies, it shall file with the CSRC within 30 working days after the Trial Administrative Measures take effect.

The Trial Administrative Measures also provides that if the issuer meets both of the following criteria, the overseas securities offering and listing conducted by such issuer will be deemed as indirect overseas offering by PRC domestic companies: (i) 50% or more of any of the issuer’s revenue, profit before tax, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent fiscal year is accounted for by domestic companies; and (ii) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main place(s) of business are located in mainland China, or the majority of senior management staff in charge of its business operations and management are PRC citizens or have their usual place(s) of residence located in mainland China. Where an issuer submits an application for initial public offering to competent overseas regulators, such issuer must file with the CSRC within three business days after such application is submitted. The Overseas Listing Trial Measures also requires subsequent reports to be filed with the CSRC on material events, such as change of control or voluntary or forced delisting of the issuer(s) who have completed overseas offerings and listings.

Based upon our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended on December 31, 2022, and as of December 31, 2022, less than 50% of our revenue, profit before tax, total assets and net assets were attributable to our PRC subsidiaries. Also, our PRC subsidiaries do not constitute a main part of our business activity, since they only engage in activities such as supply chain activities and heating equipment research, which are not part of our profit-making operations. Therefore, we believe that we do not meet both of the aforementioned criteria as provided by the Trial Administrative Measures issued by the CSRC, and thus are not subject to the New Administrative Rules

Regarding Overseas Listings. However, if the CSRC or other applicable PRC authorities deemed otherwise, we may be required to complete such filing requirements before any offering of securities, which would materially affect our ability to offer securities and cause significantly decreases on the price of our securities.

Changes in the policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government may be quick with little to no advance notice and could cause adverse impact on a company’s ability to operate profitably in the PRC.

Our operations have been completely transferred out of China in accordance with PRC regulations. Our subsidiaries, which are located in China, engage in activities, such as supply chain, heating equipment research, and other developmental activities that are completely compliant with PRC regulations.

In the event that our business is considered by PRC authorities as having operations and generating a portion of its revenue in the PRC, economic, political, and legal developments in the PRC may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government can have material effects on economic conditions in the PRC and the ability of businesses to operate profitably. Our ability to operate profitably may be adversely affected by changes in policies by the PRC government, including changes in laws, regulations or their interpretation, particularly those dealing with the Internet, including censorship and other restriction on material which can be transmitted over the Internet, security, intellectual property, money laundering, taxation and other laws that affect our ability to operate even we are located outside of China.

PRC laws and regulations governing a company’s presence/business operations are sometimes vague and uncertain and any changes in such laws and regulations may impair a company’s ability to operate profitably.

There are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of PRC laws and regulations including, but not limited to, the laws and regulations governing a company’s business and the enforcement and performance of a company’s arrangements with customers in certain circumstances. The laws and regulations are sometimes vague and may be subject to future changes, and their official interpretation and enforcement may involve substantial uncertainty. The effectiveness and interpretation of newly enacted laws or regulations, including amendments to existing laws and regulations, may be delayed, and a company’s business may be affected if it relies on laws and regulations which are subsequently adopted or interpreted in a manner different from its understanding of these laws and regulations. New laws and regulations that affect existing and proposed future businesses may also be applied retroactively. It cannot be predicted what effect the interpretation of existing or new PRC laws or regulations may have on a business.

The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Unlike the common law system, prior court decisions under the civil law system may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. Since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and the enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties.

In 1979, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general. The overall effect of legislation over the past three decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in China. However, China has not developed a fully integrated legal system, and recently enacted laws and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in China. In particular, the interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve uncertainties. Since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory provisions and contractual terms, it may be difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection it affords. These uncertainties may affect a company’s judgment on the relevance of legal requirements and its ability to enforce contractual rights or tort claims. In addition, the regulatory uncertainties may be exploited through unmerited or frivolous legal actions or threats in attempts to extract payments or benefits from a company.

Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which are not published on a timely basis or at all and may have retroactive effect. As a result, a company may not be aware of a violation of any of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. In addition, any administrative and court proceedings in China may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

From time to time, a business may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce its legal rights. However, since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection a business enjoys than in more developed legal systems. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of a company’s contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, and any failure to respond to changes in the regulatory environment in China could materially and adversely affect a company’s business and impede its ability to continue operations.

We are a global mining operator. Our operations have been completely transferred out of China in accordance with PRC regulations. As such, we do not consider ourselves as a China based issuer nor believe that there is any risk associated with changes in the laws or regulations of the PRC. Our subsidiary, which is located in China, engages in activities that are not part of our profit-making operations, such as supply chain activities, heating equipment research, and other developmental activities that are completely compliant with PRC regulations. All of our mining operations are conducted outside of mainland China and are thus (i) not subject to PRC governmental intervention or risks, (ii) not required to obtain permission from any of the PRC or local governmental authorities, and (iii) not affected by the vague and uncertain nature of PRC laws and regulations or any changes thereto.

The filing or other requirements of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) or other PRC government authorities may be required under PRC law in connection with our issuance of securities.

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, purport to require offshore special purpose vehicles that are controlled by PRC companies or individuals and that have been formed for the purpose of seeking a public listing on an overseas stock exchange through acquisitions of PRC domestic companies or assets to obtain CSRC approval prior to publicly listing their securities on an overseas stock exchange. The interpretation and application of the regulations remain unclear. If CSRC approval under the M&A Rules is required, it is uncertain whether it would be possible for us to obtain the approval, and any failure to obtain or delay in obtaining CSRC approval for our future issuance of securities overseas would subject us to sanctions imposed by the CSRC and other PRC regulatory agencies.

Furthermore, the recently issued Opinions on Strictly Cracking Down on Illegal Securities Activities (the “Opinions”) emphasized (i) the need to strengthen the administration over “illegal securities activities” and (ii) the supervision of overseas listings by China-based companies. The Opinions also proposed to take effective measures, such as promoting the construction of relevant regulatory systems, to deal with the risks and incidents faced by China-based overseas-listed companies; although such opinions did not specify the definition of “illegal securities activities.” The Opinions further provided that the special provisions of the State Council on overseas offerings and listings by those companies limited by shares will be revised and therefore the duties of domestic industry competent authorities and regulatory agencies will be clarified. As the Opinions were newly issued and there are no further explanations or detailed rules and regulations with respect to such Opinions, there are still uncertainties regarding the interpretation and implementation of such Opinions. In addition, new rules or regulations promulgated in the future could impose additional requirements on us. For example, it was reported that the CSRC may issue new rules requiring China-based companies to seek approval before going public outside of China, including in the U.S.

Currently our business does not relate to internet content provisions nor profit-making activities via the internet within the PRC. Accordingly, our current operations are not subject to regulations and rules by the CAC. In addition, currently our mining operation is conducted, and our profits are generated outside of China. Thus, we believe we are not a China-based company.

On February 17, 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”) issued the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (the “Trial Administrative Measures”) and relevant supporting guidelines (collectively, the “New Administrative Rules Regarding Overseas Listings”), which came into force since March 31, 2023. The New Administrative Rules Regarding Overseas Listings refine the regulatory system for domestic company’s overseas offering and listing by subjecting both direct and indirect overseas offering and listing activities to the filing-based administration, and clearly defines the circumstances where provisions for direct and indirect overseas offering and listing apply and relevant regulatory requirements.

According to the New Administrative Rules Regarding Overseas Listings, among other things, a domestic company in the PRC that seeks to offer and list securities in overseas markets shall fulfill the filing procedure with the CSRC as per requirement of the Trial Administrative Measures. Where a domestic company seeks to directly offer and list securities

in overseas markets, the issuer shall file with the CSRC. Where a domestic company seeks to indirectly offer and list securities in overseas markets, the issuer shall designate a major domestic operating entity, which shall, as the domestic responsible entity, file with the CSRC. Initial public offerings or listings in overseas markets shall be filed with the CSRC within 3 working days after the relevant application is submitted overseas. The required filing materials with the CSRC include (without limitation): (i) record-filing reports and related undertakings, (ii) compliance certificates, filing or approval documents from the primary regulators of applicants’ businesses (if applicable), (iii) security assessment opinions issued by related departments (if applicable), (iv) PRC legal opinions issued by domestic law firms (with related undertakings), and (v) prospectus or listing documents. If an issuer offers securities in the same overseas market where it has previously offered and listed securities subsequently, filings shall be made with the CSRC within 3 working days after the offering is completed. Upon occurrence of any material event, such as change of control, investigations or sanctions imposed by overseas securities regulatory agencies or other relevant competent authorities, change of listing status or transfer of listing segment, or voluntary or mandatory delisting, after an issuer has offered and listed securities in an overseas market, the issuer shall submit a report thereof to CSRC within 3 working days after the occurrence and public disclosure of such event. Further, an overseas securities company that serves as a sponsor or lead underwriter for overseas securities offering and listing by domestic companies shall file with the CSRC within 10 working days after signing its first engagement agreement for such business, and submit to the CSRC, no later than January 31 each year, an annual report on its business activities in the previous year associated with overseas securities offering and listing by domestic companies. If an overseas securities company has entered into engagement agreements before the effectuation of the Trial Administrative Measures and is serving in practice as a sponsor or lead underwriter for overseas securities offering and listing by domestic companies, it shall file with the CSRC within 30 working days after the Trial Administrative Measures take effect.

