Poolin Files for Bankruptcy After Fall from Bitcoin's Top Mining Pool
Key Takeaways
- •Poolin and its two U.S. affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 22 in New Jersey.
- •The company reported about $173 million in debts, with estimated liabilities ranging from $100 million to $500 million.
- •Thor CALAP LLC has made a $52 million bid for two West Texas mining sites that make up most of Poolin’s remaining assets.
- •Poolin controlled 18% to 20% of global bitcoin mining hashrate in 2019 but has had an effectively zero hashrate share for several years.
- •Poolin Wallet suspended withdrawals in September 2022 and issued about $163.7 million in IOU tokens to roughly 11,700 affected customers.
Poolin, once the world's largest bitcoin mining pool, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection alongside its two U.S. affiliates, Lonestar Dream and Lonestar Taproot, as it grapples with approximately $173 million in debts.
The Singapore-based company filed for protection in New Jersey on July 22, with estimated liabilities ranging between $100 million and $500 million, according to a report by TheEnergyMag on Friday. The filing marks a dramatic downfall for a firm that at its peak controlled nearly a fifth of Bitcoin's global hashrate. Poolin's collapse echoes a broader pattern of crypto industry insolvencies triggered by the 2022 market downturn, which claimed firms such as FTX, Celsius, and Core Scientific.
A $52 million bid from Thor CALAP LLC for two of Poolin's mining sites in West Texas currently represents the primary path to recovery for creditors. These sites constitute the bulk of the company's remaining assets. West Texas has been a magnet for bitcoin miners due to the state's deregulated power market and abundant renewable energy, though grid interconnection queues have proven a persistent bottleneck for operators across the region.
From Industry Leader to Insolvency
In 2019, Poolin held an 18–20% share of global bitcoin mining hashrate, making it the single largest pool on the network, according to Glassnode data. More bitcoin was mined through Poolin than through any other pool at that time. Today, the largest mining pools by hashrate share are Foundry USA and AntPool, together accounting for over half of Bitcoin's total network hashrate.
The company's decline began in late 2022, when users started reporting withdrawal delays on Poolin's Telegram channels amid a broader wave of liquidity crises across the crypto industry. Co-founder Kevin Pan acknowledged in a WeChat post that the company was "facing liquidity problems" while maintaining that user funds were safe.
A planned Texas mining expansion, which Pan had counted on to rebuild the business, was hampered by delayed grid connection approvals.
In September 2022, Poolin Wallet suspended withdrawals entirely. The company issued approximately $163.7 million in IOU tokens to around 11,700 affected customers, providing temporary relief but leaving users with frozen funds. The use of IOU tokens as a substitute for withdrawals drew criticism from affected users, many of whom reported being unable to redeem the tokens at face value.
Poolin's hashrate share has been effectively zero for several years.
Poolin did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.