424B5
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Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(5)
Registration No. 333-267537

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

(TO PROSPECTUS DATED OCTOBER 7, 2022)

 

 

LOGO

Cipher Mining Inc.

2,397,424 Shares of Common Stock

 

 

We are offering 2,397,424 shares (the “Shares”) of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share, directly to Trinity Mining Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Trinity”), in this offering pursuant to this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus and that certain Purchase and Sale Agreement, dated as of November 6, 2023, by and among Trinity, Cipher Black Pearl LLC, our wholly-owned subsidiary, and us (the “Purchase and Sale Agreement”). We will not be paying any underwriting discounts or commissions in this offering.

Pursuant to the Purchase and Sale Agreement, we agreed to buy all of Trinity’s rights, title and interest in certain assets (the “Trinity Assets”). As consideration for the Trinity Assets, we agreed to issue the Shares to Trinity, with the number of Shares equal to $7,000,000 divided by the volume weighted average price of our common stock from 9:30 a.m. (New York City time) on September 25, 2023 to 4:00 p.m. (New York City time) on November 3, 2023 (the “30-Day VWAP”).

Because the Shares offered by this prospectus supplement will be issued only as consideration for the Trinity Assets, we will not receive any cash proceeds from this offering. The Shares issued pursuant to this prospectus supplement are fully registered and freely tradable. We will bear all costs, expenses and fees in connection with the issuance of the Shares. No underwriter or other person has been engaged to facilitate this issuance of the Shares.

We are an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 and a smaller reporting company as defined under Rule 405 of the Securities Act. As such, we have elected to rely on certain reduced disclosure requirements. See “Prospectus Supplement Summary—Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company and a Smaller Reporting Company” on page S-5 of this prospectus supplement.

 

 

INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES INVOLVES RISKS. SEE THE “RISK FACTORS” ON PAGE S-8 OF THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT AND IN THE DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE IN THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT CONCERNING FACTORS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE INVESTING IN OUR COMMON STOCK.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

The date of this prospectus supplement is November 8, 2023.


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

     S-1  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION; INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

     S-2  

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY

     S-4  

THE OFFERING

     S-7  

RISK FACTORS

     S-8  

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     S-10  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     S-12  

DIVIDEND POLICY

     S-13  

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

     S-14  

LEGAL MATTERS

     S-15  

EXPERTS

     S-15  
PROSPECTUS       

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

     1  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION; INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

     3  

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     5  

THE COMPANY

     6  

RISK FACTORS

     7  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     8  

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

     9  

DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING WARRANTS

     14  

DESCRIPTION OF NEW WARRANTS

     18  

DESCRIPTION OF UNITS

     19  

GLOBAL SECURITIES

     20  

SELLING SECURITYHOLDERS

     24  

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

     30  

LEGAL MATTERS

     33  

EXPERTS

     33  

 

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

This prospectus supplement is part of a registration statement that we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, utilizing a “shelf” registration process. This prospectus supplement describes the specific terms of this offering. The accompanying base prospectus, including the documents incorporated by reference therein, provides general information about us, some of which may not apply to this offering. Generally, when we refer to this prospectus, we are referring to both this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus, combined.

We urge you to carefully read this prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus, the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein and the additional information under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information; Incorporation by Reference.” These documents contain information you should consider when making your investment decision.

You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. This prospectus supplement may add, update or change information contained in the accompanying base prospectus. To the extent any information in this prospectus supplement is inconsistent with the accompanying base prospectus, you should rely on the information in this prospectus supplement. The information in this prospectus supplement will be deemed to modify or supersede the information in the accompanying base prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference therein, except for those documents incorporated by reference therein which we file with the SEC after the date of this prospectus supplement.

You should not assume that the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus is accurate on any date subsequent to the date set forth on the front cover of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus or on any date subsequent to the date of the document incorporated by reference herein or therein, as applicable. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

We are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, shares of common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The distribution of this prospectus supplement and the offering of the common stock in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus supplement must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the common stock and the distribution of this prospectus supplement outside the United States. This prospectus supplement does not constitute, and may not be used in connection with, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities offered by this prospectus supplement by any person in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful for such person to make such an offer or solicitation.

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, the terms “Cipher,” “we,” “our,” “us,” “registrant,” and the “Company,” mean Cipher Mining Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. When we refer to “you,” we mean the potential holders of the applicable series of securities.

We have proprietary rights to trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this prospectus that are important to our business. This prospectus supplement also includes trademarks, tradenames and service marks that are the property of other organizations. Solely for convenience, trademarks and tradenames referred to in this prospectus supplement appear without the ® and TM symbols, but those references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or that the applicable owner will not assert its rights, to these trademarks and tradenames.

 

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION; INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Available Information

We file reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information about issuers, such as us, who file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is www.sec.gov.

Our website address is https://investors.ciphermining.com. The information on our website, however, is not, and should not be deemed to be, a part of this prospectus supplement.

This prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus are part of a registration statement that we filed with the SEC and do not contain all of the information in the registration statement. The full registration statement may be obtained from the SEC or us, as provided below. Documents establishing the terms of the offered securities are or may be filed as exhibits to the registration statement. Statements in this prospectus supplement or the accompanying base prospectus about these documents are summaries, and each statement is qualified in all respects by reference to the document to which it refers. You should refer to the actual documents for a more complete description of the relevant matters. You may inspect a copy of the registration statement through the SEC’s website, as provided above.

CERTAIN INFORMATION INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The SEC’s rules allow us to “incorporate by reference” information in this prospectus supplement, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus supplement, and subsequent information that we file with the SEC will automatically update and supersede that information. Any statement contained in a previously filed document incorporated by reference will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus supplement to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus supplement or a subsequently filed document incorporated by reference modifies or replaces that statement.

This prospectus supplement incorporates by reference the documents set forth below that have previously been filed with the SEC (other than those documents or the portions of those documents not deemed to be filed):

 

   

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on March 14, 2023.

 

   

Our Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the SEC on March  23, 2023, with respect to those portions incorporated by reference into our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

 

   

Our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023 filed with the SEC on May  9, 2023, August  8, 2023 and November 8, 2023, respectively.

 

   

Our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on March 20, 2023, May  9, 2023, August  4, 2023, August  8, 2023 and August 29, 2023.

 

   

The description of our common stock contained in our registration statement on Form 8-A filed with the SEC on October  15, 2020 and any amendment or report filed with the SEC for the purpose of updating the description, including Exhibit 4.3 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.

All reports and other documents we subsequently file pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which we refer to as the “Exchange Act” in this prospectus

 

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supplement, prior to the termination of this offering, including all such documents we may file with the SEC after the date of the initial registration statement of which this prospectus supplement is a part and prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement, will also be incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and deemed to be part of this prospectus supplement from the date of the filing of such reports and documents. We are not, however, incorporating by reference any documents or portions thereof, whether specifically listed above or filed in the future, that are not deemed “filed” with the SEC, including our stock performance graph or any information furnished pursuant to Items 2.02 or 7.01 of Form 8-K or related exhibits furnished pursuant to Item 9.01 of Form 8-K.

You may request a free copy of any of the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement by writing or telephoning us at the following address:

CIPHER MINING INC.

1 VANDERBILT AVENUE, FLOOR 54, SUITE C

NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017

(332) 262-2300

Exhibits to the filings will not be sent, however, unless those exhibits have specifically been incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement.

 

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PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY

This summary provides a general overview of selected information and does not contain all of the information you should consider before buying our common stock. Therefore, you should read this entire prospectus supplement, the accompanying base prospectus and any free writing prospectus that we have authorized for use in connection with this offering carefully, including the information incorporated by reference, before deciding to invest in our common stock. Investors should carefully consider the information set forth under “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-8 of this prospectus supplement and incorporated by reference to our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Cipher Mining Inc.

We are an emerging technology company that develops and operates industrial scale bitcoin mining data centers. Cipher, through itself and its consolidated subsidiaries, including Cipher Mining Technologies Inc., currently operates four bitcoin mining data centers in Texas, including one wholly-owned data center and three partially-owned data centers that were acquired through investments in joint ventures. Bitcoin mining is our principal revenue generating business activity.

Our current intention is to continue to expand our bitcoin mining business by developing additional data centers, expanding capacity at our current data centers and entering into other arrangements, such as joint ventures or data center hosting agreements.

Our key mission is to expand and strengthen the bitcoin network’s critical infrastructure. As of October 31, 2023, we operated approximately 80,500 miners, with an aggregate hashrate capacity of approximately 8.2 EH/s, deploying approximately 267 MW of electricity, of which we owned approximately 70,500 miners, with an aggregate hashrate capacity of approximately 7.2 EH/s, deploying approximately 236 MW of electricity.

We operate four bitcoin mining data centers in Texas, including one wholly-owned and three partially-owned data centers acquired through investments in joint ventures. Our largest data center is our Odessa data center (the “Odessa Facility”), which is our wholly-owned 207 MW facility located in Odessa, Texas. We also operate our Alborz data center (the “Alborz Facility”), which is located near Happy, Texas and is partially-owned through a joint venture with WindHQ LLC (“WindHQ”). Our Bear data center (the “Bear Facility”) and our Chief data center (the “Chief Facility”) are both located near Andrews, Texas and are also partially-owned through separate joint ventures with WindHQ. We have a 49% membership interest in Alborz LLC, Bear LLC and Chief LLC, which own the Alborz Facility, the Bear Facility and the Chief Facility, respectively.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 1 Vanderbilt Avenue, Floor 54, Suite C, New York, New York and our telephone number is (332) 262-2300. Our website address is https://www.ciphermining.com/. We do not incorporate the information on, or accessible through, our website into this prospectus, and you should not consider any information on, or accessible through, our website as part of this prospectus.

Recent Developments

On October 4, 2023, we entered into an agreement with Bitmain Technologies Delaware Limited to purchase 1.2 EH/s worth of HASH Super Computing Servers (Antminer S21-200.0T model), for a total commitment of $24.0 million to be paid in cash and coupons, or $16.8 million in cash after applying coupons (the “Bitmain Agreement”). We expect the miners purchased under this agreement to be shipped in batches between January and June 2024. We expect to make periodic payments in accordance with the payment schedule under

 

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the Bitmain Agreement, with the final payment expected to occur one year after the delivery of the last batch of miners. Pursuant to the Bitmain Agreement, we are responsible for all logistics costs related to transportation, packaging for transportation and insurance related to the delivery of the miners.

Black Pearl Purchase

On November 6, 2023, we and our wholly-owned subsidiary, Cipher Black Pearl LLC, entered into the Purchase and Sale Agreement with Trinity Mining Group, Inc. (“Trinity”) to purchase a data center lease (the “Lease”) related to certain tracts or parcels of land containing at least 50 acres of land located in Winkler County, Texas (the “Leased Property”) and certain other agreements (the “Assumed Agreements”) providing for the construction of a new data center we expect to build and call “Black Pearl” or the “Black Pearl Facility”. The Lease has an initial term of ten years, and we have four consecutive options to renew for periods of ten years each. In addition to the Lease and the Assumed Agreements, the purchased assets under the Purchase and Sale Agreement include certain books, records, reports, studies and governmental approvals related to the Leased Property, and an approval from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”) conditionally approving up to 300 MW of energy consumption at the interconnection point of the Leased Property (the “Purchased Assets”).