The Trial Administrative Measures also provides that if the issuer meets both of the following criteria, the overseas securities offering and listing conducted by such issuer will be deemed as indirect overseas offering by PRC domestic companies: (i) 50% or more of any of the issuer’s revenue, profit before tax, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent fiscal year is accounted for by domestic companies; and (ii) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main place(s) of business are located in mainland China, or the majority of senior management staff in charge of its business operations and management are PRC citizens or have their usual place(s) of residence located in mainland China. Where an issuer submits an application for initial public offering to competent overseas regulators, such issuer must file with the CSRC within three business days after such application is submitted. The Overseas Listing Trial Measures also requires subsequent reports to be filed with the CSRC on material events, such as change of control or voluntary or forced delisting of the issuer(s) who have completed overseas offerings and listings.

Based upon our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended on December 31, 2022, and as of December 31, 2022, less than 50% of our revenue, profit before tax, total assets and net assets were attributable to our PRC subsidiaries. Also, our PRC subsidiaries do not constitute a main part of our business activity, since they only engage in activities such as supply chain activities and heating equipment research, which are not part of our profit-making operations. Therefore, we believe that we do not meet both of the aforementioned criteria as provided by the Trial Administrative Measures issued by the CSRC, and thus are not subject to the New Administrative Rules Regarding Overseas Listings. However, if the CSRC or other applicable PRC authorities deemed otherwise, we may be required to complete such filing requirements before any offering of securities, which would materially affect our ability to offer securities and cause significantly decreases on the price of our securities.

We cannot assure you that we will not in the future be required to obtain the approval of the CSRC or of potentially other regulatory authorities in order (i) to maintain the listing status of our Ordinary Shares on the NASDAQ or (ii) to conduct offerings of securities in the future. In the event that it is determined that we are required to obtain approval from the CSRC or any other regulatory authority, the failure to obtain such approval could result in (i) the delisting of our securities on foreign exchanges and/or (ii) a decrease in the value of our securities. We have been closely monitoring regulatory developments in China regarding any necessary approvals from the CSRC, the CAC, or other PRC regulatory authorities required for overseas listings. As of the date of this Annual Report, we have not received any inquiries, notices, warnings, sanctions, denials, or regulatory objections from the CSRC, CAC, nor any other PRC regulatory authority. To our knowledge, we (i) are covered by the permissions requirements of the CSRC and (ii) are, as of the date of this Annual Report, not required to obtain permission or approval from the CSRC nor any other PRC regulatory authority. In the event that regulations change in the future, and we are required to obtain permission or approval from the CSRC or any other PRC authority, any failure to do so could result in (i) the delisting of our securities on foreign exchanges and/or (ii) a decrease in the value of our securities (among other consequences).

In light of recent events indicating greater oversight by the CAC over data security, particularly for companies seeking to list on a foreign exchange, companies with more than one million users’ personal information in China, especially internet and technology companies, could be subject to penalties and other legal liabilities as a result of non-compliance with such PRC laws.

Companies in China are subject to various risks and costs associated with the collection, use, sharing, retention, security, and transfer of confidential and private information, such as personal information and other data. This data is wide ranging and relates to investors, employees, contractors, and other counterparties and third parties. These PRC laws apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of information between a holding company and its subsidiaries. These laws continue to develop, and the PRC government may adopt other rules and restrictions in the future. Non-compliance could result in penalties or other significant legal liabilities.

Pursuant to the PRC Cybersecurity Law, which was promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on November 7, 2016 and took effect on June 1, 2017, personal information and important data collected and generated by a critical information infrastructure operator in the course of its operations in China must be stored in China, and if a critical information infrastructure operator purchases internet products and services that affect or may affect national security, it should be subject to cybersecurity review by the CAC. Due to the lack of further interpretations, the exact scope of “critical information infrastructure operator” remains unclear. On July 10, 2021, the CAC publicly issued the Measures for Cybersecurity Censorship (Revised Draft for Comments) aiming to, upon its enactment, replace the existing Measures for Cybersecurity Censorship. The draft measures extend the scope of cybersecurity reviews to data processing operators engaging in data processing activities that affect or may affect national security, including listing in a foreign country. The draft measures require a company holding more than one million personal information to submit its initial public offering materials prepared for submission for cybersecurity review before listing on a foreign exchange.

In addition, the PRC Data Security Law, which was promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on June 10, 2021, and takes effect on September 1, 2021, requires data collection to be conducted in a legitimate and proper manner, and stipulates that, for the purpose of data protection, data processing activities must be conducted based on data classification and hierarchical protection system for data security.

Currently our business does not relate to internet content provisions nor profit-making activities via the internet within the PRC. We also do not possess one million user’s personal information in China. Accordingly, our current operations are not subject to regulations and rules aforementioned by the CAC.

Risks Related to Kazakhstan

Events in Kazakhstan, including national unrest and tightened regulation to digital assets mining activities caused by protests over surging fuel prices, have caused significant national disruptions to energy and internet access and have caused us to terminate part of our operations. If the situation in Kazakhstan deteriorates, it may cause adverse impact on our operations and financial results.

Events in Kazakhstan, including national unrest caused by protests over a surge in fuel price, have caused significant national disruptions in energy and internet access that, we have terminated part of our operations. If the situation in Kazakhstan deteriorates, it may cause adverse impact on our operations and financial results.

Due to surges in fuel prices at the beginning of 2022, the country of Kazakhstan entered into a significant period of unrest. Since then, we are closely monitoring the political environment of Kazakhstan, including any legal developments and the potential impact such events may have on our hosting operations in that country. On August 1, 2022, with consideration of our power partners and hosting customers’ intention to suspend the services offering under the originally agreed Service Agreement and Bitcoin Mining Hosting Service Agreement, we terminated our Service Agreement, dated as of July 18, 2021, with Better Tech Limited (“Better Tech”) relating to the Phase II 90 MW power supply cooperation in Kazakhstan, and our Bitcoin Mining Hosting Service Agreement, dated as of July 16, 2021, with E2M Technology Limited (“E2M”) relating to the rendering of Phase II 90 MW hosting services in Kazakhstan, which had already been delayed due to the national riots in Kazakhstan which commenced on January 2022. We have reached a mutual understanding with Better Tech and E2M on the force majeure events that occurred during the first half of 2022 and agreed to a waiver of liabilities. All parties agreed to continue the execution of the Phase I 15 MW cryptocurrency mining operation, which started in August 2021, based on the terms of the Service Agreement and Bitcoin Mining Hosting Service Agreement.

Kazakhstan’s political and economic instability could have a material adverse effect on our operations and investment risks.

The related political risks are mainly manifested in the possible political changes in Kazakhstan in the future. If there is a change in the attitude of the next president to foreign investment, the change may bring uncertain factors to Kazakhstan’s foreign investment related policies (such as tariffs, economic policies, industrial policies, etc.).

In addition, due to the impact of the global financial crisis and the slowdown of world economic growth, there are uncertainties in Kazakhstan’s domestic policy environment, market environment, and administrative environment. It was different before. These are reflected in:

(1)    The government of Kazakhstan has enacted increasingly strict controls over foreign-funded enterprises. It has intensified policy adjustments against foreign capital and foreign-funded enterprises. Starting from the protection of the country’s interests, the Kazakhstan government has frequently introduced new policies for foreign capital and foreign-funded enterprises in the past year or two, such as business registration, labor licenses, taxation, and corporate procurement, many of which are direct restrictive measures. Foreign companies have become more and more stringent in terms of corporate taxation and security management. Environmental protection requirements are getting higher and higher, and the ever-increasing environmental pollution charges and other environmental protection charges have further increased the economic burden of enterprises.

(2)    The “Kazakhstan Content Law” stipulates the proportion of Kazakhstan’s domestic goods, projects and services in the procurement of goods, projects and services by foreign capital, including the proportion of employees of different levels in Kazakhstan to foreign employees. And the number of foreign employees required decreases year over year “with the implementation of the mandatory plan for training and improving the professional level of Kazakhstan employees.” The law clarifies the proportion of Kazakhstan’s domestic products and services in the procurement of goods, projects and services by state-owned and non-state-owned institutions and determines the standards that should be met.

(3)    In terms of labor permits, since June 2008, the Kazakhstan government has raised the standards for the introduction of foreign labor services, and implemented new requirements in terms of education, working years, and professional work experience. Further, it has enacted new requirements. The government of Kazakhstan also requires foreign-funded enterprises to actively perform higher social responsibilities, donate to local communities, sponsor and participate in community public welfare undertakings.

There is a phenomenon of power rent-seeking. Kazakhstan’s investment legislation is relatively complete, but there is a phenomenon of power rent-seeking, which creates difficulties for foreign-funded enterprises to invest in Kazakhstan.

Cryptocurrency mining operations in Kazakhstan are subject to extensive national and regional regulation which increases the costs of compliance and possible liability for non-compliance.

Cryptocurrency is subject to extensive regulation by Kazakhstan’s national and regional regulatory authorities. Regional and national statutes regulate foreign investment, operational safety, intellectual property rights, information security, employees’ health and safety, and other financial and digital technology controls. In Kazakhstan these regulations are mainly enforced by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry. We intend to operate in compliance with all known investment, operation and digital technology standards and regulations applicable to our Kazakhstan Cryptocurrency mining activities. However, there can be no assurance that our compliance could be challenged or delayed or that future changes in local or national laws, regulations or interpretations thereof will not have a material adverse effect on our ability to commence and sustain mining operations.

