Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital hit with another SEC subpoena

Bitcoin (BTC $27,549) miner Marathon Digital has disclosed that it received another subpoena from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission relating to its 100-megawatt data center in Hardin, Montana.

According to Marathon’s quarterly report filed May 10, it received the subpoena on April 10 “relating to, among other things, transactions with related parties” that occurred while it was creating the facility in Montana, adding:

We understand that the SEC may be investigating whether or not there may have been any violations of the federal securities law. We are cooperating with the SEC.

The subpoena is the second one received by Marathon regarding the facility. It also received one late in the third quarter of 2021 in which the SEC ordered the firm to produce a number of related documents and communications.

A Marathon spokesperson declined to provide any additional comments.

On May 9, Marathon announced that it had partnered with digital assets infrastructure company Zero Two to create a large-scale immersion Bitcoin mining facility in Abu Dhabi.

The facility would consist of two mining mines with a combined 250-megawatt capacity, and Marathon noted that while mining in Abu Dhabi would normally be infeasible, its “custom-built immersion solution” would be sufficient to ensure the mining rigs remained cool.

The announcement came just two months after the Biden administration proposed a new tax for crypto miners operating in the U.S., which would require them to pay a tax equal to 30% of the cost of any electricity used while mining for crypto.