The consideration for the Purchased Assets will be $7.0 million (the “Purchase Price”). The Purchase Price will be paid by delivery of a number of whole shares of our common stock. The amount of our common stock to be delivered under the Purchase and Sale Agreement will be calculated by dividing the Purchase Price by the volume weighted average price of our common stock traded on Nasdaq Global Select Market for the thirty (30) trading days immediately preceding the signing of the Purchase and Sale Agreement, determined without regard to after-hours trading or any other trading outside of the regular trading session trading hours.

The shares of our common stock to be issued to Trinity will be issued pursuant to our effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3, as amended (No. 333-267537), including all information, documents and exhibits filed with or incorporated by reference into such registration statement, providing for the offering, issuance and sale by us from time to time of up to $500 million in aggregate of our common stock, preferred stock, warrants and units. Our obligations to consummate the transactions contemplated by the Purchase and Sale Agreement are subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent. To the extent those conditions are satisfied, or waived by us, we expect the closing date to occur before the end of December 2023. If the closing date under the Purchase and Sale Agreement occurs before the end of December 2023, we expect to deliver to Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (“Oncor”) up to $6.3 million as collateral that Oncor will be obligated to return to us provided that we energize at least 135MW at the Black Pearl Facility by May 15, 2026.

Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company and a Smaller Reporting Company

We are 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”). As such, we are eligible to 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 auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in their periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

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

 

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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. We have 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, we, 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 our financial statements with certain other public companies difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) December 31, 2025, the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of the initial public offering by Good Works Acquisition Corp., our predecessor company, which closed on October 19, 2020, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common equity that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter; and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

We are also a “smaller reporting company,” meaning that the market value of our stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700 million and our annual revenue was less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year. We may continue to be a smaller reporting company if either (i) the market value of our stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250 million or (ii) our annual revenue was less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and the market value of our stock held by non-affiliates was less than $700 million. If we are a smaller reporting company at the time we cease to be an emerging growth company, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. For so long as we remain a smaller reporting company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure and other requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not applicable to a smaller reporting company.

 

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THE OFFERING

 

Common stock offered by us

2,397,424 shares of our common stock.

 

Common stock outstanding prior to this offering

254,558,178 as of September 30, 2023.

 

Common stock outstanding after this offering

257,057,496.

 

Use of Proceeds

We will not receive any proceeds upon this offering of Shares. See the section entitled “Use of Proceeds” on page S-12 of this prospectus supplement.

 

Risk Factors

See “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-8 of this prospectus supplement and the other information included in, or incorporated by reference into, this prospectus supplement for a discussion of certain factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock.

 

Nasdaq Global Select Market symbol 

“CIFR”

The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding prior to this offering as shown above is based on 254,558,178 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2023, and excludes:

 

   

8,613,980 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of public warrants and private placement warrants outstanding, having an exercise price of $11.50 per share;

 

   

21,234,610 shares of common stock subject to nonvested restricted stock units; and

 

   

6,282,366 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under the Cipher Mining Inc. 2021 Incentive Award Plan, or the Incentive Award Plan, as of September 30, 2023, as well as any automatic increases in the number of shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under the Incentive Award Plan.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investment in any securities offered pursuant to this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus involves risks. You should carefully consider the risk factors described below and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement, any amendment or update thereto reflected in subsequent filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and all other information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement, as updated by our subsequent filings under the Exchange Act. The risks and uncertainties we have described are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our operations. The occurrence of any of these risks might cause you to lose all or part of your investment in the offered securities.

Risks Relating to this Offering

The trading price of our common stock has been volatile and may be volatile in the future.

The trading price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly, as it has in the past, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the purchase price. We cannot assure you that the trading price of our common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future. The trading price for our common stock may be affected by a number of factors, including:

 

   

changes in financial estimates by us or by any securities analysts who might cover our stock;

 

   

proposed changes to laws in the U.S. or foreign jurisdictions relating to our business, or speculation regarding such changes;

 

   

general economic and political conditions such as recessions, changes in interest rates and energy prices;

 

   

delays, disruptions or other failures in the supply of cryptocurrency hardware, including chips;

 

   

conditions or trends in the digital assets industries and, specifically cryptoasset mining space;

 

   

stock market price and volume fluctuations of comparable companies;

 

   

fluctuations in prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies;

 

   

announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships or divestitures;

 

   

significant lawsuits or announcements of investigations or regulatory scrutiny of its operations or lawsuits filed against us;

 

   

recruitment or departure of key personnel;

 

   

speculation in the press or investment community; and

 

   

other risk factors described elsewhere in our public filings.

In addition, the stock markets in general, and the markets for cryptoasset mining stocks in particular, have experienced extreme volatility that may have been unrelated to the operating performance of the issuer. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price or liquidity of our common stock. In the past, when the trading price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against the issuer. If any of our stockholders were to bring such a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit and the attention of our management would be diverted from the operation of our business.

 

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Future sales or issuances of our common stock in the public markets, or the perception of such sales, could depress the trading price of our common stock.

The sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock or other equity-related securities in the public markets, or the perception that such sales could occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We may sell large quantities of our common stock at any time pursuant to this prospectus supplement or in one or more separate offerings. We cannot predict the effect that future sales of common stock or other equity-related securities would have on the market price of our common stock.

We do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. As a result, you must rely on stock appreciation for any return on your investment.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any payment of cash dividends will also depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors and will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, you will have to rely on capital appreciation, if any, to earn a return on your investment in our common stock.

 

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The information in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein and any free writing prospectus that we have authorized for use in connection with this offering contain forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “seeks,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus include, but are not limited to statements regarding:

 

   

The further development and acceptance of digital asset networks and other digital assets, which represent a new and rapidly changing industry, are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The slowing or stopping of the development or acceptance of digital asset systems may adversely affect an investment in us.

 

   

We may face several risks due to disruptions in the crypto asset markets, including but not limited to, the risk from depreciation in our stock price, financing risk, risk of increased losses or impairments in our investments or other assets, risks of legal proceedings and government investigations, and risks from price declines or price volatility of crypto assets.

 

   

Our business and the markets in which we operate are new and rapidly evolving, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter.

 

   

We are currently operating in a period of economic uncertainty and capital markets disruption, which has been significantly impacted by geopolitical instability, such as the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the armed conflict in Israel and its surrounding regions. Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected by any negative impact on the global economy and capital markets resulting from the conflict in Ukraine, Israel or any other geopolitical tensions.

 

   

If we fail to grow our hashrate, we may be unable to compete, and our results of operations could suffer.

 

   

Bitcoin mining activities are energy-intensive, which may restrict the geographic locations of miners 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, increase taxes on the purchase of electricity used to mine bitcoin, or even fully or partially ban mining operations.

 

   

We have concentrated our operations in Texas and, thus, are particularly exposed to changes in the regulatory environment, market conditions and natural disasters in this state.

 

   

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

 

   

We depend on third parties to provide us with certain critical equipment and may rely on components and raw materials that may be subject to price fluctuations or shortages, including ASIC chips that have been subject to periods of significant shortage and high innovation pace.

 

   

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

 

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We are vulnerable to severe weather conditions and natural disasters, including severe heat, winter weather events, 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.

 

   

We are exposed to risks related to disruptions or other failures in the supply chain for bitcoin mining hardware and related data center hardware, and difficulties in obtaining new hardware.

 

   

Bitcoin miners and other necessary hardware are subject to malfunction, technological obsolescence and physical degradation.

 

   

Our automated processes with respect to curtailment may adversely affect our operations.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus supplement are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus supplement and under “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and any current reports on Form 8-K filed subsequent to the end of the year covered by such annual report, which were incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement in their entirety, as well as any amendments thereto reflected in subsequent filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

You should read this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein and any free writing prospectuses that we have authorized for use in this offering with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

Because the Shares offered by this prospectus supplement will be issued as partial consideration for the Trinity Assets, we will not receive any cash proceeds from this offering.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. We expect to retain future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. Any future determination to pay dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of the board of directors and will depend upon, among other factors, our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs, plans for expansion and other factors that the board of directors may deem relevant.

 

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PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

The Shares offered in this prospectus supplement will be issued to Trinity pursuant to the Purchase and Sale Agreement. Pursuant to the Purchase and Sale Agreement, we agreed to buy the Trinity Assets. As consideration for the Trinity Assets, we agreed to issue 2,397,424 registered shares of our common stock, which is that number of registered shares of common stock equal to $7,000,000 divided by the 30-Day VWAP. No broker, dealer or underwriter has been engaged in connection with this offering. We will bear all fees and expenses incident to our obligation to register the Shares.

We will incur costs, fees and expenses in effecting the registration of the Shares of common stock, estimated to be $70,000 in total, including, without limitation, all registration, filing and stock exchange fees, printing expenses, all fees and expenses of complying with applicable securities laws and the fees and disbursements of our counsel and reasonable fees.

We did not enter into any agreements, arrangements or understandings with any underwriters, broker-dealers or selling agents relating to the sale of the Shares being offered hereby, and no such persons will receive any commissions as a result of any such sale.

Once issued under the registration statement of which this prospectus supplement is a part, the Shares will be freely tradable in the hands of persons other than our affiliates.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

The validity of the shares of common stock offered hereby will be passed upon for us by Latham & Watkins LLP.

EXPERTS

The consolidated financial statements, incorporated in this prospectus by reference from our Annual Report on Form 10-K have been audited by Marcum LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report, which is incorporated herein by reference. Such financial statements have been so incorporated in reliance upon the report of such firm given upon their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

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PROSPECTUS

 

 

LOGO

Cipher Mining Inc.

$500,000,000

Common Stock

Preferred Stock

Warrants

Units

23,265,565 Shares of Common Stock Offered by Selling Securityholders

8,613,978 Shares of Common Stock Underlying Warrants

85,500 Warrants to Purchase Shares of Common Stock

 

 

We may offer and sell up to $500,000,000 in the aggregate of the securities identified above from time to time in one or more offerings and on terms that we will determine at the time of the offering. This prospectus also relates to: (i) the offer and sale from time to time by the selling securityholders named in this prospectus (the “Selling Securityholders”) of up to 23,265,565 shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“common stock”), (ii) the offer and sale from time to time by the Selling Securityholders of up to 85,500 of our warrants originally purchased in a private placement by certain of the Selling Securityholders; and (iii) the offer and sale of (A) up to 8,499,978 shares of common stock that are issuable by us upon the exercise of 8,499,978 public warrants that were previously registered and (B) up to 114,000 shares of common stock that are issuable by us upon the exercise of 114,000 private placement warrants. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities.    

Each time we or any of the Selling Securityholders offer and sell securities, we or such Selling Securityholders will provide a supplement to this prospectus, the extent necessary, that contains specific information about the offering and, if applicable, the Selling Securityholders, as well as the amounts, prices and terms of the securities. The supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus with respect to that offering. You should carefully read this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement before you invest in any of our securities.

We may offer and sell the securities described in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement to or through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, or directly to purchasers, or through a combination of these methods. In addition, the Selling Securityholders may offer and sell or securities from time to time, together or separately. If any underwriters, dealers or agents are involved in the sale of any of the securities, their names and any applicable purchase price, fee, commission or discount arrangement between or among them will be set forth, or will be calculable from the information set forth, in the applicable prospectus supplement. See the sections of this prospectus entitled “About this Prospectus” and “Plan of Distribution” for more information. No securities may be sold without delivery of this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement describing the method and terms of the offering of such securities.

Our common stock and public warrants are listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “CIFR” and “CIFRW,” respectively. On October 6, 2022, the last reported sales price of our common stock was $1.27 per share and the last reported sales price of our public warrants was $0.20 per warrant.