Change in tax policy of Kazakhstan on cryptocurrency mining might have an adverse impact on our operating results

On June 25, 2021, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Zhomart Tokaev signed legislation officially legalizing crypto-mining in Kazakhstan. As part of this law, Kazakhstan introduced a new tax, stipulating a fee of one tenge per 1 kilowatt-hour (kW/h) for miners, starting on January 1, 2022. In the first quarter of 2022, our legal counsel in Kazakhstan advised us that the Kazakhstan government partially supports a few amendments to the existing tax code applying to digital asset mining companies in the country, including improving the fee rate based on electricity consumption per kWh that the government

charges digital asset miners from the current 1 tenge (about $0.0023 US dollar) per kWh to a higher rate, based on different types of electricity they consume and/or different level of total power scale they consume. The amendments proposal also includes enhancing regulation to digital asset mining activities and control of the power supply. As the date of this report, the government is still in discussion and drafting of the final amendments to the Tax Code and any laws related to digital asset mining activities and have not brought any of such amendments into enforcement. However, should the government of Kazakhstan impose additional tax on the mining of cryptocurrency in the future, or regulate the mining of cryptocurrency through floating electricity price, our operating results will be negatively impacted.

Cryptocurrency mining operations are subject to various risks and hazards which could result in significant costs or hinder ongoing operations.

The business of cryptocurrency mining is subject to certain types of risks, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, and theft. While we expect to secure and maintain insurance consistent with industry practice, it is not possible to insure against all risks associated with the cryptocurrency mining business nor is it prudent to assume that insurance will continue to be available at a reasonable cost. We have not obtained property insurance because such coverage is not considered by management to be cost effective. We currently carry no insurance on any of our properties due to the current lack of any mining operations.

Risks Related to Ownership of our Class A Ordinary Shares

An active trading market for our securities may not be sustained, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

An active trading market for our securities may not be sustained. In addition, the price of our securities can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts. Additionally, if our securities become delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market and are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board (an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange), the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on Nasdaq, NYSE or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.

We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq. In order to maintain our listing on Nasdaq, we are required to comply with certain rules of Nasdaq, including those regarding minimum shareholders’ equity, minimum share price, minimum market value of publicly held shares and various additional requirements. Our continued eligibility for listing may depend on, among other things, the number of its shares that are redeemed.

If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant adverse consequences, including:

•        a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

•        reduced liquidity for our securities;

•        a determination that our Class A Ordinary Shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in its Class A Ordinary Shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for its securities;

•        a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

•        a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

We may redeem your unexpired IPO Warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your IPO Warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem the outstanding IPO Warrant at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per IPO Warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A Ordinary Shares equals or exceeds $16.50 per share (including adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of an IPO Warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities — IPO Warrants — Anti-Dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper

notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met. If and when the IPO Warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the IPO Warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the IPO Warrants. Redemption of the outstanding IPO Warrants could force you to (i) exercise your IPO Warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your IPO Warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your IPO Warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding IPO Warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your IPO Warrants.

Our IPO Warrants may never be in the money, and they may expire worthless.

The exercise price for our IPO Warrants is $11.50 per-share, which exceeds the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares, which was $2.51 per share based on the closing price of our Class A Ordinary Shares stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on April 18, 2023. If all of our IPO Warrants were exercised in full for cash, we would receive an aggregate of approximately $25,811,669.50. We do not expect warrant holders to exercise their IPO Warrants and, therefore, we do not expect to receive cash proceeds from any such exercise, for so long as the IPO Warrants remain out-of-the money. There can be no assurance that the IPO Warrants will ever be in the money prior to their expiration and, as such, the IPO Warrants may expire worthless.

Our share price may change significantly, and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.

The trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares is likely to be volatile. The stock market recently has experienced extreme volatility. This volatility often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. You may not be able to resell your shares at an attractive price due to a number of factors such as the following:

•        results of operations that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors;

•        results of operations that vary from those of our competitors;

•        the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our business and financial conditions;

•        changes in expectations as to our future financial performance, including financial estimates and investment recommendations by securities analysts and investors;

•        declines in the market prices of stocks generally;

•        strategic actions by us or our competitors;

•        announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, joint ventures, other strategic relationships or capital commitments;

•        any significant change in our management;

•        changes in general economic or market conditions or trends in our industry or markets, such as recessions, interest rates, local and national elections, international currency fluctuations, corruption, political instability and acts of war or terrorism;

•        changes in business or regulatory conditions, including new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business;

•        future sales of our Class A Ordinary Shares or other securities;

•        investor perceptions or the investment opportunity associated with our Class A Ordinary Shares relative to other investment alternatives;

•        the public’s response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including our filings with the SEC;

•        litigation involving us, our industry, or both, or investigations by regulators into our operations or those of our competitors;

•        guidance, if any, that we provide to the public, any changes in this guidance or our failure to meet this guidance;

•        the development and sustainability of an active trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares;

•        actions by institutional or activist shareholders;

•        changes in accounting standards, policies, guidelines, interpretations or principles; and

•        other events or factors, including those resulting from natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism or responses to these events.

These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our Class A Ordinary Shares is low.

In the past, following periods of market volatility, shareholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If we were involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of management from our business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

The dual-class structure of our ordinary shares may adversely affect the trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares and IPO Warrants.

Certain shareholder advisory firms have announced changes to their eligibility criteria for inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the S&P 500, to exclude companies with multiple classes of shares and companies whose public shareholders hold no more than 5% of total voting power from being added to such indices. In addition, several shareholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, the dual-class structure of our Ordinary Shares may prevent the inclusion of our Class A Ordinary Shares and IPO Warrants in such indices and may cause some shareholder advisory firms to publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices or otherwise seek to cause us to change our capital structure. Any such exclusion from indices could result in a less active trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares and IPO Warrants. Any negative actions or publications by shareholder advisory firms could also adversely affect the value of our Class A Ordinary Shares and IPO Warrants.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq listing rules and, as a result, can rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to shareholders of other companies.

As a result of our Founder holding more than 50% of the voting power of our board of directors, we will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq’s listing rules. Therefore, we are not required to comply with certain corporate governance rules that would otherwise apply to us as a listed company on Nasdaq including the requirement that compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee be composed entirely of “independent” directors (as defined by Nasdaq’s listing rules). As a “controlled company” the board of directors of us are not required to include a majority of “independent” directors. We do not intend to rely on those exemptions. However, we cannot guarantee that this may not change going forward.

Should the interests of our Founder differ from those of other shareholders, it is possible that the other shareholders might not be afforded such protections as might exist if the board of directors of us, or such committees, were required to have a majority, or be composed exclusively, of directors who were independent of our Founder or our management.

Because there are no current plans to pay cash dividends on our Class A Ordinary Shares for the foreseeable future, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell our Class A Ordinary Shares for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

We intend to retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion and debt repayment and there are no current plans to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on our Class A Ordinary Shares will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors. Our board of directors may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition and results of operations, our available

cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax, and regulatory restrictions, implications on the payment of dividends by us to our shareholders or by our subsidiaries to it and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is limited by covenants of our existing and outstanding indebtedness and may be limited by covenants of any future indebtedness we incur. As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in our Class A Ordinary Shares unless you sell such shares for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they downgrade our shares or our sector, our Class A Ordinary Share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or its business. We are not able to control these analysts. In addition, some financial analysts may have limited expertise with our model and operations. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade our shares or industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on it regularly, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

Future sales, or the perception of future sales, by us or its shareholders in the public market could cause the market price for our Class A Ordinary Shares.

The sale of shares of our Class A Ordinary Shares in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that it deems appropriate.

We have a total of 13,315,903 Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding. All shares issued in the Business Combination are freely tradable without registration under the Securities Act and without restriction by persons other than our “affiliates” (as defined under Rule 144 of the Securities Act, “Rule 144”), including our directors, officers and other certain shareholders.

Currently, the Sponsor and certain substantial holders of our Ordinary Shares (determined on an as-converted basis) (the “Investors”) have agreed, subject to certain exceptions, not to transfer or dispose of their Ordinary Shares. Such restrictions, including the members of TradeUP initial shareholders, the SAI Founder and management of Old SAI, will expire on April 29, 2023, which is the first anniversary of closing of the Business Combination, with such Ordinary Shares being subject to earlier release on the date on which the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares exceeds $14.00 per share (with respect to 50% of our Ordinary Shares) and $17.50 per share (with respect to the remaining 50% of our Ordinary Shares) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing on the date that is 180 days after the closing of the Business Combination.

Upon the expiration or waiver of the lock-ups described above, shares held by the Investors and certain other shareholders of us will be eligible for resale, subject to volume, manner of sale and other limitations under Rule 144, when such rule becomes applicable to us. In addition, pursuant to the New Registration Rights Agreement, the Investors and certain other shareholders will have the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to register the sale of their Ordinary Shares under the Securities Act. By exercising their registration rights and selling a large number of shares, these shareholders could cause the prevailing market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares to decline. Immediately after completion of the Business Combination, the shares covered by registration rights represent approximately 83.3% of the outstanding Ordinary Shares (including both Class A and Class B Ordinary Shares).

As restrictions on resale end or if these shareholders exercise their registration rights, the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares could drop significantly if the holders of these shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to raise additional funds through future offerings of our Class A Ordinary Shares or other securities.

In addition, our Class A Ordinary Shares issued under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan have become eligible for sale in the public market, and our Class A Ordinary Shares reserved for future issuance under our Incentive Plan will become eligible for sale in the public market once those shares are issued, subject to provisions relating to various vesting agreements, lock-up agreements and, in some cases, limitations on volume and manner of sale applicable to affiliates under Rule 144,

as applicable. The number of our Class A Ordinary Shares issued and reserved under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan is equal to 1,812,663 shares (subject to annual increase adjustments as described in our Incentive Plan). We have filed a registration statement on Form S-8 on October 19, 2022 under the Securities Act to register our Class A Ordinary Shares or securities convertible into or exchangeable for our Class A Ordinary Shares issued pursuant to the SAI Incentive Plan. The Form S-8 registration statement has automatically become effective upon filing. Accordingly, shares registered under the registration statement have been available for sale in the open market, subject to certain provisions relating to various vesting agreements, lock-up agreements or other form of agreements under the Incentive Plan.

