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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 8 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2021
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of presentation and principles of consolidation The Company prepares its consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) as determined by the FASB and pursuant to the accounting and disclosure rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Merger was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with U.S. GAAP (the “Reverse Recapitalization”). Under this method of accounting, GWAC is treated as the acquired company and Cipher is treated as the acquirer for financial statement reporting purposes. Accordingly, for accounting purposes, the Reverse Recapitalization was treated as the equivalent of Cipher issuing stock for the net assets of GWAC, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of GWAC are stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded, see Note 3. Cipher was determined to be the accounting acquirer based on an evaluation of the following facts and circumstances:  Cipher’s existing shareholder has the greatest voting interest in the Company;  the majority of the members of the board of directors of the Company are primarily composed of individuals associated with Cipher;  Cipher’s senior management is the senior management of the Company; and  Cipher’s operations prior to the Reverse Recapitalization comprise the only ongoing operations of the Company after the consummation of the Business Combination. The consolidated assets, liabilities and results of operations prior to the Reverse Recapitalization are those of Cipher. The shares and corresponding capital amounts and losses per share prior to the Business Combination have been retroactively restated based on shares reflecting the exchange ratio established in the Business Combination, see Note 3. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its controlled subsidiary, Cipher. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. Emerging growth company The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company, which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used. Use of estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Estimates made by the Company include, but are not limited to, those related to valuation of the warrant liability, among others. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. Unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, the interim condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, which consist of only normal recurring adjustments necessary for the fair presentation of the balances and results for the periods presented. These unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statement results are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full fiscal year or any future period. Change in fiscal year Starting with the three and eight months ended September 30, 2021, the Company assumed GWAC’s financial calendar for the combined entity with the Company’s third fiscal quarter ending September 30 and its fiscal year ending December 31. This change to the fiscal year end was approved by Cipher Mining’s board of directors (“Board”) on September 23, 2021. Cipher’s fiscal year previously ended on January 31. Cash and cash equivalents The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of acquisition to be cash equivalents. The Company’s cash equivalents consist of funds held in a money market account. The Company had $101.0 million and nil in cash equivalents as of September 30, 2021 and January 31, 2021, respectively. Concentrations of credit risk Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentration of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents. Periodically, the Company may maintain deposits in financial institutions in excess of government insured limits. Management believes that the Company is not exposed to significant credit risk as the Company’s deposits are held at financial institutions that management believes to be of high credit quality. The Company has not experienced any losses on these deposits. Fair value of financial instruments The Company’s financial assets and liabilities are accounted for in accordance with ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures”, which defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The fair value hierarchy requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs when measuring fair value and classifies those inputs into three levels: Level 1 – Observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities. Level 2 – Inputs other than Level 1 inputs that are either directly or indirectly observable, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the instrument’s anticipated life. Level 3 – Unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data, which require the reporting entity to develop its own assumptions. To the extent the valuation is based on models or inputs that are less observable or unobservable in the market, the determination of fair values requires more judgement. Accordingly, the degree of judgement exercised by management in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized as Level 3. A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Deferred offering and deferred investment costs Deferred offering costs consist of legal fees incurred as of the balance sheet date that were directly related to the Business Combination and were allocated as offering costs to the proceeds received and substantially charged to shareholders' equity upon the consummation of the Business Combination, see Note 3. Deferred investment costs consist of legal fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the formation of a joint venture and which will be capitalized as part of the Company’s total investment in the joint venture upon consummation of the joint venture agreement, see Note 9. Property and equipment Property and equipment consists primarily of construction-in-progress at one of the Company’s planned sites in Texas and computer equipment and is stated at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which is generally three years for computer-related assets. Construction-in-progress is not depreciated until the assets are placed into service. Property and equipment, net consisted of the following:
|  | September 30, 2021 |  |  | January 31, 2021 |
Computer equipment |  | $ | 23,761 |  |  | $ | 1,642 |
Construction-in-progress |  |  | 108,118 |  |  |  | - |