 

 

INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES INVOLVES RISKS. SEE THE “RISK FACTORS” ON PAGE 7 OF THIS PROSPECTUS AND ANY SIMILAR SECTION CONTAINED IN THE APPLICABLE PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT CONCERNING FACTORS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is October 7, 2022.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

     1  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION; INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

     3  

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     5  

THE COMPANY

     6  

RISK FACTORS

     7  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     8  

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

     9  

DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING WARRANTS

     14  

DESCRIPTION OF NEW WARRANTS

     18  

DESCRIPTION OF UNITS

     19  

GLOBAL SECURITIES

     20  

SELLING SECURITYHOLDERS

     24  

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

     30  

LEGAL MATTERS

     33  

EXPERTS

     33  


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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a “shelf” registration statement that we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission” or “SEC”). By using a shelf registration statement, we may sell securities from time to time and in one or more offerings up to $500,000,000 and the Selling Securityholders may, from time to time, sell the securities described in this prospectus in one or more offerings as described in this prospectus. To the extent necessary, each time that we or the Selling Securityholders offer and sell securities, we or the Selling Securityholders may provide a prospectus supplement to this prospectus that contains specific information about the securities being offered and sold and the specific terms of that offering. To the extent permitted by law, we may also authorize one or more free writing prospectuses that may contain material information relating to these offerings. Such prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus with respect to that offering. If there is any inconsistency between the information in this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus, you should rely on the prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus, as applicable. Before purchasing any securities, you should carefully read both this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement (and any applicable free writing prospectuses), together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information; Incorporation by Reference.”

Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders have authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectuses prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders take any responsibility for, nor provide any assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders will make an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement to this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on its respective cover, that the information appearing in any applicable free writing prospectus is accurate only as of the date of that free writing prospectus, and that any information incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, unless we indicate otherwise. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates. This prospectus incorporates by reference, and any prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus may contain and incorporate by reference, market data and industry statistics and forecasts that are based on independent industry publications and other publicly available information. Although we believe these sources are reliable, neither we nor the Selling Securityholders guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information and neither we nor the Selling Securityholders have independently verified this information. In addition, the market and industry data and forecasts that may be included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement or any applicable free writing prospectus may involve estimates, assumptions and other risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement and any applicable free writing prospectus, and under similar headings in other documents that are incorporated by reference into this prospectus. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on this information.

On August 27, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), we consummated the business combination pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated March 4, 2021 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among Good Works Acquisition Corp. (“GWAC” and, upon consummation of the Business Combination described below, “Cipher”), Currency Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of GWAC (“Merger Sub”), and Cipher Mining Technologies Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Cipher Mining Technologies”). Pursuant to 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 Cipher (the “Merger” and, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the “Business Combination”). On the Closing Date, and in connection with the closing of the Transactions (the “Closing”), we changed our name to Cipher Mining Inc.

 

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As used in this prospectus, unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, the terms “we,” “our,” “us,” “registrant,” the “Company,” and “Cipher” mean Cipher Mining Inc. and its subsidiaries, which was a special purpose acquisition company called “Good Works Acquisition Corp.” prior to the closing of the Business Combination. When we refer to “you,” we mean the potential holders of the applicable series of securities.

 

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION; INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Available Information

We file reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains a web site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information about issuers, such as us, who file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is http://www.sec.gov.

We also maintain a website at https://investors.ciphermining.com, at which you may access these materials free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of this prospectus, and the inclusion of our website address in this prospectus is an inactive textual reference only.

This prospectus and any prospectus supplement are part of a registration statement that we filed with the SEC and do not contain all of the information in the registration statement. The full registration statement may be obtained from the SEC or us, as provided below. Forms of the documents establishing the terms of the offered securities are or may be filed as exhibits to the registration statement or documents incorporated by reference in the registration statement. Statements in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement about these documents are summaries and each statement is qualified in all respects by reference to the document to which it refers. You should refer to the actual documents for a more complete description of the relevant matters. You may inspect a copy of the registration statement through the SEC’s website, as provided above.

Incorporation by Reference

The SEC’s rules allow us to “incorporate by reference” information into this prospectus, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus, and subsequent information that we file with the SEC will automatically update and supersede that information. Any statement contained in this prospectus or a previously filed document incorporated by reference will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus or a subsequently filed document incorporated by reference modifies or replaces that statement.

This prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement incorporate by reference the documents set forth below that have previously been filed with the SEC, other than any portions of the respective filing that were furnished, pursuant to Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of Current Reports on Form 8-K (including exhibits related thereto) or other applicable SEC rules, rather than filed:

 

   

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 4, 2022.

 

   

Our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022, filed with the SEC on May  10, 2022 and August 9, 2022, respectively.

 

   

Our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 4, 2022, April  14, 2022, May  10, 2022, and September  1, 2022 and September 15, 2022.

 

   

The description of our common stock contained in our registration statement on Form 8-A filed with the SEC on October 15, 2020 and any amendment or report filed with the SEC for the purpose of updating the description, including Exhibit 4.5 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.

All reports and other documents we subsequently file pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which we refer to as the “Exchange Act” in this prospectus, prior to the termination of this offering, including all such documents we may file with the SEC after the date of the

 

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initial registration statement and prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement, but excluding any information furnished to, rather than filed with, the SEC, will also be incorporated by reference into this prospectus and deemed to be part of this prospectus from the date of the filing of such reports and documents.

You may request a free copy of any of the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus by writing or telephoning us at the following address:

CIPHER MINING INC.

1 VANDERBILT AVENUE, FLOOR 54, SUITE C

NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017

(332) 262-2300

Exhibits to the filings will not be sent, however, unless those exhibits have specifically been incorporated by reference in this prospectus or any accompanying prospectus supplement.

 

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. The forward-looking statements are contained principally in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and in any prospectus supplement related hereto in greater detail under the sections titled “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Business,” but are also contained elsewhere in this prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference herein. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus include, but are not limited to statements regarding:

 

   

our planned buildout of cryptocurrency mining sites;

 

   

our ability to raise financing in the future;

 

   

our future results of operations and financial position, industry and business trends, equity compensation, business strategy, plans, market growth and our objectives for future operations;

 

   

our commercial partnerships and supply agreements;

 

   

the ability to maintain the listing of our common stock and warrants on Nasdaq, and the potential liquidity and trading of such securities;

 

   

our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors;

 

   

the effects of competition and regulation on our business;

 

   

the effects of price fluctuations in the wholesale and retail power markets;

 

   

the effects of global economic, business or political conditions, such as the global coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic and the disruption caused by various countermeasures to reduce its spread; and

 

   

the value and volatility of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

 

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THE COMPANY

We are an emerging technology company that operates in the Bitcoin mining ecosystem in the United States. Specifically, we plan to develop and grow a cryptocurrency mining business, specializing in Bitcoin. Our key mission is to become a leading Bitcoin mining company in the United States.

On August 27, 2021, we consummated the Business Combination with GWAC. As a stand-alone, U.S.-based cryptocurrency mining business, specializing in Bitcoin, we have begun our buildout of cryptocurrency mining sites in the United States. We began deployment of capacity in the first quarter of 2022, with mining operations beginning at the Alborz facility, located in Texas, in February 2022.

In connection with our planned buildout, we entered into a number of power agreements and joint venture agreements, all of which, together, are expected to cover at least four sites where we expect to begin our buildout. Pursuant to these agreements, we expect to have access, for at least five years, to an average cost of electricity of approximately 2.7 c/kWh. We expect that this will help competitively position us to achieve our goal of becoming a leading Bitcoin mining operator in the United States.

We filed our certificate of incorporation with the Secretary of State of Delaware on June 24, 2020 as Good Works Acquisition Corp. On August 27, 2021, we closed the Business Combination with Cipher Mining Technologies, as a result of which Cipher Mining Technologies became a wholly owned subsidiary of ours, and we changed our name to “Cipher Mining Inc.”

Our principal executive offices are located at 1 Vanderbilt Avenue, Floor 54, Suite C, New York, New York and our telephone number is (332) 262-2300. Our website address is https://www.ciphermining.com/. We do not incorporate the information on, or accessible through, our website into this prospectus, and you should not consider any information on, or accessible through, our website as part of this prospectus.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investment in any securities offered pursuant to this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement involves risks. You should carefully consider the risk factors incorporated by reference to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all other information contained or incorporated by reference into this prospectus, as updated by our subsequent filings under the Exchange Act, and the risk factors and other information contained in the applicable prospectus supplement and any applicable free writing prospectus before acquiring any of such securities. The occurrence of any of these risks might cause you to lose all or part of your investment in the offered securities.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities as set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement.

All of the shares of common stock and warrants offered by the Selling Securityholders will be sold by them for their respective accounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from these sales.

The Selling Securityholders will pay any underwriting fees, discounts, selling commissions, stock transfer taxes and certain legal expenses incurred by such Selling Securityholders in disposing of their shares of common stock and warrants, and we will bear all other costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of such securities covered by this prospectus, including, without limitation, all registration and filing fees, Nasdaq listing fees and fees and expenses of our counsel and our independent registered public accountants.

We will receive the proceeds from the exercise of the warrants for cash, but not from the sale of the shares of common stock issuable upon such exercise. Unless otherwise disclosed in a prospectus supplement, we intend to use any net proceeds from the exercise of warrants for cash for investment in growth and general corporate and working capital purposes.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

The following summary of the material terms of our capital stock is not intended to be a complete and is qualified by reference to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation (for purposes of this section, the “Certificate of Incorporation”) and the amended and restated bylaws (for purposes of this section, the “Bylaws” and together with the Certificate of Incorporation, the “Governing Documents”) which are exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. We urge to you read each of the Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws described herein in their entirety for a complete description of the rights and preferences of our securities.

Authorized Capitalization

General

We are authorized to issue 510,000,000 shares of capital stock, consisting of (i) 500,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share and (ii) 10,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. As of the date of this prospectus, there are 247,518,966 shares of our common stock outstanding and no shares of preferred stock outstanding.

Voting rights

Each outstanding share of our common stock shall entitle the holder thereof to one vote on each matter properly submitted to our shareholders of for their vote. Except as otherwise required by law, holders of our common stock will not be entitled to vote on any amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation that relates solely to the terms of one or more outstanding series of our preferred stock if the holders of such affected series are entitled, either separately or together as a class with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon pursuant to the Certificate of Incorporation.

Dividend rights

Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of our preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors (the “Board”), in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and then only at the times and in the amounts that the Board may determine.

Rights upon liquidation

Upon our liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up, the assets legally available for distribution to our shareholders would be distributable ratably among the holders of our common stock outstanding at that time, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and liabilities and the preferential rights of and the payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of our preferred stock.

Other rights

No holder of shares of our common stock will be entitled to preemptive or subscription rights contained in the Certificate of Incorporation or in the Bylaws. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of our common stock will be subject to those of the holders of any shares of our preferred stock that we may issue in the future.

Preferred Stock

Our preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. The Board is expressly authorized, subject to any limitations prescribed by the laws of the State of Delaware, to provide, out of unissued shares of

 

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our preferred stock that have not been designated as to series, with respect to each series, to establish the number of shares to be included in each such series, to fix the designation, powers (including voting powers), preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights, if any, of each such series and any qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, and, subject to the rights of such series, to thereafter increase (but not above the total number of authorized shares of our preferred stock) or decrease (but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding) the number of shares of any such series. The issuance of our preferred stock could have the effect of decreasing the trading price of our common stock, restricting dividends on our capital stock, diluting the voting power of our common stock, impairing the liquidation rights of our capital stock, or delaying or preventing a change in control of us.

