Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) Risk Factors

The OFAC requires us to comply with its sanction program and not conduct business with persons named on its SDN list. However, because of the pseudonymous nature of blockchain transactions, we may, inadvertently and without our knowledge, engage in transactions with persons named on OFAC's SDN list. Our internal policies prohibit any transactions with such SDN individuals, but we may not be adequately capable of determining the ultimate identity of the individual with whom we transact with respect to our cryptocurrency mining-related products and services. In addition, in the future, OFAC or another regulator, may require us to screen transactions for OFAC addresses or other bad actors before including such transactions in a block, which may increase our compliance costs, decrease our anticipated transaction fees and lead to decreased traffic on our network. Any of these factors, consequently, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. Moreover, federal law prohibits any U.S. person from knowingly or unknowingly possessing any visual depiction commonly known as child pornography. Recent media reports have suggested that persons have embedded such depictions on one or more blockchains. Because our business requires us to download and retain one or more blockchains to effectuate our ongoing business, it is possible that such digital ledgers contain prohibited depictions without our knowledge or consent. To the extent government enforcement authorities literally enforce these and other laws and regulations that are impacted by decentralized distributed ledger technology, we may be subject to investigation, administrative or court proceedings, and civil or criminal monetary fines and penalties, all of which could harm our reputation and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Our mining datacenters where mining machines operate are located in different places around the world. Due to the unexpectable regulations that the governments may impose on the development of cryptocurrencies or cryptocurrency mining, the properties we are renting currently may not be in accordance with local zoning ordinance. Such mining datacenters may be considered to be in violation of relevant zoning laws and the government may order the demolition or relocation of such datacenters. If we are evicted from such property, we may need to find alternative properties and relocate our mining datacenters. Unless we are able to make timely alternative arrangements for relocating, we may not be able to fulfill purchase orders received, which may have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Until recently, relatively little regulatory attention has been directed toward the crypto assets market by U.S. federal and state governments, non-U.S. governments and self-regulatory agencies. As crypto assets have grown in popularity and in market size, the U.S. regulatory regime??-??namely the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Congress and certain U.S. agencies (e.g., the SEC, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC"), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (the "FinCEN") and the Federal Bureau of Investigation), and local and foreign governmental organizations, consumer agencies and public advocacy groups have been examining the operations of crypto networks, users and platforms, with a focus on how crypto assets can be used to launder the proceeds of illegal activities, fund criminal or terrorist enterprises, and the safety and soundness of platforms and other service providers that hold crypto assets for users. Many of these entities have called for heightened regulatory oversight, and have issued consumer advisories describing the risks posed by crypto assets to users and investors. For instance, in March 2022, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed the need for regulation to prevent "cryptocurrencies from serving as a vehicle for terrorist finance and just general criminal behavior". On March 8, 2022, President Biden announced an executive order on cryptocurrencies which seeks to establish a unified federal regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies. The complexity and evolving nature of our business and the significant uncertainty surrounding the regulation of the crypto assets industry requires us to exercise our judgment as to whether certain laws, rules, and regulations apply to us, and it is possible that governmental bodies and regulators may disagree with our conclusions. To the extent we have not complied with such laws, rules and regulations, we could be subject to significant fines, revocation of licenses, limitations on our products and services, reputational harm, and other regulatory consequences, each of which may be significant and could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition. Additionally, the recent bankruptcy filings of FTX, the third largest digital asset exchange by volume at the time of its filing, and its affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research LLC, in addition to other bankruptcy filings of crypto companies throughout calendar year 2022, will likely attract heightened regulatory scrutiny from U.S. regulatory agencies such as the SEC and CFTC. Increasing regulation and regulatory scrutiny may result in additional costs for us and our management having to devote increased time and attention to regulatory matters, change aspects of our business or result in limits on the utility of Bitcoin. In addition, regulatory developments and/or our business activities may require us to comply with certain regulatory regimes. Increasingly strict legal and regulatory requirements and any regulatory investigations and enforcement may result in changes to our business, as well as increased costs, supervision and examination. Moreover, new laws, regulations, or interpretations may result in additional litigation, regulatory investigations, and enforcement or other actions. Adverse changes to, or our failure to comply with, any laws and regulations may have, an adverse effect on our reputation and brand and our business, operating results, and financial condition. Although we are not directly connected to the recent cryptocurrency market events, we may still suffer reputational harm due to our association with the cryptocurrency industry in light of the recent disruption in the crypto asset markets. Ongoing and future regulation and regulatory actions could significantly restrict or eliminate the market for or uses of Bitcoin and/or may adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations.