Our issuance of additional share capital in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our equity incentive plans or otherwise will dilute all other shareholders.

In the future, we may also issue its securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. Because the exercise price of the IPO Warrants substantially exceeds the current trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares, holders are unlikely to exercise such IPO Warrants in the near future, if at all, and as a result our IPO Warrants may not provide any additional capital. The amount of our Class A Ordinary Shares issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to our shareholders.

We have granted, and continuously expect to grant equity awards to employees and directors under our equity incentive plans. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire, make investments in or engage in strategic partnerships with companies, solutions or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition, investment or partnership.

Anti-takeover provisions in our governing documents could delay or prevent a change of control.

Certain provisions of the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt or other change of control transaction that a shareholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our shareholders.

These provisions provide for, among other things:

•        the ability of our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred shares;

•        a classified board;

•        a dual-class share structure;

•        advance notice for nominations of directors by shareholders and for shareholders to include matters to be considered at our annual general meetings; and

•        certain limitations on convening general meetings of shareholders;

These anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if the third party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many of our shareholders. As a result, our shareholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other shareholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions you desire. See the Exhibit 2.2 entitled “Description of Securities” filed with this Annual Report for additional information.

Our IPO Warrants have become exercisable for our Class A Ordinary Shares, which could increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our shareholders.

Outstanding IPO Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,244,493 our Class A Ordinary Shares have become exercisable. Each IPO Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one of our Class A Ordinary Shares at a price of $11.50 per whole share, subject to adjustment. IPO Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of our Class A Ordinary Shares. To the extent such IPO Warrants are exercised, additional Class A Ordinary Shares will be issued, which will result in dilution to the existing holders of our Class A Ordinary Shares and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares.

The warrant agreement relating to our IPO Warrants provides that any action, proceeding or claim against the Company arising out of or relating in any way to such agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and that the Company irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. This exclusive forum provision could limit the ability of holders of our IPO Warrants to obtain what they believe to be a favorable judicial forum for disputes related to such agreement.

The Warrant Agreement, dated April 28, 2021, as amended on June 7, 2021 (together, the “Warrant Agreement”), provides that any action, proceeding or claim against the Company arising out of or relating in any way to such agreement, except for claims for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction, such as suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim.

The exclusive forum provision in the Warrant Agreement may limit the ability of holders of our IPO Warrants to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes related to the Warrant Agreement, which may discourage such lawsuits against the Company and our directors or officers. Alternatively, if a court were to find this exclusive forum provision inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.

We may lose our foreign private issuer status in the future, which could result in significant additional costs and expenses.

As discussed above, we are a foreign private issuer, and therefore, we are not required to comply with all of the periodic disclosure and current reporting requirements of the Exchange Act. The determination of foreign private issuer status is made annually on the last business day of an issuer’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and, accordingly, the next determination will be made with respect to us on June 30, 2022. In the future, we would lose our foreign private issuer status if (1) more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities are owned by U.S. residents and (2) a majority of our directors or executive officers are U.S. citizens or residents, or we fail to meet additional requirements necessary to avoid loss of foreign private issuer status. If we lose our foreign private issuer status, we will be required to file with the SEC periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms, which are more detailed and extensive than the forms available to a foreign private issuer. We will also have to mandatorily comply with U.S. federal proxy requirements, and our officers, directors and principal shareholders will become subject to the short-swing profit disclosure and recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In addition, we will lose our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements under the listing rules of Nasdaq. As a U.S. listed public company that is not a foreign private issuer, we will incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses that we will not incur as a foreign private issuer.

As an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from Nasdaq’s corporate governance requirements; these practices may afford less protection to shareholders. If we opt to rely on such exemptions in the future, such decision might afford less protection to holders of our Ordinary Shares. As a Cayman Islands exempted company that will be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, we are subject to the Nasdaq listing standards. Section 5605(b)(1), Section 5605(c)(2) and Section 5635(c) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules require listed companies to have, among other things, a majority of our board members to be independent, an audit committee of at least three members and shareholders’ approval on adoption of equity incentive awards plans. However, the Nasdaq rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to follow the corporate governance practices of its home country. The corporate governance practice in our home country, the Cayman Islands, does not require a majority of our board of directors to consist of independent directors or the implementation of a nominating and corporate governance committee. Since a majority of our board of directors would not consist of independent directors if we relied on the foreign private issuer exemption, fewer board members would be exercising independent judgment and the level of board oversight on our management might decrease as a result. In addition, we could opt to follow Cayman Islands law instead of the Nasdaq requirements that mandate that we obtain shareholder approval for certain dilutive events, such as an issuance that will result in a change of control, certain transactions other than a public offering involving issuances of 20% or greater interests in the company and certain acquisitions of the shares or assets of another company. While we have

The growth and expansion of our business places a continuous, significant strain on our operational and financial resources. Further growth of our operations to support our customer base, our platform, solutions and our internal controls and procedures may not be adequate to support our operations. As we continue to grow, we may not be able to successfully implement requisite improvements to these systems, controls and processes, such as system access and change. The growth and expansion of our business places a continuous, significant strain on our operational and financial resources. Further growth of our operations to support our customer base, our information technology systems and our internal controls and procedures may not be adequate to support our operations. As we continue to grow, we may not be able to successfully implement requisite improvements to these systems, controls and processes, such as system access and change management controls, in a timely or efficient manner. Our failure to improve our systems and processes, or their failure to operate in the intended manner, whether as a result of the growth of our business or otherwise, may result in our inability to accurately forecast our revenue and expenses, or to prevent certain losses. Moreover, the failure of our systems and processes could undermine our ability to provide accurate, timely and reliable reports on our financial and operating results and could impact the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, our systems and processes may not prevent or detect all errors, omissions or fraud.

As a result of our plans to expand operations, including to jurisdictions in which the tax laws may not be favorable, our tax rate may fluctuate, our tax obligations may become significantly more complex and subject to greater risk of examination by taxing authorities or we may be subject to future changes in tax law, the impacts of which could adversely affect our after-tax profitability and financial results.

Because we do not have a long history of operating at our present scale and have significant expansion plans, our effective tax rate may fluctuate in the future. Future effective tax rates could be affected by our operating results before taxes, changes in the composition of operating income and earnings in countries or jurisdictions with differing tax rates, including as we expand into additional jurisdictions, changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in accounting and tax standards or practices, changes in tax laws, changes in the tax treatment of share-based compensation, and our ability to structure our operations in an efficient and competitive manner.

Due to the complexity of multinational tax obligations and filings, we may have a heightened risk related to audits, examinations or administrative appeals by taxing authorities. Outcomes from current and future tax audits, examinations or administrative appeals could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition. Additionally, several tax authorities have increasingly focused attention on intercompany transfer pricing with respect to sales of products and services and the use of intangibles. Tax authorities could disagree with our intercompany charges, cross-jurisdictional transfer pricing or other matters and assess additional taxes. If we do not prevail in any such disagreements, our profitability may be affected.

Our after-tax profitability and financial results may also be adversely impacted by changes in the relevant tax laws and tax rates, treaties, regulations, administrative practices and principles, judicial decisions and interpretations thereof, in each case, possibly with retroactive effect. For example, the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS recently entered into force among the jurisdictions that have ratified it. Additionally, many countries and organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, are also actively considering changes to existing tax laws or have proposed or enacted new laws that could increase our tax obligations in countries where we do business or cause us to change the way we operate our business. These recent changes and proposals could negatively impact our taxation, especially as we expand our relationships and operations internationally.

If a U.S. Holder is treated as owning at least 10% by vote or value of our shares, such holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

If a United States person (as defined in Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code) is treated as owning (directly, indirectly, or constructively) at least 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our shares entitled to vote or at least 10% of the total value of shares of all classes of our shares, such person may be treated as a “United States shareholder” with respect to each “controlled foreign corporation” (“CFCs”) in our group (if any), which may subject such person to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences. Specifically, a United States shareholder of a CFC may be required to annually report and include in its U.S. taxable income its pro rata share of such CFC’s “Subpart F income,” “global intangible low-taxed income” and investments in U.S. property, whether or not SAI makes any distributions of profits or income of such CFC to such United States shareholder. If a U.S. Holder is treated as a United States shareholder of a CFC, failure to comply with applicable reporting obligations may subject such holder to significant monetary penalties

and may extend the statute of limitations with respect to such holder’s U.S. federal income tax return for the year for which reporting was due. Additionally, a United States shareholder of a CFC that is an individual would generally be denied certain tax deductions or foreign tax credits in respect of its income that may otherwise be allowable to a United States shareholder that is a U.S. corporation.

We cannot provide any assurances that we will assist holders of our shares in determining whether SAI or any of our non-U.S. subsidiaries are treated as CFCs or whether any holder of the Ordinary Shares is treated as a United States shareholder with respect to any such CFC, nor do we expect to furnish to any United States shareholders information that may be necessary to comply with the aforementioned reporting and tax paying obligations. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has provided limited guidance regarding the circumstances in which investors may rely on publicly available information to comply with their reporting and taxpaying obligations with respect to CFCs. Each U.S. investor should consult its advisors regarding the potential application of these rules to an investment in the Ordinary Shares.

We may become a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares.