Election of Directors and Vacancies

Subject to the rights of any series of our preferred stock then outstanding to elect additional directors under specified circumstances, the directors on the Board consist of seven (7) directors, and be divided, with respect to the time for which they severally hold office, into three classes designated as Class I, Class II and Class III, respectively. The initial term of office of the Class I directors expires at the first annual meeting of shareholders following the consummation of the Business Combination, the initial term of office of the Class II directors shall expire at the second annual meeting of shareholders following the initial classification of the Board and the initial term of office of the Class III directors shall expire at our third annual meeting of shareholders following the initial classification of the Board. At each annual meeting of shareholders following the initial classification of the Board, directors elected to succeed those directors of the class whose terms then expire shall be elected for a term of office expiring at the third succeeding annual meeting of our shareholders after their election.

Under the Bylaws, except as may be required in the Certificate of Incorporation, directors shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast by the holders of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors.

Each of our directors shall hold office until the annual meeting at which such director’s term expires and until such director’s successor is elected and qualified or until such director’s earlier death, resignation, or removal. Subject to the rights of holders of any series of our preferred stock to elect directors, directors may be removed only as provided by the Certificate of Incorporation and applicable law. All vacancies occurring in the Board and any newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors shall be filled in the manner set forth below.

Subject to the rights of any series of our preferred stock then outstanding, any vacancy occurring in the Board for any cause, and any newly created directorship resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors, shall be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors then in office, even if less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director, and shall not be filled by the shareholders.

Any director elected in accordance with the preceding sentence shall hold office for a term expiring at the annual meeting of shareholders at which the term of office for the class in which the vacancy was created or occurred or, in the case of newly created directorships, the class to which the director has been assigned expires and until such director’s successor shall have been duly elected and qualified, or until such director’s earlier death, resignation, or removal.

If and for so long as the holders of any series of our preferred stock have the special right to elect additional directors, the then otherwise total authorized number of our directors shall automatically be increased by such specified number of directors, and the holders of such Preferred Stock will be entitled to elect the additional directors so provided for or fixed pursuant to the terms of the series of the preferred stock. Each such additional director shall serve until such director’s successor shall have been duly elected and qualified, or until such director’s right to hold such office terminates pursuant to said provisions, whichever occurs earlier, subject to his or her earlier death, resignation, or removal.

 

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Quorum

Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws, at each meeting of stockholders the holders of a majority of the voting power of the shares of stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at the meeting, present in person or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. If a quorum shall fail to attend any meeting, the chairperson of the meeting or, if directed to be voted on by the chairperson of the meeting, the holders of a majority of the voting power of the shares entitled to vote who are present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting may adjourn the meeting. If the adjournment is for more than thirty (30) days, or if after the adjournment a new record date is fixed for the adjourned meeting, then a notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at the meeting. At the adjourned meeting, we may transact any business that might have been transacted at the original meeting. If a quorum is present at the original meeting, it shall also be deemed present at the adjourned meeting.

Anti-takeover Effects of the Governing Documents

The Governing Documents contain provisions that may delay, defer or discourage another party from acquiring control of the Company. We expect that these provisions, which are summarized below, will discourage coercive takeover practices or inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of the Company to first negotiate with the Board, which we believe may result in an improvement of the terms of any such acquisition in favor of our stockholders. However, they also give the board of directors the power to discourage acquisitions that some stockholders may favor.

Classified Board of Directors

As indicated above, the Certificate of Incorporation provides that the Board will be divided into three classes of directors, with each class of directors being elected by our stockholders every three years. The classification of directors will have the effect of making it more difficult for stockholders to change the composition of the Board.

Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock

Delaware law does not require stockholder approval for any issuance of authorized shares. However, the listing requirements of Nasdaq, which would apply so long as our common stock (or warrants) remains listed on Nasdaq, require stockholder approval of certain issuances equal to or exceeding 20% of the then outstanding voting power or then outstanding number of shares of our common stock. Additional shares that may be issued in the future may be used for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings, to raise additional capital or to facilitate acquisitions.

One of the effects of the existence of unissued and unreserved common stock may be to enable the Board to issue shares to persons friendly to current management, which issuance could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of the Company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise and thereby protect the continuity of management and possibly deprive stockholders of opportunities to sell their shares of our common stock at prices higher than prevailing market prices.

Special Meeting, Action by Written Consent and Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals

Unless otherwise required by law, and subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of any series of our preferred stock, Special Meetings of the stockholders, for any purpose or purposes, may be called only by (i) a majority of the Board, (ii) the chairperson of the board of directors, (iii) the chief executive officer or (iv) the President, and our stockholders may not take action by written consent in lieu of a meeting. Notice of all meetings of stockholders shall be given in writing stating the date, time and place, if any, of the meeting, the means of remote communications, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and

 

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vote at such meeting and the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting if such date is different from the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting. Such notice shall also set forth the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called.

Unless otherwise required by applicable law or the Certificate of Incorporation, notice of any meeting of stockholders shall be given not less than ten (10), nor more than sixty (60), days before the date of the meeting to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at such meeting as of the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice. The Bylaws also provide that any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board, or of any committee thereof, may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board or such committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing or by electronic transmission, and the writing or writings or electronic transmission or transmissions are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board or committee, as applicable. Such filing shall be in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form and shall be in electronic form if the minutes are maintained in electronic form.

The Bylaws provide advance notice procedures for stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at an annual meeting of stockholders. The Bylaws also specify certain requirements regarding the form and content of a stockholder’s notice, including disclosure of the proposing stockholders’ agreements, arrangements and understandings made in connection with such a proposal or nomination. These provisions may preclude stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders. We expect that these provisions might also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company. These provisions could have the effect of delaying until the next stockholder meeting any stockholder actions, even if they are favored by the holders of a majority of our outstanding voting securities.

Amendment to Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

We may amend or repeal any provision contained in the Certificate of Incorporation in the manner prescribed by the laws of the State of Delaware, and all rights conferred upon stockholders are granted subject to this reservation. Notwithstanding any provision of the Certificate of Incorporation or any provision of law that might otherwise permit a lesser vote or no vote, subject to the rights of any outstanding series of our preferred stock, but in addition to any vote of the holders of any class or series of our stock required by law or by the Certificate of Incorporation, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, will be required to amend or repeal certain provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation.

The Board shall have the power to adopt, amend or repeal the Bylaws. Any adoption, amendment or repeal of the Bylaws by the Board shall require the approval of a majority of the Board. The stockholders shall also have power to adopt, amend or repeal the Proposed Bylaws. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Certificate of Incorporation or any provision of law that might otherwise permit a lesser or no vote, but in addition to any vote of the holders of any class or series of our stock required by applicable law or by the Certificate of Incorporation, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class, shall be required for the stockholders to adopt, amend or repeal any provision of the Bylaws.

Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute

Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) provides that if a person acquires 15% or more of the voting stock of a Delaware corporation, such person becomes an “interested stockholder” and may not engage in certain “business combinations” with the corporation for a period of three years from the time such person acquired 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock, unless:

 

  1.

the board of directors approves the acquisition of stock or the merger transaction before the time that the person becomes an interested stockholder;

 

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  2.

the interested stockholder owns at least 85% of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation at the time the merger transaction commences (excluding voting stock owned by directors who are also officers and certain employee stock plans); or

 

  3.

the merger transaction is approved by the board of directors and at a meeting of stockholders, not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of 2/3 of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

A Delaware corporation may elect in its certificate of incorporation or bylaws not to be governed by this particular Delaware law. Under the Certificate of Incorporation, we do not opt out of Section 203 of the DGCL and therefore is subject to Section 203.

Limitations on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Section 145 of the DGCL, authorizes a court to award, or a corporation’s board of directors to grant, indemnity to directors and officers under certain circumstances and subject to certain limitations. The terms of Section 145 of the DGCL are sufficiently broad to permit indemnification under certain circumstances for liabilities, including reimbursement of expenses incurred, arising under the Securities Act. As permitted by the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation contains provisions that eliminate the personal liability of directors for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duties as a director, except liability for the following (i) any breach of a director’s duty of loyalty to the Company or its stockholders; (ii) acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; (iii) under Section 174 of the DGCL (regarding unlawful dividends and stock purchases); or (iv) any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. As permitted by the DGCL, the Bylaws provide that: (i) we are required to indemnify its directors and executive officers to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, subject to very limited exceptions; (ii) we may indemnify its other employees and agents as set forth in the DGCL; (iii) we are required to advance expenses, as incurred, to its directors and executive officers in connection with a legal proceeding to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, subject to very limited exceptions; and (iv) the rights conferred in the Bylaws are not exclusive.

We have entered into indemnification agreements with each director and executive officer to provide these individuals additional contractual assurances regarding the scope of the indemnification set forth in the Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and to provide additional procedural protections. There is no pending litigation or proceeding involving a director or executive officer for which indemnification is sought. The indemnification provisions in the Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, and the indemnification agreements entered into or to be entered into between us and each of our directors and executive officers may be sufficiently broad to permit indemnification of our directors and executive officers for liabilities arising under the Securities Act. We currently carry liability insurance for our directors and officers.

Exclusive Jurisdiction of Certain Actions

The Certificate of Incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, stockholder, employee or agent to us or our stockholders; (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the Governing Documents or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware; (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of the Governing Documents; or (v) any action governed by the internal affairs doctrine.

In addition, the Bylaws require that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of United States shall be the sole and exclusive forum for resolving any action asserting a claim arising under the Securities Act.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING WARRANTS

The following summary of the material terms of our existing warrants is not intended to be a complete and is qualified by reference to the Governing Documents and the Warrant-related documents described herein which are exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. We urge you to read each of the Governing Documents and the Warrant-related documents described herein in their entirety for a complete description of the rights and preferences of our securities.

Public Warrants

Public warrants refer to our warrants that were offered and sold in GWAC’s initial public offering pursuant to a registration statement and entitle the registered holder to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on October 19, 2021, provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering our common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the Warrant Agreement) and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder. Pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of common stock. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. The public warrants will expire on August 27, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

Redemption of Warrants for Cash

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per Warrant;

 

   

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and

 

   

if, and only if, the closing price of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to our common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the 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.

We have established the last of the redemption criteria discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the shares of our common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

Redemption Procedures and Cashless Exercise:

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to

 

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require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants. If we call the warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, the holders of the private placement warrants and their permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.

A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person and any of its affiliates or any other person subject to aggregation with such person for purposes of the “beneficial ownership” test under Section 13 of the Exchange Act, or any “group” (within the meaning of Section 13 of the Exchange Act) of which such person is or may be deemed to be a part, would beneficially own (within the meaning of Section 13 of the Exchange Act) (or to the extent that for any reason the equivalent calculation under Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder would result in a higher ownership percentage, such higher percentage would be) in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

Anti-dilution Adjustments

If the number of outstanding shares of common stock is increased by a capitalization or share dividend payable in shares of common stock, or by a split-up of common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such capitalization or share dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of common stock. A rights offering made to all or substantially all holders of common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of common stock at a price less than the “historical fair market value” (as defined below) will be deemed a share dividend of a number of shares of common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for shares of common stock) and (ii) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of common stock paid in such rights offering and (y) the historical fair market value.

