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Organization and Business
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization and Business

NOTE 1. ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS

Organization

On August 27, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), Good Works Acquisition Corp. (“GWAC”), a special purpose acquisition company, consummated the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of March 4, 2021 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among GWAC, Currency Merger Sub, Inc. (“Merger Sub”), a wholly owned direct subsidiary of GWAC, and Cipher Mining Technologies Inc. (“Cipher Mining Technologies”).

Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub merged with and into Cipher Mining Technologies, the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub ceasing and Cipher Mining Technologies being the surviving corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of GWAC (the “Merger” and, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the “Business Combination”). Following the Business Combination, the combined company was named Cipher Mining Inc. (“Cipher” or the “Company”). The Company comprises all of GWAC’s and Cipher Mining Technologies’ operations.

Business

The Company is an emerging technology company that operates in the Bitcoin mining ecosystem in the United States. Specifically, the Company is developing and growing a cryptocurrency mining business specializing in Bitcoin. As a stand-alone, U.S.-based cryptocurrency mining business, the Company has begun its buildout of cryptocurrency mining sites in the United States that will include both wholly-owned sites and partially-owned sites acquired through investments in joint ventures. The Company began deployment of capacity in the first quarter of 2022, with mining operations beginning in February 2022 at the partially-owned Alborz facility, located in Texas (the “Alborz Facility”). See additional information about the Alborz Facility in Note 8.

Cipher Mining Technologies was established on January 7, 2021, in Delaware, by Bitfury Top Holdco B.V. and its subsidiaries (“Bitfury Top Holdco” and, with its subsidiaries, the “Bitfury Group”). As of September 30, 2022, Bitfury Top HoldCo (together with Bitfury Holding B.V., a subsidiary of Bitfury Top HoldCo, and referred to herein as “Bitfury Holding”) beneficially owned approximately 81.6% of the Company’s common stock, $0.001 par value per share (“Common Stock”), with sole voting and sole dispositive power over those shares and, as a result, the Bitfury Group has control of the Company as defined in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”).

Risks and uncertainties

Liquidity and capital resources and limited business history

The Company used $8.9 million of cash for its operations during the nine months ended September 30, 2022. As of September 30, 2022, the Company had approximate balances of cash and cash equivalents of $28.1 million, total stockholders’ equity of $383.1 million and an accumulated deficit of $59.6 million. To date, the Company has, in large part, relied on proceeds from the consummation of the Business Combination to fund its operations.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Company paid $184.1 million of deposits for miners and mining equipment. As of September 30, 2022, the Company had contributed equipment with a total cost of $93.2 million related to its contributions of 12,953 miners and other mining equipment to the Alborz Facility, which was reclassified from deposits on equipment to investment in equity investee on its consolidated balance sheet, with the exception of losses of $11.6 million and $7.2 million recognized by the Company related to miners contributed in June 2022 and July 2022, respectively. See additional information regarding these losses in Note 8.

As of September 30, 2022, the Company had $200.0 million of deposits on equipment on its unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet, primarily for miners and, as of September 30, 2022, it had additional future commitments related to these deposits as detailed in Note 6. See Note 15 for additional information regarding a supplementary agreement entered into on November 4, 2022 related to one of the Company’s purchase agreements for miners. The Company’s management believes that the Company’s existing financial resources, combined with the ability to delay certain equipment orders, projected cash and cryptocurrencies inflows from its sites, the ability to sell cryptocurrency received or earned, as well as potential sales of Common Stock under the Company’s shelf

registration statement on Form S-3 (see additional information in Note 12), will be sufficient to meet its operating and capital requirements for at least 12 months from the date these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are issued.

There is limited historical financial information about the Company upon which to base an evaluation of its performance and the Company has not generated any revenues from its business to date. The business is subject to risks inherent in the establishment of a new business enterprise, including limited capital resources, possible delays in exploration and/or development, and possible cost overruns due to price and cost increases in services. The Company’s management has no current intention of entering into a merger or acquisition within the next 12 months. The Company is in the process of an active operational buildout and anticipates that additional capital will be required to implement the buildout. The Company may also require additional capital to pursue certain business opportunities or respond to technological advancements, competitive dynamics or technologies, customer demands, challenges, acquisitions or unforeseen circumstances. Additionally, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs related to becoming a public company. Accordingly, the Company may engage in equity or debt financings or enter into credit facilities for the above-mentioned or other reasons; however, the Company may not be able to timely secure additional debt or equity financings on favorable terms, if at all. If the Company raises additional funds through equity financing, its existing stockholders could experience significant dilution. Furthermore, any debt financing obtained by the Company in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to the Company’s capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for the Company to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities. If the Company is unable to obtain adequate financing on terms that are satisfactory to the Company, when the Company requires it, the Company’s ability to continue to grow or support the business and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited and it may be required to delay or change its planned buildout, which may adversely affect the Company’s business plan.

As disclosed in Note 12, the Company entered into an at-the-market offering agreement with H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (the “Agent”) dated September 21, 2022 (the “Sales Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company may, from time to time, sell up to $250.0 million in shares of the Company’s Common Stock through the Agent. The Company has not sold any shares of its Common Stock under the Sales Agreement as of the issuance of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

COVID-19 and other economic, business and political conditions

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 the Company’s control, such as the outbreak and global spread of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”). The COVID-19 pandemic that was declared on March 11, 2020 has caused significant economic dislocation in the United States and globally as governments, including the United States, introduced measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. 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 the Company’s business and management cannot anticipate all the ways in which the current economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact the Company’s business.

The Company may experience disruptions to its business operations resulting from supply delays or interruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, or other movement and restrictions on the ability of its employees or its counterparties to perform their jobs. The Company may also experience delays in construction and obtaining necessary equipment in a timely fashion. For example, in early January 2022, construction at the Alborz Facility was temporarily shut down in response to employees being impacted by COVID-19. The temporary shutdown was less than a week, and construction resumed at the site immediately after. If the Company is unable to effectively set up and service its miners, the Company’s 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 the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.