Based on the fiscal year 2022 composition of our income, assets and operations and that of our subsidiaries, we do not expect to be a PFIC in the 2023 taxable year or in future taxable years, although there can be no assurance in this regard. The determination of whether or not we are a PFIC is made on an annual basis and will depend on the composition of us and our subsidiaries’ income and assets, and the market value of us and our subsidiaries’ assets, from time to time. Specifically, for any taxable year a non-U.S. corporation will be classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes if either: (1) 75% or more of our gross income in that taxable year is passive income, or (2) 50% or more of the value of our assets (generally based on an average of the quarterly values of the assets) during such year is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income. The calculation of the value of us and our subsidiaries’ assets will be based, in part, on the quarterly market value of our Ordinary Shares, which is subject to change.

The determination of whether we or our subsidiaries will be or become a PFIC may also depend, in part, on how, and how quickly, we use liquid assets and the cash acquired from the Business Combination or otherwise. If we were to retain significant amounts of liquid assets, including cash, the risk of us being classified as a PFIC may substantially increase. Because there are uncertainties in the application of the relevant rules and PFIC status is a factual determination made annually after the close of each taxable year, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for the 2023 taxable year or any future taxable year. If we were classified as a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. Holder held Ordinary Shares, we generally would continue to be treated as a PFIC for all succeeding years during which such holder held Ordinary Shares.

If we were to become a PFIC, such characterization could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. Holders of our Ordinary Shares. For example, if we are a PFIC, U.S. Holders of our Ordinary Shares may become subject to increased tax liabilities under U.S. federal income tax laws and regulations and will become subject to burdensome reporting requirements. We cannot assure any investor that we will not be a PFIC for the 2023 taxable year or any future taxable year. U.S. investors should consult their own tax advisors about the circumstances that may cause us to be classified as a PFIC and the consequences if we are classified as a PFIC.

General Risk Factors

Our operations could be adversely affected by events outside of our control, such as natural disasters, including floods, earthquakes or hurricanes, wars, health epidemics or incidents such as loss of power supply.

The occurrence of a natural disaster such as an earthquake, hurricane, drought, flood, fire, localized extended outages of critical utilities or transportation systems, or any critical resource shortages could cause a significant interruption in our business, damage or destroy our facilities or inventory, and cause us to incur significant costs, any of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The insurance we maintain against fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and other disasters and damage may not be adequate to cover losses in any particular case.

Further, severe natural disasters could affect our data centers in a temporal or longer-term fashion which would adversely affect our ability to operate our network.

ITEM 4.    INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

A.     History and Development of the Company

SAI.TECH Global Corporation is a global energy-saving Bitcoin mining operator and a clean-tech company with a mission to promote the clean transition of the bitcoin mining, power and heating industries. The Company was incorporated on February 2, 2021. On April 29, 2022, the Company completed the Business Combination and SAITECH Limited became a wholly owned subsidiary of the TradeUP Global Corporation, subsequently renamed SAI.TECH Global Corporation.

See the section entitled “Explanatory Note” in this Form 20-F for additional information regarding SAI.TECH Global Corporation and the Business Combination Agreement. A copy of our Business Combination Agreement, and the amendments thereto, is attached as exhibits 4.1 – 4.4 to this Annual Report.

SAI.TECH Global Corporation is subject to certain of the informational filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Because SAI.TECH Global Corporation is a “foreign private issuer”, it is exempt from the rules and regulations under the Exchange Act prescribing the furnishing and content of proxy statements, and the officers, directors and principal shareholders of SAI.TECH Global Corporation are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act with respect to their purchase and sale of common shares. In addition, SAI.TECH Global Corporation is not required to file reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. public companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. However, the Company is required to file with the SEC an Annual Report on Form 20-F containing financial statements audited by an independent accounting firm. The SEC also maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports and other information that SAI.TECH Global Corporation files with or furnishes electronically to the SEC.

Our principal place of business is located at #01-05, 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, Singapore (168976). Our telephone number at this address is (+65) 9656 5641. Our registered office in the Cayman Islands is located at the offices of 3-212 Governors Square, 23 Lime Tree Bay Avenue, P.O. Box 30746, Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman KY1-1203, Cayman Islands. We maintain our website at https://sai.tech/. The information contained on the website does not form a part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report.

B.     Business Overview

We are a global energy-saving Bitcoin mining operator and a clean-tech company that integrates the bitcoin mining, power and heating industries. Since our founding in 2019, we have been committed to developing comprehensive energy-saving solutions that can optimize the major costs of bitcoin mining and promote clean energy transition. The uniqueness of our solutions is that we use proprietary liquid cooling and waste heat recovery technology for bitcoin mining machines, which utilizes waste heat generated from bitcoin mining ASIC chips at 90% thermal efficiency to provide recycled energy in form of steady 60-70°C hot water to potential heating customers while lowering mining operating costs. Our mission is to globally become the most energy-efficient digital asset mining operation company, while simultaneously promote the clean transition of the bitcoin mining, power and heating industries.

We provide a full suite of specialized services, including mining machines purchase, hosting, mining pool service, energy-saving technologies and solutions, to digital asset mining customers. Our target customers include both large-scale miners and institutional investors. Target institutional investors include entities that are diversifying their portfolios by adopting digital asset-mining assets, which can be a more economic approach to acquire digital assets as compared to buying such assets on secondary markets. Starting from 2022, we began to develop our self-owned mining operations. Our mining operation is currently based on electricity generated from natural gas and is gradually shifting to alternative energy sources such renewable energies. Strategically, we focus on deploying our CAB and BOX products in our mining operation globally, which are series of cabinets and containers that applies our proprietary chip liquid cooling and waste heat recovery technologies, reutilize excessive heat generated by bitcoin mining ASIC chips and provide steady hot water for agricultural, commercial, residential and industrial large-scale heating applications. Our products and solutions can reduce aggregate carbon emissions compared to traditional stand-alone heating and bitcoin mining, while also reducing the mining operation costs by potentially selling the waste heat.

Since formation in 2019, we have been developing advanced liquid cooling technologies for digital assets, specifically, bitcoin mining machines. We developed and integrated waste heat recovery technology into liquid cooling systems that applies to bitcoin mining machines, effectively turning traditional mining machines into “electric boilers” with 90% thermal efficiency. This product is called SAIHUB CAB, and we registered various patents with the related engineering designs globally. During 2019-2020, we launched three pilot programs successfully testing the SAIHUB CAB’s operation in northwest and northeast China. These operations were suspended in mid-2021 to comply with local regulations. We collected operating statistics from the pilot sites which proves that our SAIHUB CAB can functionally replace many traditional heating boilers that burn coal and natural gas, and most electric heating boilers in the market with thermal efficiency reaching 90%.

The SAIHUB CAB is also equipped with meters and sensors to collect real-time electricity and temperature statistics. Additionally, it is equipped with a calorimeter and manometer on its hot water heating system to collect real-time pressure statistics of hot water supply and return. We calculated the thermal efficiency based on these operation statistics collected. Below is a summary of three pilot programs’ operating statistics during the heating season from October 2020 to April 2021.

____________

*        JY is a project providing domestic hot water to shopping malls, thus the outdoor and indoor temperatures do not apply to it.

Typical boiler (thermal) efficiencies are approximately 90% according to EN 12952-15 and old boilers’ efficiency are typically lower than 90%. The SAIHUB CAB has an average of thermal efficiency of almost 89-90%, providing 60-70°C hot water steadily through the liquid cooling systems integrated with waste heat recovery capability. New generation natural gas boilers are usually equipped with condensing technology, which improves its overall thermal efficiency to over 90%. Please see Table 3.2 below for a comparison of efficiency levels across various sources of fuel.

Though revoked, our pilot programs successfully organized in China have proven an increased economic return for both heating user partners and mining hosting customers through recycling the waste heat in 90% thermal efficiency. In these pilot projects, we represented customers to purchase bitcoin mining machines and install their machines in SAIHUB CAB on the heating sites i.e. greenhouses to provide heat, while providing hosting services. On one side, heating user partners i.e. agriculture greenhouses saved energy cost and carbon emissions through paying less (free in our pilot programs) for the 24*7 steady 60-70°C hot water we provided compared to their traditional cost on purchasing and burning coal or natural gas. In additional, they do not need to pay the capital expenditure and construction expense for installing our SAIHUB CAB. On the other side, though we didn’t officially collect heating service fee in these pilot projects, we expect to be able to charge certain heating service fee through providing 24*7 steady 60-70°C hot water when commercial projects are commenced and rolled out in other countries globally and thus to effectively subsidize our electricity cost on mining operations. As we accelerate our global expansion, we believe our unique products, bitcoin mining solutions and innovative heating solutions, represent compelling differentiations of our business model.

Transition And Expansion Into Global Market

On May 21, 2021, China issued strict policies to ban digital assets mining activities in mainland China. Due to compliance and strategic concerns, we terminated all of our hosting service agreements with existing customers in China, revoked our pilot programs testing our SAIHUB CAB equipment, and began strategic global transition starting from establishing hosting operations in Kazakhstan.

On July 18, 2021, we entered into a service agreement with Better Tech (the “Power Service Agreement”) for Phase I cooperation in Kazakhstan. The Power Service Agreement provides us with two mining facilities in Kazakhstan on for a term of three years, from July 20, 2021 to July 20, 2024, and a total electrical power capacity of 105 MW breaking down into two phases, including 15 MW in Phase I and 90 MW in Phase II. Under the Power Service Agreement, the supplier agrees to secure and provide us with the defined capacity of power and electricity supply, infrastructure layout and operating services, including, but not limited to, upgrading of the bitcoin mining equipment, technical support and regular monitoring of the signed-up facilities in Kazakhstan.