In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to all or substantially all the holders of shares of common stock on account of such shares (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, and (b) any cash dividends or cash distributions which, when combined on a per share basis with all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the shares of common stock during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution does not exceed $0.50 (as adjusted to appropriately reflect any other adjustments and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the exercise price or to the number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant) but only with

 

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respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of our common stock in respect of such event.

If the number of outstanding shares of our common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share split or reclassification of share of our common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of common stock.

Whenever the number of shares of common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of common stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of shares of common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of shares in the successor entity that are not listed for trading on a national securities exchange or are not quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or will not be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the Warrant Agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the Warrant Agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants.

Our warrants have been issued in registered form under the Warrant Agreement. The Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. You should review a copy of the Warrant Agreement, which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants.

The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of shares of common stock and any voting rights until they

 

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exercise their warrants and receive shares of common stock. After the issuance of common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by shareholders.

No fractional shares of common stock will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of shares of common stock to be issued to the holder.

We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the Warrant 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 we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.

Private Placement Warrants

Private placement warrants refer to the warrants to purchase our ordinary shares that were issued as part of GWAC’s initial public offering. As of June 30, 2022, there were 114,000 private placement warrants outstanding.

Except as described below, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the public warrants. The private placement warrants (including the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be redeemable by us, so long as they are held by their initial holders or their permitted transferees. The initial holders of the private placement warrants, or their permitted transferees, have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the initial holders or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the public warrants.

Except as described above regarding redemption procedures and cashless exercise in respect of the public warrants, if holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “historical fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the historical fair market value. The “historical fair market value” will mean the average reported closing price of the shares of common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent.

Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for the public warrants and private placement warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We may designate a new or additional transfer agent for such shares and warrants, and we will provide you with notice of such action and of any change in the office through which any such agent will act.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF NEW WARRANTS

We may issue warrants for the purchase of shares of our common stock or preferred stock. We may issue warrants independently or together with other securities, and the warrants may be attached to or separate from any offered securities. Each series of warrants will be issued under a separate warrant agreement to be entered into between us and the investors or a warrant agent. The following summary of material provisions of the warrants and warrant agreements is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, all the provisions of the warrant agreement and warrant certificate applicable to a particular series of warrants. The terms of any warrants offered under a prospectus supplement may differ from the terms described below. We urge you to read the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus, as well as the complete warrant agreements and warrant certificates that contain the terms of the warrants.

The particular terms of any issue of warrants will be described in the prospectus supplement relating to the issue. Those terms may include:

 

   

the number of shares of common stock or preferred stock purchasable upon the exercise of warrants to purchase such shares and the price at which such number of shares may be purchased upon such exercise;

 

   

the designation, stated value and terms (including, without limitation, liquidation, dividend, conversion and voting rights) of the series of preferred stock purchasable upon exercise of warrants to purchase preferred stock;

 

   

the date, if any, on and after which the warrants and the related preferred stock or common stock will be separately transferable;

 

   

the terms of any rights to redeem or call the warrants;

 

   

the date on which the right to exercise the warrants will commence and the date on which the right will expire;

 

   

United States federal income tax consequences applicable to the warrants; and

 

   

any additional terms of the warrants, including terms, procedures, and limitations relating to the exchange, exercise and settlement of the warrants.

Holders of warrants will not be entitled to:

 

   

vote, consent or receive dividends;

 

   

receive notice as stockholders with respect to any meeting of stockholders for the election of our directors or any other matter; or

 

   

exercise any rights as our stockholder.

Each warrant will entitle its holder to purchase the number of shares of preferred stock or common stock at the exercise price set forth in, or calculable as set forth in, the applicable prospectus supplement. Unless we otherwise specify in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders of the warrants may exercise the warrants at any time up to the specified time on the expiration date that we set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement. After the close of business on the expiration date, unexercised warrants will become void.

A holder of warrant certificates may exchange them for new warrant certificates of different denominations, present them for registration of transfer and exercise them at the applicable office of the warrant agent or any other office indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement. Until any warrants to purchase common stock or preferred stock are exercised, the holders of the warrants will not have any rights of holders of the underlying common stock or preferred stock, including any rights to receive dividends or payments upon any liquidation, dissolution or winding up on the common stock or preferred stock, if any.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF UNITS

We may issue units consisting of any combination of the other types of securities offered under this prospectus in one or more series. We may evidence each series of units by unit certificates that we will issue under a separate agreement. We may enter into unit agreements with a unit agent. Each unit agent will be a bank or trust company that we select. We will indicate the name and address of the unit agent in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to a particular series of units.

The following description, together with the additional information included in any applicable prospectus supplement, summarizes the general features of the units that we may offer under this prospectus. You should read any prospectus supplement and any free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be provided to you related to the series of units being offered, as well as the complete unit agreements that contain the terms of the units. Specific unit agreements will contain additional important terms and provisions and we will file as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or will incorporate by reference from another report that we file with the SEC, the form of each unit agreement relating to units offered under this prospectus.

If we offer any units, certain terms of that series of units will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement, including, without limitation, the following, as applicable:

 

   

the title of the series of units;

 

   

identification and description of the separate constituent securities comprising the units;

 

   

the price or prices at which the units will be issued;

 

   

the date, if any, on and after which the constituent securities comprising the units will be separately transferable;

 

   

a discussion of certain United States federal income tax considerations applicable to the units; and

 

   

any other terms of the units and their constituent securities.

 

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GLOBAL SECURITIES

Book-Entry, Delivery and Form

Unless we indicate differently in any applicable prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus, the securities initially will be issued in book-entry form and represented by one or more global notes or global securities, or, collectively, global securities. The global securities will be deposited with, or on behalf of, The Depository Trust Company, New York, New York, as depositary, or DTC, and registered in the name of Cede & Co., the nominee of DTC. Unless and until it is exchanged for individual certificates evidencing securities under the limited circumstances described below, a global security may not be transferred except as a whole by the depositary to its nominee or by the nominee to the depositary, or by the depositary or its nominee to a successor depositary or to a nominee of the successor depositary.

DTC has advised us that it is:

 

   

a limited-purpose trust company organized under the New York Banking Law;

 

   

a “banking organization” within the meaning of the New York Banking Law;

 

   

a member of the Federal Reserve System;

 

   

a “clearing corporation” within the meaning of the New York Uniform Commercial Code; and

 

   

a “clearing agency” registered pursuant to the provisions of Section 17A of the Exchange Act.

DTC holds securities that its participants deposit with DTC. DTC also facilitates the settlement among its participants of securities transactions, such as transfers and pledges, in deposited securities through electronic computerized book-entry changes in participants’ accounts, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. “Direct participants” in DTC include securities brokers and dealers, including underwriters, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other organizations. DTC is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, or DTCC. DTCC is the holding company for DTC, National Securities Clearing Corporation and Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, all of which are registered clearing agencies. DTCC is owned by the users of its regulated subsidiaries. Access to the DTC system is also available to others, which we sometimes refer to as indirect participants, that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a direct participant, either directly or indirectly. The rules applicable to DTC and its participants are on file with the SEC.

Purchases of securities under the DTC system must be made by or through direct participants, which will receive a credit for the securities on DTC’s records. The ownership interest of the actual purchaser of a security, which we sometimes refer to as a beneficial owner, is in turn recorded on the direct and indirect participants’ records. Beneficial owners of securities will not receive written confirmation from DTC of their purchases. However, beneficial owners are expected to receive written confirmations providing details of their transactions, as well as periodic statements of their holdings, from the direct or indirect participants through which they purchased securities. Transfers of ownership interests in global securities are to be accomplished by entries made on the books of participants acting on behalf of beneficial owners. Beneficial owners will not receive certificates representing their ownership interests in the global securities, except under the limited circumstances described below.

To facilitate subsequent transfers, all global securities deposited by direct participants with DTC will be registered in the name of DTC’s partnership nominee, Cede & Co., or such other name as may be requested by an authorized representative of DTC. The deposit of securities with DTC and their registration in the name of Cede & Co. or such other nominee will not change the beneficial ownership of the securities. DTC has no knowledge of the actual beneficial owners of the securities. DTC’s records reflect only the identity of the direct participants to whose accounts the securities are credited, which may or may not be the beneficial owners. The participants are responsible for keeping account of their holdings on behalf of their customers.

 

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So long as the securities are in book-entry form, you will receive payments and may transfer securities only through the facilities of the depositary and its direct and indirect participants. We will maintain an office or agency in the location specified in the prospectus supplement for the applicable securities, where notices and demands in respect of the securities and the indenture may be delivered to us and where certificated securities may be surrendered for payment, registration of transfer or exchange.

Conveyance of notices and other communications by DTC to direct participants, by direct participants to indirect participants and by direct participants and indirect participants to beneficial owners will be governed by arrangements among them, subject to any legal requirements in effect from time to time.

Redemption notices will be sent to DTC. If less than all of the securities of a particular series are being redeemed, DTC’s practice is to determine by lot the amount of the interest of each direct participant in the securities of such series to be redeemed.

Neither DTC nor Cede & Co. (or such other DTC nominee) will consent or vote with respect to the securities. Under its usual procedures, DTC will mail an omnibus proxy to us as soon as possible after the record date. The omnibus proxy assigns the consenting or voting rights of Cede & Co. to those direct participants to whose accounts the securities of such series are credited on the record date, identified in a listing attached to the omnibus proxy.

So long as securities are in book-entry form, we will make payments on those securities to the depositary or its nominee, as the registered owner of such securities, by wire transfer of immediately available funds. If securities are issued in definitive certificated form under the limited circumstances described below and unless if otherwise provided in the description of the applicable securities herein or in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will have the option of making payments by check mailed to the addresses of the persons entitled to payment or by wire transfer to bank accounts in the United States designated in writing to the applicable trustee or other designated party at least 15 days before the applicable payment date by the persons entitled to payment, unless a shorter period is satisfactory to the applicable trustee or other designated party.

Redemption proceeds, distributions and dividend payments on the securities will be made to Cede & Co., or such other nominee as may be requested by an authorized representative of DTC. DTC’s practice is to credit direct participants’ accounts upon DTC’s receipt of funds and corresponding detail information from us on the payment date in accordance with their respective holdings shown on DTC records. Payments by participants to beneficial owners will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is the case with securities held for the account of customers in bearer form or registered in “street name.” Those payments will be the responsibility of participants and not of DTC or us, subject to any statutory or regulatory requirements in effect from time to time. Payment of redemption proceeds, distributions and dividend payments to Cede & Co., or such other nominee as may be requested by an authorized representative of DTC, is our responsibility, disbursement of payments to direct participants is the responsibility of DTC, and disbursement of payments to the beneficial owners is the responsibility of direct and indirect participants.

Except under the limited circumstances described below, purchasers of securities will not be entitled to have securities registered in their names and will not receive physical delivery of securities. Accordingly, each beneficial owner must rely on the procedures of DTC and its participants to exercise any rights under the securities and the indenture.

The laws of some jurisdictions may require that some purchasers of securities take physical delivery of securities in definitive form. Those laws may impair the ability to transfer or pledge beneficial interests in securities.

DTC may discontinue providing its services as securities depositary with respect to the securities at any time by giving reasonable notice to us. Under such circumstances, in the event that a successor depositary is not obtained, securities certificates are required to be printed and delivered.

