Bitcoin miner Gryphon going public via deal to buy cannabis software company Akerna
TL;DR Gryphon Digital Mining, a carbon neutral bitcoin miner, is going public in an all-stock transaction with Akerna Corp., a cannabis software company. Upon completion of the deal, Gryphon equity holders are expected to own 92.5% of the combined company and current Akerna equityholders will own 7.5%. The combined company will continue to be publicly traded on Nasdaq.
Privately-held Gryphon, which claims to be a carbon neutral bitcoin miner, will buy the publicly-traded cannabis software company, which in turn will sell its software business to POSaBIT Systems Corporation. The latter is a cannabis infrastructure payments provider.
The deal comes amid tough times for miners, which have seen margins squeezed amid higher energy costs and lower bitcoin prices. Several, including Core Scientific, have filed for bankruptcy.