On July 16, 2021, we entered into a bitcoin mining hosting service agreement with Mint Asset Management Pte. Ltd (later on replaced by E2M Technology Limited as designated by the same customer to execute the same agreement) (“E2M”), a large-scale mining asset management group in Asia, for providing hosting services of their bitcoin mining equipment (the “Servers”) to generate computer power at the two facilities in Kazakhstan designated by us (the “Hosing Service Agreement”). Under the Hosting Service Agreement, E2M agrees to provide to us a number of servers under its management with a specified energy utilization capacity of 105MW (15 MW in Phase I and 90 MW in Phase II) in Kazakhstan, in accordance with specification and power availability dates set out in the availability schedule. We are obligated to host these servers in specialized containers and provide the electrical power, transmission and connection equipment necessary for the mining, hosting, operating and management of the servers there, in each case in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Hosting Service Agreement. The Hosting Service Agreement provides for the initial term of three (3) years from July 28, 2021 to July 28, 2024.

On July 21, 2021, our power service partner completed the infrastructure of the first data center facility in Uralsk, which consist mainly of mobile blockboxes located on undeveloped land to host mining machines, with transformers, wires, and switches connecting to electric infrastructure, with a capacity of up to 15MW. As of August 28, 2021, we handled shipping on behalf of our third-party hosting customers of 4,234 bitcoin mining machines to the site to commence operations (including 2,864 units of Whatsminer M20S, 1,115 units of Whatsminer M21S, and 255 of Bitmain T19) and the machines have all started operation since then.

In August 2021, we acquired Nanjing SuannengWuxian Technology Co. Ltd. (“Nanjing SuannengWuxian”), a private mining pool business and an entity under common control by one of our principal shareholders. This acquisition enabled us to meet increased demand by investors for crypto asset allocation, while also providing increased security and diversified services to our hosting customers as we expand our global operation. We are currently building this business, including the domain name sai.plus, into a leading bitcoin mining cloud management and comprehensive services platform. Concurrently with such acquisition, we succeeded Nanjing Suanneng Wuxian’s licensing agreement with a third-party vendor with respect to SaaS used in connection with such services, and we and Nanjing SuannengWuxian have transitioned hosting services to such customers to our operation.

On March 9, 2022, we joined EUROHEAT&POWER, a non-for-profit association headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, which unites the district energy sector and promotes sustainable heating and cooling in Europe and internationally. On March 15, 2022, we joined the International District Energy Association (IDEA), a 501(c)(6) non-profit industry association founded in the United States in 1909, with headquarters in Westborough, Massachusetts. IDEA has extensive experience in highly reliable thermal networks, combined heat and power, thermal storage and clean energy management to optimize energy efficiency, emissions reductions and sustainable solutions for mission-critical and community-scale markets. IDEA has a membership of over 2,400 industry professionals representing more than 30 countries from around the world. We believe both organizations, EUROHEAT&POWER and IDEA, will accelerate the market introduction and expansion of our SAIHUB CAB bitcoin mining and heating solution in global market.

During the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, we approached and studied various hosting facilities in preparation of developing our self-owned mining operation, and potential heating partners for deploy our SAIHUB CAB in international countries other than Kazakhstan, including Finland, Mexico, Canada and the United States.

On August 1, with the consideration of our power partners and hosting customers’ intention to suspend the service offerings under the originally agreed Service Agreement and Bitcoin Mining Hosting Service Agreement, we terminated our Service Agreement, dated as of July 18, 2021, with Better Tech Limited (“Better Tech”) relating to the Phase II 90 MW power supply cooperation in Kazakhstan, and our Bitcoin Mining Hosting Service Agreement, dated as of July 16, 2021, with E2M Technology Limited (“E2M”) relating to the rendering of Phase II 90 MW hosting services in Kazakhstan, which had already been delayed due to the national riots in Kazakhstan, which commenced on January 2022. We have reached a mutual understanding with Better Tech and E2M on the force majeure events that occurred during the first half of 2022 and agreed to a waiver of liabilities. All parties agreed to continue the execution of the Phase I 15 MW cryptocurrency mining operation, which started on August 2021, based on the terms of the Service Agreement and Bitcoin Mining Hosting Service Agreement.

Later in August 2022, we opened and started operations at our North American distribution center located in Chesterland, state of Ohio in the United States where we plan to utilize this facility for final product assembly and distribution, service headquarters, technical training operations, parts remanufacturing, collision repair etc. to support our expansion plan in North American markets. It also installed two SAIHUB-025M cabinets to provide hot water heating services for the entire facility. We also constructed vertical agricultural block box and fish farming pond pools which will be heated by the hot water generated from SAIHUB CAB cabinets, representing a live demo of our technology and equipment.

On February 2, 2023, we purchased 420 Whatsminer M30s++ bitcoin mining machines for $633,360, or approximately $14.50 per terahash for self-mining utility, through our indirect wholly owned subsidiary. The full deployment of the 420 Whatsminer M30s++ miners will increase our total operational hash rate capacity by 43.68 PH/s but will only consume approximately 1.35MW of power, benefited from the advanced power efficiency of 31W/T.

On February 21, 2023, we signed a hosting service contract with our previously contracted data center in La Pechuga, Mexico, to host additional 500 bitcoin mining machines. These 500 bitcoin mining machines include 420 Whatsminer M30s++ bitcoin mining machines that we have purchased on February 2, 2023 for self-mining utility, and 80 Whatsminer M30s+ bitcoin mining machines from our customer that we provide services to. The 500 bitcoin mining machines have been fully plugged-in and operating at their full capacity since March 11, 2023.

As of the date of this Annual Report, we have 900 bitcoin mining machines located at our data center service provider in La Pechuga, Mexico, including 520 bitcoin mining machines (with 420 units of Whatsminer M30s++ and 100 units of Bitmain S9i) for self-mining, and 380 bitcoin mining machines from our customers that we provide services to.

After our review of global bitcoin mining industry and changing regulatory framework in different countries, we are currently focusing on expansion opportunities primarily in North American countries.

Post business combination, besides the hosting operation we already have and any hosting opportunities to be validated, we plan to grow our self-mining capacity through investment in mining machines when their market prices are at a level that the management believes will deliver a desirable return. Strategically, we plan to deploy our products to our own and business partners’ bitcoin mining operation globally where heating demand is applicable to reduce the mining operational cost and to create environmental benefits. In the long-run, we plan to operate our self-owned and hosted datacenters installed with our comprehensive energy-saving solutions on a smart cloud platform that maximizes the energy efficiency of the global bitcoin mining network under our management. We aim to generate revenue mainly from the bitcoins that we obtain through self-mining activities and to accumulate, sell or hold digital assets as determined by our management and board of directors based on prevailing market prices and mining economics of bitcoin. Besides, we expect to generate additional revenue from waste heat resale and various technology-related types of charges when our SAIHUB comprehensive mining solutions, technologies, equipment commercialize and applied operations scale up in global market, subject to the any commercial agreements with customers and business partners. As our global expansion accelerates after the closing of Business Combination, we believe our unique SAIHUB bitcoin mining solution, which is also an innovative heating solution that can electrify many traditional fossil fuel boilers to reduce heating industry’s carbon emissions, represents compelling differentiation of our business model and features us as a unique energy saving bitcoin mining company.

On March 28, 2023, we acquired Atomic Evolution Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company, as our wholly-owned subsidiary and our initiative in the area of small modular reactor (the “SMR”). Through this acquisition, we intend to discover business opportunities in the SMR industry with a mission of promoting a wider use of stable, carbon-neutral and readily available SMR products.

On March 28, 2023, we established Boltbit Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company, as our wholly owned subsidiary and our initiative in the area of cryptocurrency exchange. By establishing Boltbit Limited, we intend to discover business opportunities related to decentralized transaction system services based on blockchain and lightning network technology.

Industry and Market

Our business model centers on cryptocurrency mining operations and, specifically, bitcoin mining. Our products and solutions also apply to the global heating industry, and we expect to generate waste heat resales or technology-related types of revenue when our products are put into operation in the global market subject to the commercial terms with our heat user collocation partners.

Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets

A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger. Unlike a centralized database whereby an entire database, or full copies of that database, remains in the control of one person or entity stored on a computer that is controlled or owned by that same person or entity, a blockchain ledger typically has partial copies of itself across various computers or participants (“nodes”) in the network. Each new block requires a method of consensus between nodes of the network in order for the block to post to the ledger and become permanent. There are various methods being developed for executing a consensus.

Currently, the most popular application of blockchain is cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are currencies that are not backed by a central bank or a national, supra-national or quasi-national organization and are not typically backed by hard assets or other credit. Cryptocurrencies are typically used as a medium of exchange — similar to fiat currencies like the U.S. Dollar — that is transacted through and recorded on a blockchain.

In addition to cryptocurrencies, there are other assets, such as contracts or other information that reside on a blockchain that represent a form of ownership. Examples may include insurance contracts, deeds, wills, health data or securities. Together with cryptocurrencies, these other assets, which also include virtual currencies, digital coins and tokens, and other blockchain assets, make up a class of assets called “Digital Assets.” Digital assets offer fast,

low-cost peer-to-peer payment options without the need to provide personal details. Every transaction is recorded in the blockchain, which effectively contains a record of all account balances. Each account on the blockchain is identified solely by its unique public key, which renders it anonymous, and is secured with its associated passcode. The value of digital assets is determined by the value that various market participants place on them through their transactions, for example, via peer-to-peer transactions, e-commerce or exchanges.