 

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As noted above, beneficial owners of a particular series of securities generally will not receive certificates representing their ownership interests in those securities. However, if:

 

   

DTC notifies us that it is unwilling or unable to continue as a depositary for the global security or securities representing such series of securities or if DTC ceases to be a clearing agency registered under the Exchange Act at a time when it is required to be registered and a successor depositary is not appointed within 90 days of the notification to us or of our becoming aware of DTC’s ceasing to be so registered, as the case may be;

 

   

we determine, in our sole discretion, not to have such securities represented by one or more global securities; or

 

   

an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing with respect to such series of securities,

we will prepare and deliver certificates for such securities in exchange for beneficial interests in the global securities. Any beneficial interest in a global security that is exchangeable under the circumstances described in the preceding sentence will be exchangeable for securities in definitive certificated form registered in the names that the depositary directs. It is expected that these directions will be based upon directions received by the depositary from its participants with respect to ownership of beneficial interests in the global securities.

Euroclear and Clearstream

If so provided in the applicable prospectus supplement, you may hold interests in a global security through Clearstream Banking S.A., which we refer to as “Clearstream,” or Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V., as operator of the Euroclear System, which we refer to as “Euroclear,” either directly if you are a participant in Clearstream or Euroclear or indirectly through organizations which are participants in Clearstream or Euroclear. Clearstream and Euroclear will hold interests on behalf of their respective participants through customers’ securities accounts in the names of Clearstream and Euroclear, respectively, on the books of their respective U.S. depositaries, which in turn will hold such interests in customers’ securities accounts in such depositaries’ names on DTC’s books.

Clearstream and Euroclear are securities clearance systems in Europe. Clearstream and Euroclear hold securities for their respective participating organizations and facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions between those participants through electronic book-entry changes in their accounts, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of certificates.

Payments, deliveries, transfers, exchanges, notices and other matters relating to beneficial interests in global securities owned through Euroclear or Clearstream must comply with the rules and procedures of those systems. Transactions between participants in Euroclear or Clearstream, on one hand, and other participants in DTC, on the other hand, are also subject to DTC’s rules and procedures.

Investors will be able to make and receive through Euroclear and Clearstream payments, deliveries, transfers and other transactions involving any beneficial interests in global securities held through those systems only on days when those systems are open for business. Those systems may not be open for business on days when banks, brokers and other institutions are open for business in the United States.

Cross-market transfers between participants in DTC, on the one hand, and participants in Euroclear or Clearstream, on the other hand, will be effected through DTC in accordance with the DTC’s rules on behalf of Euroclear or Clearstream, as the case may be, by their respective U.S. depositaries; however, such cross-market transactions will require delivery of instructions to Euroclear or Clearstream, as the case may be, by the counterparty in such system in accordance with the rules and procedures and within the established deadlines (European time) of such system. Euroclear or Clearstream, as the case may be, will, if the transaction meets its settlement requirements, deliver instructions to its U.S. depositary to take action to effect final settlement on its behalf by delivering or receiving interests in the global securities through DTC, and making or receiving payment in accordance with normal procedures for same-day fund settlement. Participants in Euroclear or Clearstream may not deliver instructions directly to their respective U.S. depositaries.

 

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Due to time zone differences, the securities accounts of a participant in Euroclear or Clearstream purchasing an interest in a global security from a direct participant in DTC will be credited, and any such crediting will be reported to the relevant participant in Euroclear or Clearstream, during the securities settlement processing day (which must be a business day for Euroclear or Clearstream) immediately following the settlement date of DTC. Cash received in Euroclear or Clearstream as a result of sales of interests in a global security by or through a participant in Euroclear or Clearstream to a direct participant in DTC will be received with value on the settlement date of DTC but will be available in the relevant Euroclear or Clearstream cash account only as of the business day for Euroclear or Clearstream following DTC’s settlement date.

Other

The information in this section of this prospectus concerning DTC, Clearstream, Euroclear and their respective book-entry systems has been obtained from sources that we believe to be reliable, but we do not take responsibility for this information. This information has been provided solely as a matter of convenience. The rules and procedures of DTC, Clearstream and Euroclear are solely within the control of those organizations and could change at any time. Neither we nor the trustee nor any agent of ours or of the trustee has any control over those entities and none of us takes any responsibility for their activities. You are urged to contact DTC, Clearstream and Euroclear or their respective participants directly to discuss those matters. In addition, although we expect that DTC, Clearstream and Euroclear will perform the foregoing procedures, none of them is under any obligation to perform or continue to perform such procedures and such procedures may be discontinued at any time. Neither we nor any agent of ours will have any responsibility for the performance or nonperformance by DTC, Clearstream and Euroclear or their respective participants of these or any other rules or procedures governing their respective operations.

 

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SELLING SECURITYHOLDERS

This prospectus also relates to: (i) the offer and sale from time to time by the Selling Securityholders of up to 23,265,565 shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“common stock”), consisting of (A) up to 3,750,500 shares of our common stock issued in private placements in connection with the initial public offering of GWAC; (B) up to 16,000,000 shares of our common stock issued to Bitfury Holding B.V. and Bitfury Top HoldCo B.V. in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination and (C) up to 3,515,065 shares of our common stock issued in a private placement in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination; (ii) the offer and sale from time to time by the Selling Securityholders of up to 85,500 of our warrants originally purchased in a private placement by certain of the Selling Securityholders; and (iii) the offer and sale of (A) up to 8,499,978 shares of common stock that are issuable by us upon the exercise of 8,499,978 public warrants that were previously registered and (B) up to 114,000 shares of common stock that are issuable by us upon the exercise of 114,000 private placement warrants. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities.

The Selling Securityholders may from time to time offer and sell any or all of the shares of common stock and warrants set forth below pursuant to this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement. Unless stated otherwise, when we refer to the “Selling Securityholders” in this prospectus, we mean the persons listed in the table below and the pledgees, donees, transferees, assignees, successors, designees and others who later come to hold any of the Selling Securityholders’ interest in the common stock or warrants after the date of this prospectus.

Unless otherwise indicated below, the following table is prepared based on information provided to us by the Selling Securityholders as of September 20, 2022. The following table sets forth the names of the Selling Securityholders and the aggregate number of shares of common stock and warrants that the Selling Securityholders may offer pursuant to this prospectus. The table does not include the issuance by us of up to 8,528,478 shares of common stock upon the exercise of outstanding warrants, which is covered by this prospectus, but reflects up to 85,500 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of private placement warrants.

Because the Selling Securityholders are not obligated to sell their securities, we cannot state with certainty the amount of our securities that the Selling Securityholders will hold upon consummation of any such sales. In addition, since the date on which the Selling Securityholders provided this information to us, the Selling Securityholders may have sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of all or a portion of their securities. Any changed or new information given to us by the Selling Securityholders, including regarding the identity of, and the securities held by, each Selling Securityholder, will be set forth in a prospectus supplement or amendments to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, if and when necessary. A Selling Securityholder may sell all, some or none of such securities in this offering. See “Plan of Distribution.”

Percentage of beneficial ownership is based on 247,518,966 shares of our common stock outstanding as of September 20, 2022. In computing the number of shares beneficially owned by an individual or entity and the percentage ownership of that person, shares of common stock subject to options, warrants or other rights held by such person that are currently exercisable or that will become exercisable or will otherwise vest within 60 days of

 

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September 20, 2022 are considered outstanding, although these shares are not considered outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.

 

     Shares of Common Stock  

Name of Selling Stockholder

   Number
Beneficially
Owned Prior
to the Offering
     %(*)      Number Being
Registered
Hereby(**)
     Number
Beneficially
Owned After
the Offering
     %(*)  

Alexander Morcos

     287,484        ***        287,484        —          —    

American Committee for Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, Inc.

     2,500        ***        2,500        —          —    

Ballet Theatre Foundation, Inc.

     250,000        ***        250,000        —          —    

Bitfury Holding B.V.(1)

     6,000,000        2.4%        6,000,000        —          —    

Bitfury Top HoldCo B.V.(2)

     10,000,000        4.0%        10,000,000        —          —    

Boothbay Absolute Return Strategies, LP(3)

     42,500        ***        42,500        —          —    

Cary Grossman

     198,750        ***        198,750        —          —    

David Pauker

     47,500        ***        47,500        —          —    

Douglas Wurth

     195,000        ***        195,000        —          —    

Fred S. Zeidman

     195,000        ***        195,000        —          —    

Gray’s Creek Capital Partners Fund I, LP(4)

     200,000        ***        200,000        —          —    

Harris County Hospital District Foundation

     2,500        ***        2,500        —          —    

I-B Good Works, LLC(5)

     757,500        ***        757,500        —          —    

IBS Holding Corp.(6)

     47,500        ***        47,500        —          —    

Iridian Raven Fund, LP(7)

     74,274        ***        74,274        —          —    

James M McCrory

     180,101        ***        180,101        —          —    

John J. Lendrum III

     47,500        ***        47,500        —          —    

KC Cipher SPV, LLC(8)

     333,500        ***        333,500        —          —    

Kepos Alpha Master Fund, L.P.(9)

     64,687        ***        64,687        

Kepos Special Opportunities Master Fund, L.P.(10)

     21,563        ***        21,563        

MAP 214 Segregated Portfolio, a segregated portfolio of LMA SPC(11)

     48,181        ***        48,181        

Magnetar Financial LLC(12)

     254,875        ***        254,875        —          —    

Memorial Hermann Foundation

     47,500        ***        47,500        —          —    

Meteora Special Opportunity Fund i, LP(13)

     86,250        ***        86,250        

Mission Gate Inc.(14)

     1,482,048        ***        1,482,048        

Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.(15)

     4,606        ***        4,606        —          —    

Owl Creek Credit Opportunities Master Fund, L.P.(16)

     37,500        ***        37,500        

Paolo E. Floriani

     35,000        ***        35,000        —          —    

Paul Fratamico

     47,500        ***        47,500        —          —    

Peridian Fund, L.P.(17)

     169,375        ***        169,375        —          —    

Polar Multi-Strategy Master Fund(18)

     197,875        ***        197,875        —          —    

Sea Otter Securities Group, L.L.C. (19)

     86,250        ***        86,250        

Shaolin Capital Partners Master Fund, Ltd.(20)

     23,595        ***        23,595        

Shaolin Capital Partners SP, a segregated portfolio of PC MAP SPC(21)

     14,474        ***        14,474        

Shelley Leonard

     160,000        ***        160,000        —          —    

Social Accountability International, Inc.

     125,000        ***        125,000        —          —    

Stichting Juridisch Eigendom Mint Tower Arbitrage

Fund(22)

     523,475        ***        523,475        —          —    

Suhas and Felicitie Daftuar

     500,000        ***        500,000        —          —    

Tahira Rehmatullah

     47,500        ***        47,500        —          —    

The Children’s Aid Society

     125,000        ***        125,000        —          —    

 

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Table of Contents
     Shares of Common Stock  

Name of Selling Stockholder

   Number
Beneficially
Owned Prior
to the Offering
     %(*)      Number Being
Registered
Hereby(**)
     Number
Beneficially
Owned After
the Offering
     %(*)  

The National World War II Museum, Inc.

     2,500        ***        2,500        —          —    

The University of Texas Foundation, Inc.