Less: accumulated depreciation |  |  | (1,427 | ) |  |  | (5 | )
Property and equipment, net |  | $ | 130,451 |  |  | $ | 1,637 |
Impairment of long-lived assets Management will review its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used will be measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized will be measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. Common stock warrants Upon the consummation of the Business Combination, the Company assumed common stock warrants that were originally issued in GWAC’s initial public offering (the “Public Warrants”), as well as warrants that were issued in a private placement that closed concurrently with GWAC’s initial public offering (the “Private Placement Warrants”). See Note 11 for additional information on the Public and Private Placement Warrants. The Company is capitalized as a single class of common stock, accordingly, a qualifying cash tender offer of more than 50% of the Common Stock will always result in a change-in-control, and in accordance with ASC 815-40-55-3, this would not preclude permanent equity classification of the Public Warrants; therefore, the Public Warrants are equity classified. The Private Placement Warrants are accounted for as a liability under ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity,” as they are a freestanding financial instrument that require the Company to transfer assets upon exercise. The Company recorded the Private Placement Warrants as a liability in the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet at fair value on the Closing Date, with subsequent changes in the respective fair values recognized in the change in fair value of warrant liability within the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations at each reporting date. The Private Placement Warrants were valued using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model as described in Note 4. Revenue recognition The Company recognizes revenue under FASB ASC 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (“ASC 606”). The core principle of the revenue standard is that a company should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The following five steps are applied to achieve that core principle:  Step 1: Identify the contract with the customer  Step 2: Identify the performance obligations in the contract  Step 3: Determine the transaction price  Step 4: Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract  Step 5: Recognize revenue when the company satisfies a performance obligation In order to identify the performance obligations in a contract with a customer, a company must assess the promised goods or services in the contract and identify each promised good or service that is distinct. A performance obligation meets ASC 606’s definition of a “distinct” good or service (or bundle of goods or services) if both of the following criteria are met: The customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available to the customer (i.e., the good or service is capable of being distinct), and the entity’s promise to transfer the good or service to the customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract (i.e., the promise to transfer the good or service is distinct within the context of the contract). If a good or service is not distinct, the good or service is combined with other promised goods or services until a bundle of goods or services is identified that is distinct. The transaction price is the amount of consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services to a customer. The consideration promised in a contract with a customer may include fixed amounts, variable amounts, or both. When determining the transaction price, an entity must consider the effects of all of the following:  Variable consideration  Constraining estimates of variable consideration  The existence of a significant financing component in the contract  Noncash consideration  Consideration payable to a customer Variable consideration is included in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved. The transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation on a relative standalone selling price basis. The transaction price allocated to each performance obligation is recognized when that performance obligation is satisfied, at a point in time or over time as appropriate. Digital asset mining services Providing computing power in digital asset transaction verification services will be an output of the Company’s ordinary activities. The provision of providing such computing power is a performance obligation. The transaction consideration the Company receives, if any, is noncash consideration, which the Company will measure at fair value on the date received. The consideration is all variable. There is no significant financing component in these transactions. Mining pools The Company will also enter into digital asset mining pools by executing contracts, as amended from time to time, with the mining pool operators to provide computing power to the mining pool. The contracts are terminable at any time by either party and the Company’s enforceable right to compensation only begins when the Company provides computing power to the mining pool operator. In exchange for providing computing power, the Company will be entitled to a fractional share of the fixed cryptocurrency award the mining pool operator receives (less digital asset transaction fees to the mining pool operator which will be recorded as contra-revenue), for successfully adding a block to the blockchain. The Company’s fractional share is based on the proportion of computing power the Company contributed to the mining pool operator to the total computing power contributed by all mining pool participants in solving the current algorithm. Providing computing power in digital asset transaction verification services is an output of the Company’s ordinary activities. The provision of providing such computing power is the only performance obligation in the Company’s contracts with mining pool operators. The transaction consideration the Company receives, if any, is noncash consideration, which the Company will measure at fair value on the date received, which is not materially different than the fair value at contract inception or the time the Company has earned the award from the pools. The consideration is all variable. Consideration is constrained from recognition until the mining pool operator successfully places a block (by being the first to solve an algorithm) and the Company receives confirmation of the consideration it will receive; at this time, cumulative revenue is no longer probable of significant reversal, i.e., associated uncertainty is resolved. There is no significant financing component in these transactions. There is, however, consideration payable to the customer in the form of a pool operator fee, payable only if the pool is the first to solve the equation; this fee will be deducted from the proceeds received by the Company and will be recorded as contra-revenue, as it does not represent a payment for a distinct good or service as described in ASC 606-10-32-25. Certain aspects of the Company’s performance obligations, such as providing computing power, may be contracted to various third parties and there is a risk that if these parties are unable to perform or curtail their operations, the Company’s revenue and operating results may be affected. Please see Note 9 for additional information about the Company’s power arrangements. Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, will be included in current assets in the balance sheets. Cryptocurrencies purchased will be recorded at cost and cryptocurrencies awarded to the Company through its mining activities will be accounted for in connection with the Company’s revenue recognition policy disclosed above. Cryptocurrencies will be accounted for as intangible assets with indefinite useful lives. An intangible asset with an indefinite useful life is not amortized but assessed for impairment annually, or more frequently, when events or changes in circumstances occur indicating that it is more likely than not that the indefinite-lived asset is impaired. Impairment exists when the carrying amount exceeds its fair value, which is measured using the quoted price of the cryptocurrency at the time its fair value is being measured. In testing for impairment, the Company has the option to first perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that an impairment exists. If it is determined that it is not more likely than not that an impairment exists, a quantitative impairment test is not necessary. If the Company concludes otherwise, it is required to perform a quantitative impairment test. To the extent an impairment loss is recognized, the loss establishes the new cost basis of the asset. Subsequent reversal of impairment losses is not permitted. Purchases of cryptocurrencies made by the Company will be included within investing activities in the statements of cash flows, while cryptocurrencies awarded to the Company through its mining activities will be included as a non-cash adjustment within operating activities on the statements of cash flows. The sales of cryptocurrencies will be included within investing activities in statements of cash flows and any realized gains or losses from such sales will be included in other income (expense) in the statements of operations. The Company will account for its gains or losses in accordance with the first in first out (“FIFO”) method of accounting. Income taxes The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of FASB ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”), which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2021 or January 31, 2021. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of September 30, 2021 and January 31, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception. Recent accounting pronouncements issued but not yet adopted In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)” which outlines a comprehensive lease accounting model and supersedes the current lease guidance. The new guidance requires lessees to recognize almost all their leases on the balance sheet by recording a lease liability and corresponding right-of-use assets. It also changes the definition of a lease and expands the disclosure requirements of lease arrangements. As per the latest ASU 2020-05 issued by the FASB, the entities who have not yet issued or made available for issuance their financial statements as of June 3, 2020 can defer the new guidance for one year. For the Company, this guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning January 1, 2022, and interim reporting periods within annual reporting periods beginning January 1, 2023. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact that the adoption of this pronouncement will have on the Company’s financial statements and disclosures. The Company entered into a series of agreements with affiliates of Luminant ET Services Company LLC (“Luminant”), including the Lease Agreement dated June 29, 2021, with amendment and restatement on July 9, 2021 (as amended and restated, the “Luminant Lease Agreement”). Once the Luminant Lease Agreement is effective and the Company has control over the applicable leased asset, the Company will record both a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability in accordance with Topic 842 for each lease component. In May 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-04, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Debt-Modifications and Extinguishments (Subtopic 470-50), Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718), and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40). This ASU reduces diversity in an issuer’s accounting for modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options (for example, warrants) that remain equity classified after modification or exchange. This ASU provides guidance for a modification or an exchange of a freestanding equity-classified written call option that is not within the scope of another Topic. It specifically addresses: (1) how an entity should treat a modification of the terms or conditions or an exchange of a freestanding equity-classified written call option that remains equity classified after modification or exchange; (2) how an entity should measure the effect of a modification or an exchange of a freestanding equity-classified written call option that remains equity classified after modification or exchange; and (3) how an entity should recognize the effect of a modification or an exchange of a freestanding equity-classified written call option that remains equity classified after modification or exchange. This ASU will be effective for all entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021. An entity should apply the amendments prospectively to modifications or exchanges occurring on or after the effective date of the amendments. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The adoption of ASU 2021-04 is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements or disclosures.

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