Cryptocurrency — Advantages

Digital assets have been viewed by the community to offer several advantages over traditional (also known as ‘fiat’) currency, including:

•        Acting as a fraud deterrent, as digital assets recorded on a blockchain are virtually impossible to counterfeit, reverse, or modify;

•        Immediate settlement;

•        Elimination of counterparty risk;

•        No requirement for a trusted intermediary;

•        Lower transaction costs;

•        Identity theft prevention;

•        Universal accessibility;

•        Transaction verification and confirmation processes that prevent double spending;

•        Decentralized transaction processing at any time of day without any central authority (governments or financial institutions); and

•        Universal value free from currency exchange rates.

Cryptocurrency Market

The market for digital assets has grown exponentially. In 2017, there were an estimated 2.7 million users of digital assets, whereas based on estimates provided by blockchain service provider TripleA, estimated global crypto users will reach 420 million in the year of 2023. Bitcoin’s daily exchange volume has grown from $92 million in January 2017 to more than $30 billion in February 2023. The initial exchange rate recorded on October 5, 2009 was one bitcoin equaled $0.000764. Bitcoin remains the leading digital asset in terms of market capitalization, which, based on data sourced from coinmarketcap.com, exceeded $450 billion as of February 28, 2023. As of December 31, 2022, based on data sourced from coinbase.com, the trading price of one bitcoin was $16,600. By April 18, 2023, the price of one bitcoin increased to $30,202, highlighting the extremely volatile nature of bitcoin. Currently, mining and purchasing from the secondary market are the major ways of acquiring crypto.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a digital commodity, a type of cryptocurrency, created in January 2009 by a mysterious and pseudonymous person named Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin offers lower transaction fees than traditional online payment mechanisms and, unlike government-issued currencies, it is operated by a decentralized authority, with only balances kept on a public ledger to which everyone has transparent access.

Bitcoin Mining

The process of maintaining and developing the blockchain ledger with crypto tokens as reward is called mining, which is an important scenario of encryption computing. The mining rewards are paid to the miners who discover a solution to a complex hashing puzzle first. Solving the hashing puzzle requires continuous computing until the key is found, therefore mining is a competition of computing power.

The Bitcoin Network hash rate has increased from 1.03 EH/s at the beginning of 2016 to 277.47 EH/s by the end of 2022, with a CAGR of 122.4%. Subsequently, the Bitcoin Network hash rate peaked over 300 EH/s in January 2023.

For bitcoin, miners’ computers or machines, called nodes, constantly collect and bundle individual transactions from the past ten minutes (the fixed “block time” of bitcoin) into blocks, and compete to solve the hashing puzzle to be the first to validate the new block for the blockchain, which is called Proof of Work (“PoW”). For bitcoin networks, mining is the process of providing a stable settlement mechanism to validate transaction. A number of proposed transactions are bundled in a block and be mined and propagated for verification The reward mechanism attracts miners to participate and improve the robustness and security by raising the difficulties for 51% attack.

Bitcoin Distribution

Bitcoin is finite in its supply of a total number of 21 million, with 19.3million currently in circulation. Thus, it is a scarce asset that can potentially serve to hedge various forms of inflation. Compared with high storage and transport costs of gold, bitcoin requires no transport costs and has a transparent and diminishing supply schedule.

By 2025, bitcoin is expected to surpass gold’s stock-to-flow ratio, forming a significant monetary store of value.

Transaction Fees

When a user decides to send bitcoin to a recipient, the transaction is first broadcasted to a memory pool before being included in a block. Because each block can only contain up to 1 megabyte of transaction information, it is in this memory pool that miners pick and choose which transactions to bundle into the next block and verify. During periods of heavy network usage, there can oftentimes be more transactions awaiting confirmation than there is space in a block. Consequently, not all attempted transactions will be verified immediately and some transactions can take up to a day or longer to verify.

In such situations where there are more transactions in the memory pool than there is space on the next block, users compete for miners’ computation power by adding fees (“tips”) onto their transactions in the hope that miners would prioritize their transactions. Due to the 1-megabyte limitation, miners tend to favor smaller transactions that are easier to validate. Larger “tips” are required to incentivize miners to mine larger transactions. When the network congestion eases, the miners then turn their focus upon the remaining transactions.

Mining Pools

A mining pool is the pooling of resources by miners, who share their processing power over a network and split rewards according to the amount of work they contributed to the probability of finding a block. Mining pools emerged in response to the growing difficulty and available hashing power that competes to discover blocks on the bitcoin blockchain.

The mining pool operator provides a service that coordinates the workers. Fees are paid to the mining pool operator to cover the costs of maintaining the pool. The pool uses software that coordinates the pool members’ hashing power, identifies new block rewards, records how much work all the participants are doing, and assigns block rewards in-proportion to the participants’ efforts.

To maximize the opportunities to receive a reward, most large-scale miners have joined with other miners in “mining pools” where the computing power of each pool participant is coordinated to complete the block on the blockchain, and mining rewards are distributed to participants in accordance with the rules of the mining pool. Fees payable to the operator of the pool vary but are typically as much as 2% of the reward earned and are deducted from the amounts earned by each pool participant. Mining pools are subject to various risks including connection issues, outages and other disruptions which can impact the quantity of digital assets earned by participants.

Global Heating Industry Overview

Heating is the largest energy end-use, accounting for around 50% of global final energy consumption and 40% of global CO2 emissions. Industrial processes (50%) and buildings (47%, for space, water heating and cooking) are the largest heat consumers in 2019, followed by agriculture mainly for greenhouse heating.

Many countries have taken countermeasures to improve energy utility and reduce carbon emission of heating. Governments attempt to reduce the portion of high-carbon-emission energy used for heating. For example, China encourages to use clean coal to replace traditional coal for heat generation. Besides, Europe has introduced policies to encourage research on improving the efficiency of coal power generation, expanding utility of geothermal power, growing heat supply from cogeneration, etc.

Both primary and secondary energy could be applied for heat generation, while currently, fossil fuel dominates the global heat supply. Heat could be generated from energy via specific suppliers, cogeneration, waste heat recovery and distributed heaters. Despite the direct use of renewables, cogeneration and waste heat recovery are considered cleaner ways to produce heat.

Waste Heat Utilization

Waste heat utilization is the process to collect and reuse the heat generated by industrial processes that was wasted otherwise. Since waste heat is a byproduct of industrial process, it can be considered that no extra energy consumption or carbon emission is incurred. As a result, we believe that by replacing traditional heat generation with waste heat recycle, one is able to reduce increased energy consumption efficiency and reduce carbon emission.

Major approaches for waste heat utilization includes heat exchange, heat conversion and heat pump. Heat exchange is the most direct and efficient method for industrial waste heat utilization. Heat exchange equipment is applied to transfer waste heat while maintaining the form of waste heat energy. Heat conversion with the use of waste heat boiler is the most common method for industrial waste heat utilization. The conversion process can improve the quality of waste heat. Heat pump is another way to reuse waste heat, which is more suitable for industrial and civil low-temperature waste heat utilization. Our SAIHUB CAB currently provides 60-70°C hot water steadily and is an innovative waste heat utilization method and equipment that collects waste heat from semiconductors or chips especially ASIC chips for bitcoin mining.

Our Competitive Strengths

Comprehensive solutions to reduce the four major costs of bitcoin mining that can exploit the maximum operating profit margin in the long-run

We are established to develop technologies and solutions that reduce the four major costs of bitcoin mining: electricity, cooling, chip and services. The integration of bitcoin mining and heating activities enables us to provide clean and cost-effective mining services with minimal environmental impact. By operating mining data centers in an energy-effective way, we create value not only for customers of custody, but also for users in demand of heat, and contributes to positive environmental externalities. We are dedicated to developing our technology and solution package to optimize the mining total cost of operation, and it is committed to long-term carbon neutrality.

Our comprehensive bitcoin mining energy-saving solution together called SAIHUB™ is built on an integrated technology platform including the following products:

CAB — Our patented indoor electric boiler cabinet product, which can reuse the waste heat from running chips to provide heating services while generating Bitcoin uninterruptedly. Main features include:

•        Advanced chip liquid cooling technology

•        State-of-the-art pressure bearing pipeline design

•        Integrates 72 traditional Bitcoin mining rigs

•        Equipped with smart sensing and monitoring system

•        Thermal efficiency reaches 90%

BOX — Our outdoor high-performance computing container series, which can reuse the waste heat from running chips to provide heating services. Main products include:

•        BOX:    collapsible bitcoin mining blockbox product, which can accommodates 180 units Bitcoin mining machines, with great transportation efficiency; designed to be easily transported and set-up;

•        TANKBOX:    immersion cooling outdoor infrastructure 20ft container, fits up to 144 mining machines and compatible with Bitmain S19 series, Whatsminer M30/36/50/56 series or other air-cooled machines. Equipped with external cooling tower and enables high-efficiency reuse of waste-heat;

•        RACKBOX:    liquid cooling outdoor infrastructure 20ft container, fits up to 90 units of 2U standard mining machines and compatible with all rack-mounted liquid-cooling models (e.g., Whatsminer M53). Equipped with external cooling tower and enables high-efficiency reuse of waste-heat;

•        HYDROBOX: liquid cooling outdoor infrastructure 20ft container, has a total power of 1050 kilowatts, which is specifically designed to fit any of Bitmain’s liquid-cooling models of up to 210 units. The HYDROBOX is also compatible with Bitmain’s S19 Hydro XP, the most energy-efficient mining rig on the market.