     175,000        ***        175,000        —          —    

The Washington University

     10,000        ***        10,000        —          —    

Ulter GW LLC(23)

     17,952        ***        17,952        —          —    

University of St. Thomas

     10,000        ***        10,000        —          —    

Walleye Opportunities Master Fund Ltd(24)

     51,750        ***        51,750        —          —    

Walleye Trading LLC(25)

     34,500        ***        34,500        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

       

TOTAL

     23,265,565        9.4%        23,265,565        
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

       

 

     Private Placement Warrants to Purchase Common Stock  

Name of Selling Stockholder

   Number
Beneficially
Owned Prior
to the Offering
     Number
Being
Registered
Hereby
     Number
Beneficially
Owned
After this
Offering
     Percentage
Owned
After
Offering
 

Magnetar Financial LLC(12)

     28,500        28,500        —          —    

Polar Multi-Strategy Master Fund(18)

     28,500        28,500        —          —    

Stichting Juridisch Eigendom Mint Tower Arbitrage Fund(22)

     28,500        28,500        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

       

TOTAL

     85,500        85,500        —          —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

       

 

(*)

The amounts set forth in this column are the number of shares of common stock that may be offered by such Selling Securityholder using this prospectus. These amounts do not represent any other shares of our common stock that the Selling Securityholder may own beneficially or otherwise.

(**)

The percentage of shares to be beneficially owned after completion of the offering is calculated on the basis of 247,489,582 shares of common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2022.

(***)

Represents less than 1%.

(1)

Bitfury Top HoldCo B.V. (“Bitfury Top HoldCo”) is the sole owner of Bitfury Holding B.V. (“Bitfury Holding”). As a result, Bitfury Top HoldCo may be deemed to share beneficial ownership the shares of common stock held by Bitfury Holding. Valerijs Vavilovs is the sole owner of V3 Holding Limited (“V3”), which is the majority owner of Bitfury Group Limited (“BGL”). BGL is the sole owner of Bitfury Top HoldCo. As a result of the foregoing relationships, each of Mr. Vavilovs, V3 and BGL may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the common stock beneficially owned by Bitfury Top HoldCo. The business address of Bitfury Top HoldCo, Bitfury Holding and Mr. Vavilovs is Strawinskylaan 3051, 1077ZX Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the business address of V3 is 4th Floor Harbour Place, 103 South Church Street, PO Box 10240, George Town, Grand Cayman KY1-1002, Cayman Islands, BS1 6EG, the business address of BGL is 6th Floor One London Wall, London, United Kingdom EC2Y 5EB.

(2)

Bitfury Group Limited (“BGL”) is the sole owner of Bitfury Top HoldCo. The majority owner of BGL is V3 Holding Limited (“V3”), whose sole owner is Valerijs Vavilovs. As a result of the foregoing relationships, each of Mr. Vavilovs, V3 and BGL may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the common stock beneficially owned by Bitfury Top HoldCo. The business address of Bitfury Top HoldCo, Bitfury Holding and Mr. Vavilovs is Strawinskylaan 3051, 1077ZX Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the business address of V3 is 4th Floor Harbour Place, 103 South Church Street, PO Box 10240, George Town, Grand Cayman KY1-1002, Cayman Islands, BS1 6EG, the business address of BGL is 6th Floor One London Wall, London, United Kingdom EC2Y 5EB.

(3)

Boothbay Fund Management, LLC is the investment manager of Boothbay Absolute Return Strategies, LP (the “Fund”), and has appointed ATW SPAC Management LLC (“ATW”) as a subadvisor with limited authority to trade on behalf of the Fund. Antonio Ruiz-Gimenez is the managing member of ATW and in

 

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  that capacity has discretionary authority to direct decisions regarding voting and disposition of the shares held by Boothbay Absolute Return Strategies, LP in the account subject to the discretionary authority of ATW and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of these shares. The business address of Boothbay Fund Management, LLC and Boothbay Absolute Return Strategies, LP is 140 E 45th Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10017. The business address for ATW SPAC Management LLC is 17 State Street, 2100, New York, NY 10004.
(4)

Gray’s Creek Capital Partners Fund I, LP is managed by Gray’s Creek Capital Advisors, LLC and Gray’s Creek Capital Partners, GP. Jason R. Little and Gerrit B. Parker are the natural persons who have voting or investment control over the shares held by Gray’s Creek Capital Advisors, LLC and Gray’s Creek Capital Partners, GP, and thus have voting or investment control over the securities being offered. The business address of the foregoing individuals and entities is 500 Post Road East, Suite 233 Westport, CT 06880.

(5)

Shelley Leonard is a managing member of I-B Good Works, LLC and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the common stock held by I-B Good Works, LLC. Shelley Leonard disclaims beneficial ownership of such securities except to the extent of any pecuniary interests therein. The business address of Shelley Leonard is 2500 N Military Trail, Suite 160-A, Boca Raton, FL 33431.

(6)

Shelley Leonard is a president of IBS Holding Corp. and may be deemed to have a discretionary voting and investment authority with respect to the common stock held by IBS Holding Corp. The business address of Shelley Leonard is 2500 N Military Trail, Suite 160-A, Boca Raton, FL 33431.

(7)

Iridian Asset Management LLC (“Iridian Asset Management”) is the investment manager of Iridian Raven Fund, LP and has voting and investment power over the securities being registered for resale. Todd D. Raker exercises control over Iridian Asset Management LLC and voting investment power over the shares, and disclaim beneficial ownership of such shares. The business address of the foregoing entities and individual is 276 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06880.

(8)

Brian Rathjen is a managing member of KC Cipher SPV, LLC and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the common stock held by KC Cipher SPV, LLC. Brian Rathjen disclaims beneficial ownership of such securities except to the extent of any pecuniary interests therein. The business address of the foregoing individual and entity is 39 Broadway, Suite 1640, New York, NY 10005.

(9)

Kepos Capital LP is the investment manager of Kepos Alpha Master Fund L.P. and Kepos Partners LLC is the General Partner of Kepos Alpha Master Fund L.P. and each may be deemed to have voting and dispositive power with respect to the common shares. The general partner of Kepos Capital LP is Kepos Capital GP LLC and the Managing Member of Kepos Partners LLC is Kepos Partners MM LLC. Mark Carhart controls Kepos Capital GP LLC and Kepos Partners MM LLC and, accordingly, may be deemed to have voting and dispositive power with respect to the common shares held by Kepos Alpha Master Fund L.P. Mr. Carhart disclaims beneficial ownership of the common shares held by Kepos Alpha Master Fund L.P. The business address of Kepos Alpha Master Fund L.P. is 11 Times Square, 35th Floor, New York, New York 10036.

(10)

Kepos Capital LP is the investment manager of Kepos Special Opportunities Master Fund L.P. and Kepos Partners LLC is the General Partner of Kepos Special Opportunities Master Fund L.P. and each may be deemed to have voting and dispositive power with respect to the common shares. The general partner of Kepos Capital LP is Kepos Capital GP LLC and the Managing Member of Kepos Partners LLC is Kepos Partners MM LLC. Mark Carhart controls Kepos Capital GP LLC and Kepos Partners MM LLC and, accordingly, may be deemed to have voting and dispositive power with respect to the common shares held by Kepos Special Opportunities Master Fund L.P. Mr. Carhart disclaims beneficial ownership of the common shares held by Kepos Special Opportunities Master Fund L.P. The business address of Kepos Special Opportunities Master Fund L.P. is 11 Times Square, 35th Floor, New York, New York 10036.

(11)

Shaolin Capital Management LLC (“Shaolin”) serves as the investment advisor to MAP 214 Segregated Portfolio, a segregated portfolio of LMA SPC. David Puritz is the managing member of Shaolin and in that capacity has discretionary authority to vote and dispose of the shares held by MAP 214 Segregated Portfolio, a segregated portfolio of LMA SPC and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of these shares. The business address of Shaolin is 7620 NE 4th Court, Miami FL 33138.

 

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(12)

Includes 28,500 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of Private Placement Warrants. The registered holders of the referenced securities to be registered are the following funds and accounts that are managed by Magnetar Financial LLC (“MFL”), which serves as investment manager of each Purpose Alternative Credit Fund—F LLC, Purpose Alternative Credit Fund—T LLC, Magnetar Constellation Master Fund, Ltd., Magnetar Constellation Fund II, Ltd., Magnetar SC Fund Ltd., and Magnetar Xing He Master Fund Ltd. MFL is the manager of Magnetar Lake Credit Fund LLC. MFL is the general partner of Magnetar Structured Credit Fund, LP (together with all of the foregoing funds, the “Magnetar Funds”). In such capacities, MFL exercises voting and investment power over the securities listed above held for the accounts of the Magnetar Funds. MFL is a registered investment adviser under Section 203 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Magnetar Capital Partners LP (“MCP”) is the sole member and parent holding company of MFL. Supernova Management LLC (“Supernova”) is the sole general partner of MCP. The manager of Supernova is Alec N. Litowitz, a citizen of the United States of America. Each of the Magnetar Funds, MFL, MCP, Supernova and Alec N. Litowitz disclaim beneficial ownership of these securities except to the extent of their pecuniary interest in the securities. Shares and warrants shown include only the securities being registered for resale and may not incorporate all interests deemed to be beneficially held by the registered holders described above or by other investment funds managed or advised by MFL.

(13)

Meteora Capital, LLC (“Meteora Capital”) serves as investment manager to Meteora Special Opportunity Fund i, LP, and voting and investment power over the shares held by Meteora Special Opportunity Fund i, LP resides with Meteora Capital. Mr. Vik Mittal serves as the managing member of Meteora Capital and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the shares of common stock held by such entities. Mr. Mittal disclaims any beneficial ownership of the shares held by such entities. The business address of Meteora Special Opportunity Fund i, LP, Meteora Capital and Mr. Mittal is 840 Park Drive East, Boca Raton, Florida 33444.

(14)

Mission Gate Inc. is a venture capital firm, managing the private wealth of George Bachiashvili, its sole shareholder and director, exclusively. Business address of the entity is Hunkins Waterfront Plaza, Suite 556, Main Street, Charlestown, Nevis.

(15)

Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. is the investment adviser of Bell Atlantic Master Trust and holds voting and dispositive power with respect to shares of record held by Bell Atlantic Master Trust. The address of Bell Atlantic Master Trust is 522 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036.

(16)

Owl Creek GP, LLC is the general partner of Owl Creek Asset Management, L.P, the investment manager to Owl Creek Credit Opportunities Master Fund, L.P. Jeffrey Altman is the managing member of Owl Creek GP, LLC and in that capacity has discretionary authority to vote and dispose of the shares held by Owl Creek Credit Opportunities Master Fund, L.P. and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of these shares. The business address of Owl Creek GP, LLC is 640 Fifth Ave, Floor 20, New York, New York 10019.

(17)

Voting and investment power over the interests held by Peridian Fund, L.P. (“Peridian”) resides with its investment manager, Periscope Capital Inc. Jamie Wise is the Chief Executive Officer of Periscope Capital Inc. and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the interests held by Peridian. Jamie Wise and Periscope Capital Inc., however, disclaim any beneficial ownership of the interests held by Peridian. The address of the foregoing individual and entities is c/o 333 Bay Street, Suite 1240, Toronto, ON, M5H 2R2.

(18)

Includes 28,500 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of GWAC Private Placement Warrants. Polar Multi-Strategy Master Fund (“Polar Fund”) is under management by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. (“PAMPI”). PAMPI serves as investment advisor of the Polar Fund and has control and discretion over the shares held by the Polar Fund. As such, PAMPI may be deemed the beneficial owner of the shares held by the Polar Fund. PAMPI disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest therein. The business address of the Polar Fund is c/o Polar Asset Management Partners Inc., 16 York Street, Suite 2900, Toronto, ON M5J 0E6.

(19)

Sea Otter Securities Group is a registered broker-dealer and FINRA member. Peter Smith, Peter Wisniewski and Nick Fahey may be deemed to have voting and investment power over the shares held by Sea Otter Securities Group. The business address of such holder is 107 Grand Street, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10013.

 

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Table of Contents
(20)

Shaolin Capital Management LLC (“Shaolin”) serves as the investment advisor to Shaolin Capital Partners Master Fund, Ltd., a Cayman Islands exempted company. David Puritz is the managing member of Shaolin and in that capacity has discretionary authority to vote and dispose of the shares held by Shaolin Capital Partners Master Fund, Ltd. and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of these shares. The business address of Shaolin is 7620 NE 4th Court, Miami FL 33138.

(21)

Shaolin Capital Management LLC (“Shaolin”) serves as the investment advisor to Shaolin Capital Partners SP, a segregated portfolio of PC MAP SPC. David Puritz is the managing member of Shaolin and in that capacity has discretionary authority to vote and dispose of the shares held by Shaolin Capital Partners SP, a segregated portfolio of PC MAP SPC and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of these shares. The business address of Shaolin is 7620 NE 4th Court, Miami FL 33138.

(22)

Includes 28,500 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of Private Placement Warrants. Voting and investment power over the assets held by Stichting Juridisch Eigendom Mint Tower Arbitrage Fund (“MTAF”) resides with its investment manager, Mint Tower Capital Management B.V.. Ramon Heusen, Joris Paulus Hoedemaekers, Marcel Voogel and Wilrik Fokko Sinia are the directors of Mint Tower Capital Management B.V. and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the interests held by MTAF. Ramon Heusen, Joris Paulus Hoedemaekers, Marcel Voogel, Wilrik Fokko Sinia and Mint Tower Capital Management B.V., however, disclaim any beneficial ownership of the assets held by MTAF. The business address of the foregoing entities is Beursplein 5, 1012 JW Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

(23)

EVC Fintech Management LLC is the investment manager acting with sole discretionary authority for the Selling Securityholder. Roman Sobachevskiy has sole voting and investment discretion of EVC Fintech Management LLC. EVC Fintech Management LLC and Roman Sobachevskiy both disclaim beneficial ownership of the securities owned by the Selling Securityholder. The business address of the foregoing individual and entities is 16192 Coastal Highway, Lewes, DE 19958.

(24)

Walleye Opportunities Master Fund Ltd is a private investment fund managed by Walleye Capital LLC. William England serves as the Chief Investment Officer of Walleye Capital LLC. As a result, Walleye Capital LLC and Mr. England may be deemed to have shared voting and dispositive power with respect to the shares held by Walleye Opportunities Master Fund Ltd. Walleye Capital LLC and Mr. England disclaim beneficial ownership of such shares except to the extent of each of their pecuniary interest therein.

(25)

Walleye Trading LLC is a broker/dealer managed by Walleye Capital LLC. Andrew Carney serves as the CEO of Walleye Trading LLC. As a result, Walleye Capital LLC and Mr. Carney may be deemed to have shared voting and dispositive power with respect to the shares held by Walleye Trading LLC. Walleye Capital LLC and Mr. Carney disclaim beneficial ownership of such shares except to the extent of each of their pecuniary interest therein.

 

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PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

We or the Selling Securityholders may sell the securities from time to time pursuant to underwritten public offerings, negotiated transactions, block trades or a combination of these methods or through underwriters or dealers, through agents and/or directly to one or more purchasers. The securities may be distributed from time to time in one or more transactions:

 

   

at a fixed price or prices, which may be changed;

 

   

at market prices prevailing at the time of sale;

 

   

at prices related to such prevailing market prices;

 

   

at negotiated prices;

 

   

ordinary brokerage transactions and transactions in which the broker solicits purchasers; or

 

   

any other method permitted pursuant to applicable law.

When we or any of the Selling Securityholders sell securities covered by this prospectus, we or the Selling Securityholders will provide a prospectus supplement or supplements that will describe the method of distribution and set forth the terms and conditions of the offering of such securities, including the offering price of the securities and the proceeds to the Selling Securityholders, if applicable.

Offers to purchase the securities being offered by this prospectus may be solicited directly. Agents may also be designated to solicit offers to purchase the securities from time to time. Any agent involved in the offer or sale of our securities will be identified in a prospectus supplement.

If any Selling Securityholder notifies us that a material arrangement has been entered into with a broker-dealer for the sale of securities through a block trade, special offering or secondary distribution or a purchase by a broker or dealer, we may be required to file a prospectus supplement pursuant to the applicable rules promulgated under the Securities Act.

A Selling Securityholder that is an entity may elect to make an in-kind distribution of the securities covered by this prospectus to its members, partners or shareholders pursuant to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part by delivering a prospectus. To the extent that such members, partners, stockholders or other equityholders are not affiliates of ours, such members, partners, stockholders or other equityholders would thereby receive freely tradable securities pursuant to a distribution pursuant to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. To the extent a distributee is an affiliate of ours (or to the extent otherwise required by law), we may file a prospectus supplement in order to permit the distributees to use the prospectus to resell the securities acquired in the distribution.

The Selling Securityholder may, from time to time, pledge or grant a security interest in some or all of the securities owned by them and, if they default in the performance of their secured obligations, the pledgees or secured parties may offer and sell the securities, from time to time, under this prospectus, or under an amendment to this prospectus under Rule 424(b)(3) or other applicable provision of the Securities Act amending the list of Selling Securityholders to include the pledgee, transferee or other successor-in-interest as Selling Securityholders under this prospectus. The Selling Securityholders also may transfer the securities in other circumstances, in which case the transferees, pledgees or other successors in interest will be the selling beneficial owners for purposes of this prospectus after they have provided to us certain documentation.

The aggregate proceeds to the Selling Securityholders from the sale of the securities offered by them will be the purchase price of the securities less discounts or commissions, if any. Each of the Selling Securityholders reserves the right to accept and, together with their agents from time to time, to reject, in whole or in part, any proposed purchase of securities to be made directly or through agents.

 

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If a dealer is utilized in the sale of the securities being offered by this prospectus, the securities will be sold to the dealer, as principal. The dealer may then resell the securities to the public at varying prices to be determined by the dealer at the time of resale.

If an underwriter is utilized in the sale of the securities being offered by this prospectus, an underwriting agreement will be executed with the underwriter at the time of sale and the name of any underwriter will be provided in the prospectus supplement that the underwriter will use to make resales of the securities to the public. In connection with the sale of the securities, the Selling Securityholders, or the purchasers of securities for whom the underwriter may act as agent, may compensate the underwriter in the form of underwriting discounts or commissions. The underwriter may sell the securities to or through dealers, and those dealers may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the underwriters and/or commissions from the purchasers for which they may act as agent. Unless otherwise indicated in a prospectus supplement, an agent will be acting on a best efforts basis and a dealer will purchase securities as a principal, and may then resell the securities at varying prices to be determined by the dealer.

The Selling Securityholders and any broker-dealers or agents that are involved in selling the shares may be deemed to be “underwriters” within the meaning of the Securities Act in connection with such sales. In such event, any commissions received by such broker-dealers or agents and any profit on the resale of the shares purchased by them may be deemed to be underwriting commissions or discounts under the Securities Act. Any compensation paid to underwriters, dealers or agents in connection with the offering of the securities, and any discounts, concessions or commissions allowed by underwriters to participating dealers will be provided in the applicable prospectus supplement. Underwriters, dealers and agents participating in the distribution of the securities may be deemed to be underwriters within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and any discounts and commissions received by them and any profit realized by them on resale of the securities may be deemed to be underwriting discounts and commissions.

In connection with the sale of our securities, unless otherwise restricted by a contractual agreement or, in the case of a Selling Securityholder who is an employee, our insider trading policy, the Selling Securityholder may enter into hedging transactions with broker-dealers or other financial institutions, which may in turn engage in short sales of the securities in the course of hedging the positions they assume. The Selling Securityholders may also sell our securities short and deliver these securities to close out their short positions, or loan or pledge the securities to broker-dealers that in turn may sell these securities. The Selling Securityholders may also enter into option, forward or other transactions with broker-dealers or other financial institutions or create one or more derivative securities which require the delivery to such broker-dealer or other financial institution of securities registered by this prospectus, which securities such broker-dealer or other financial institution may resell pursuant to this prospectus (as supplemented or amended to reflect such transaction).

There can be no assurance that any Selling Securityholder will sell any or all of the securities registered pursuant to the shelf registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. In addition, the Selling Securityholder may also sell securities under Rule 144 under the Securities Act, if available, or in other transactions exempt from registration, rather than under this prospectus. The Selling Stockholder has the sole and absolute discretion not to accept any purchase offer or make any sale of securities if they deem the purchase price to be unsatisfactory at any particular time.

In order to comply with the securities laws of some states, if applicable, securities may be sold in these jurisdictions only through registered or licensed brokers or dealers.

The Selling Securityholders may indemnify any broker-dealer that participates in transactions involving the sale of the shares of securities against certain liabilities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act.

Once sold under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, the securities will be freely tradeable in the hands of persons other than our affiliates.

 

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Other than our common stock and our outstanding public warrants to purchase common stock, each of which is listed on Nasdaq, any other securities may or may not be listed on a national securities exchange. To facilitate the offering of securities, certain persons participating in the offering may engage in transactions that stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the price of the securities. This may include over-allotments or short sales of the securities, which involve the sale by persons participating in the offering of more securities than were sold to them. In these circumstances, these persons would cover such over-allotments or short positions by making purchases in the open market or by exercising their over-allotment option, if any. In addition, these persons may stabilize or maintain the price of the securities by bidding for or purchasing securities in the open market or by imposing penalty bids, whereby selling concessions allowed to dealers participating in the offering may be reclaimed if securities sold by them are repurchased in connection with stabilization transactions. The effect of these transactions may be to stabilize or maintain the market price of the securities at a level above that which might otherwise prevail in the open market. These transactions may be discontinued at any time.

We may engage in at the market offerings into an existing trading market in accordance with Rule 415(a)(4) under the Securities Act. In addition, we may enter into derivative transactions with third parties, or sell securities not covered by this prospectus to third parties in privately negotiated transactions. If the applicable prospectus supplement so indicates, in connection with those derivatives, the third parties may sell securities covered by this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, including in short sale transactions. If so, the third party may use securities pledged by us or borrowed from us or others to settle those sales or to close out any related open borrowings of stock, and may use securities received from us in settlement of those derivatives to close out any related open borrowings of stock. The third party in such sale transactions will be an underwriter and, if not identified in this prospectus, will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement (or a post-effective amendment). In addition, we may otherwise loan or pledge securities to a financial institution or other third party that in turn may sell the securities short using this prospectus and an applicable prospectus supplement. Such financial institution or other third party may transfer its economic short position to investors in our securities or in connection with a concurrent offering of other securities.

The specific terms of any lock-up provisions in respect of any given offering will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

The underwriters, dealers and agents may engage in transactions with us, or perform services for us, in the ordinary course of business for which they receive compensation.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

Latham & Watkins LLP will pass upon certain legal matters relating to the issuance and sale of the securities offered hereby on behalf of Cipher Mining Inc. Additional legal matters may be passed upon for us or any underwriters, dealers or agents, by counsel that we will name in the applicable prospectus supplement.

EXPERTS

The consolidated financial statements for Cipher Mining Inc. as of December 31, 2021, and January 31, 2021, and for the eleven months ended December 31, 2021 and the period from January 7, 2021 (inception) to January 31, 2021 have been audited by Marcum LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report, which is incorporated herein by reference. Such financial statements have been so incorporated in reliance upon the report of such firm given upon their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

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LOGO

2,397,424 Shares of Common Stock

 

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

 

 

 

November 8, 2023