APP — is our all-in-one cloud management. Main features include:

•        Asset management

•        Mining management

•        Energy management

•        Safety management

PCB — is our redesigned hash board providing higher density of chips and liquid cooling adaptive layout to further improve the energy efficiency.

Unique liquid cooling and waste heat recovery technology that can turn bitcoin mining machines into energy-efficient boilers for large-scale heating, proven by successful pilot programs

As an innovator in the bitcoin mining industry, we have the opportunity to harness the power of technology in order to create a more sustainable future for bitcoin mining to address the industry’s energy and environmental challenges. Utilizing liquid cooling enables bitcoin mining to upgrade to more advanced ASIC chips which generate heat in a higher density. Liquid cooling itself improves the energy efficiency and mining operation efficiency of ASIC chips already. We further developed waste heat recovery engineering capabilities to enable the electricity consumed in process of ASIC chips computing to be reutilized at 90% efficiency for heating purposes in most low to medium temperature heating applications esp. in greenhouses hot water heating systems and district heating projects’ hot water heating systems. By collocating our products along with large-scale heating users, we can reduce these heat users’ capital expenditure transferring their fossil fuel boilers to electric boilers. We intent to switch to renewable power source gradually with our datacenter operation to enable the electrification of these heat user’s fossil fuel boilers, which is also promoting the decarbonization of traditional heating industry, creating a huge environmental benefit to the global carbon neutrality goal and social benefits.

Based on our three successful pilot programs, we compared the cost structure and carbon emissions between (i) building a 10,000 KW coal boiler that supplies 200,000 m2 hot water heating demand and a mining data center separately, and (ii) building a 10,000 KW SAIHUB CAB data center that can supply heating demand of 200,000 m2 in a typical site at 40-45° N latitude region. Our model concludes that the second solution utilizing our SAIHUB CAB can save about 59.7% of construction costs, 37.5% of energy consumption, 54.5% of operating costs and reduce 7,993 tons of coals usage and 23,798 tons of carbon emissions in a winter. Our pilot projects operation statistics supported the feasibility of our heating capability and this estimation model’s conclusion.

Based on the success of the pilot programs, we published a carbon footprint report and ESG report in early 2021, and participated in global carbon neutrality focused organizations, including:

•        We are the first crypto mining and supercomputing company worldwide to join the UNFCCC Climate Neutral Now (CNNow) initiative. After joining on April 27, 2021, we submitted our first carbon footprint report on July 9, 2021;

•        We joined the UNFCCC Race to Zero (SME Climate Club) on July 13, 2021, alongside the Energy Industries Council (UK) and other participants;

•        We joined the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) on July 22, 2021. Other members of TCFD include the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), BP, and Equinor; and

•        We joined the Climate Pledge on August 10, 2021, becoming an official signatory the following month.

As a result of our participation with these carbon neutrality-focused organizations, we do not carry any legal significance, nor does our participation constitute a binding commitment. We believe that the four NPOs in which we have participated (UNFCCC Climate Neutral Now (CNNow), SME Climate Club, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Climate Pledge) provide us with the guidance and insights to make a climate commitment and provides us access to tools and resources helpful to take concrete steps towards climate action across multiple pathways. These tools and resources provide support for measuring and reporting our emissions, developing climate strategy, reducing our own emissions and the emissions in our value chain and contributing to climate action by us.

Rich field experience and unique liquid cooling know-how gives us first-mover advantages

Our founding team is comprised of highly experienced mining operators, heating ventilation air conditioning (“HVAC”) engineers, and power infrastructure constructors in China. This team provides us with strong research and development (“R&D”) capabilities, as well as a deep understanding of the supply chain and cost structure of mining operations and sourcing networks. One founding partners has been managing mining machines since 2015 and has overseen the mining of over 30,000 bitcoins for customers. The other founding partner came from a mining operation management software company and managed over 5 EH/s hash rate mining machines operation. Our accumulated industry know-how can provide our customers with flexible and cost-effective operating solutions, such as plug-and-play designs and folding blockbox that can adapt to any geography and climate conditions. We have accumulated rich on-the-field expertise to design, test, debug and assemble mature, stable and highly-efficient bitcoin mining data centers. We have also successfully integrated traditional bitcoin mining machines with waste heat recovery units to provide large-scale heating supply to various heating application scenarios including residential and commercial buildings as well as agricultural greenhouses.

•        New entrants generally have to go through three phases to independently develop an innovative heating system for purpose of commercialization, including:

•        development of a prototype mining machine with an adaptive cooling solution applied;

•        small-scale trial run of the machine for both mining and heating performance; and

•        large-scale heating supply test to see if the machine can operate steadily, meet the requirements for both healthy bitcoin mining operation and different heating scenarios.

Large-scale stable heating systems are complex engineering projects that integrate many piping components, and waste heat recovery technology with liquid cooling system in data centers is in early development stage especially in digital assets mining industry. Chips can only operate healthily in a relatively cool environment through appropriate cooling system design. It requires strong engineering design capability, strong supply chain support and repeatedly tests to guarantee the optimized efficiency of both mining and heating operation. Therefore, we believe it is challenging for a new entrant to replicate our technology and operating model in the industry.

Professional team and strong industry resources

Our business covers many professional fields, including bitcoin mining, heating supply, liquid cooling, supercomputing chip manufacturing, electricity supply, materials, and equipment operating and maintenance, among others. Besides our experienced founding team from the digital asset mining industry, our team includes professionals from various fields, including investment and financing, ESG, marketing, and energy.

We have accumulated industrial resources and is constantly expanding our business landscape. Bitmain, the largest mining machine manufacturer globally, and other famous venture capital firms, has invested in us. Our business strategy and leading technology were well-recognized by the private capital market at a very early stage. Endorsed by strong shareholders’ backgrounds, we established long-term and close business relations with many industrial leading companies, including upstream energy suppliers, hardware manufacturers, and software providers. We have also accumulated a large base of potential institutional investors and high net worth individuals as our targeted customers.

Our Technology

Our technology systems are a critical component of our success and are designed to enhance operational performance and energy efficiency. Our research and development team, coupled with our proprietary technology and field application experience, have created opportunities for continuous improvements in our technology capabilities, empowering reliability, scalability and flexibility of our comprehensive bitcoin mining energy-saving solutions.

Liquid Cooling Technology

Liquid cooling is especially advantageous to large-scale data centers and supercomputing centers, including bitcoin mining data centers, where large amounts of heat are generated simultaneously and continuously alongside the computing process.

Since liquid’s thermal conductivity is significantly higher than air as proven widely by scientists and validated in our pilot programs, liquid cooling is a more efficient thermal management approach compared to traditional air-cooling system installed in most data centers. Overheating of PCB (Printed Circuit Boards) is a major reason for equipment malfunction. With no spinning fan nor reserved passageway typically required for air circulation, liquid cooling systems also reduces operational electricity consumption and leave more space for computing equipment deployment. Furthermore, liquid cooling generates no extra noise and avoids dust and moisture accumulation.

As a specialized high-performance computer, bitcoin mining machines mostly utilize application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) processors, which are chips manufactured specifically for mining bitcoin by solving blocks on blockchains using the 256-bit secure hashing algorithm. Unlike most computing centers with Central Processing Unit (“CPU”), bitcoin mining machines are designed to operate uninterruptedly to solve the SHA256 cryptographic hash algorithm to validate transactions on bitcoin networks. This is the only mission of the bitcoin mining ASIC chips. Thus, a mining machine is installed with many ASIC processors on its PCB making the specific computing precise and efficient, with fast speeds at low energy usage. For example, on a Whatsminer M21S mining machine, it installs three (3) units PCB and each PCB is inserted with sixty (66) bitcoin-mining ASIC chips. This is the core cost of the mining hardware. This chip density means mining machines generate waste heat more extensively, thus making the heat waste easier for collection and recovery. Chips have to operate healthily and steadily to guarantee computing efficiency in a relatively low temperate and clean environment, and major bitcoin mining machine manufacturers develop and design different cooling systems to provide such environment. Though most mining machines manufacturers are still adapting traditional air-cooling systems, some have been developing liquid cooling systems.

We apply liquid cooling technology to our SAIHUB CAB and RACKBOX products, and immersive cooling technology to our TANKBOX product. Different cooling technologies are used to better accommodate different models and sizes, and different application scenarios.

Waste Heat Recovery Technology

Our waste heat recovery technology is based on the liquid cooling system designed for high-performance computing equipment, including bitcoin mining machines. In order to reach the maximum cooling and waste heat recovery efficiency of the mining machines’ PCB, which are essentially heating units, we reorganize the layout of bitcoin mining machine’s PCB in independently designed SAIHUB CAB and enables the system to collect waste heat. Our

latest generation SAIHUB CAB integrates 72 units common type mining machines such as Whatsminer M21S at a size of 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm x 1.9 cm. The electricity input power of the SAIHUB CAB is 237 KW, and it can supply the equivalent heat of 213 KW with 90% thermal efficiency, competing with most existing fossil fuel boilers thermal efficiency with a lower maintenance cost and no additional capital expenditure of replacement.

Heating is the largest energy end-use, accounting for around 50% of global final energy consumption and 40% of global CO2 emissions. Industrial processes and buildings are the largest heat consumers in 2019, followed by agriculture mainly for greenhouse heating. Cogeneration and boilers are major methods for providing heat but they produce considerable carbon emissions because they rely on fossil fuels. Our products provide the heating industry with an innovative and low-cost “electric boiler”. This technology takes advantage of the highly mobile nature of bitcoin mining activity and assets, and the ability to deploy operations in commercial and residential buildings and greenhouses.

Intellectual Property

Our ability to protect our material intellectual property is important to our business. We rely upon a combination of protections afforded to