Recently, there has been a significant amount of regulatory attention directed toward cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency networks and other industry participants by United States federal and state governments, foreign governments and self-regulatory agencies. For example, as cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have grown in popularity and in market size, the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Congress and certain U.S. agencies (e.g., FinCEN, the SEC, the CFTC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) have begun to examine the operations of the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin users and Bitcoin exchange markets. In addition, local state regulators such as the Texas State Securities Board, the Massachusetts Securities Division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities, the North Carolina Secretary of State's Securities Division and the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation have initiated actions against, and investigations of, individuals and companies involved in cryptocurrencies. Also, in March 2018, the South Carolina Attorney General Office's Security Division issued a cease-and-desist order against Genesis Mining and Swiss Gold Global, Inc., stating that both companies were to stop doing business in South Carolina and are permanently barred from offering securities in the state in the future since they offered unregistered securities via cloud mining contracts under the South Carolina Uniformed Securities Act of 2005, S.C. Code Ann. § 35-1-101, et seq. (the order against Genesis Mining was subsequently withdrawn). Neither the Company nor, to our knowledge, Matrixport Group, has any direct or indirect relationship with these two companies. Further, the North Carolina Secretary of State's Securities Division issued in March 2018 a Temporary Cease and Desist Order against Power Mining Pool (made permanent pursuant to a Final Order on April 19, 2018), ordering it to cease and desist, among other things, offering "mining pool shares," which were deemed "securities" under N.C. Gen. Stat. 78A-2(11), in North Carolina until they are registered with the North Carolina Secretary of State or are offered for sale pursuant to an exemption from registration under the North Carolina Securities Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 78A. Additionally, we rely on third-party mining pool service providers for mining revenue payouts from our mining operation, and certain of our potential hosting customers could be involved in, or could issue, cloud mining contracts or mining pool shares, and any regulatory restrictions on their practices could significantly reduce demand for our hosting services. Furthermore, it is possible that laws, regulations or directives that affect cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency transaction processing or blockchain server hosting may change in a manner that may adversely affect our ability to conduct our business and operations in the relevant jurisdiction. In addition, various foreign jurisdictions either have adopted or may adopt laws, regulations or directives that affect cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency networks and their users and hosting service providers that fall within such jurisdictions' regulatory scope. Such laws, regulations or directives may conflict with those of the United States, may negatively impact the acceptance of cryptocurrencies by users, merchants and service providers outside of the United States and may therefore impede the growth of cryptocurrency use. A number of countries, including India, South Korea and Russia, among others, currently have a more restrictive stance toward cryptocurrencies and, thereby, have reduced the rate of expansion of cryptocurrency use, as well as cryptocurrency transaction processing, in each of those countries. Governments may in the future take regulatory actions that prohibit or severely restrict the right to acquire, own, hold, sell, use or trade cryptocurrencies or to exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat currency. Ownership of, holding or trading in cryptocurrencies may then be considered illegal and subject to sanction. Governments may also take regulatory action that may increase the cost and/or subject cryptocurrency mining companies to additional regulation. By extension, similar actions by governments may result in the restriction of the acquisition, ownership, holding, selling, use or trading in the capital stock of cryptocurrency mining companies, including our common stock. Such a restriction could result in us liquidating our cryptocurrency inventory at unfavorable prices and may adversely affect our shareholders. The effect of any regulatory change, either by federal, state, local or foreign governments or any self-regulatory agencies, on us or our potential hosting customers is impossible to predict, but such change could be substantial and may require us or our potential hosting customers to cease certain or all operations and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Current and future legislation and rulemaking by the CFTC and SEC or other regulators, including interpretations released by a regulatory authority, may impact the manner in which cryptocurrencies are treated. For example, cryptocurrencies derivatives are not excluded from the definition of "commodity future" by the CFTC. Furthermore, according to the CFTC, cryptocurrencies fall within the definition of a commodity under the Commodities Exchange Act (the "CEA") and as a result, we may be required to register and comply with additional regulations under the CEA, including additional periodic reporting and disclosure standards and requirements. We may also be required to register as a commodity pool operator and to register as a commodity pool with the CFTC through the National Futures Association. If we are required to register with the CFTC or another governmental or self-regulatory authority, the scope of our business and operations may be constrained by the rules of such authority and we may be forced to incur additional expenses in the form of licensing fees, professional fees and other costs of compliance. The SEC has issued guidance and made numerous statements regarding the application of securities laws to cryptocurrencies. For example, on July 25, 2017, the SEC issued a Report of Investigation (the "Report") which concluded that tokens offered and sold by the Decentralized Autonomous Organization ("DAO"), a digital decentralized autonomous organization and investor-directed venture capital fund for cryptocurrencies, were issued for the purpose of raising funds. The Report concluded that these tokens were "investment contracts" within the meaning of Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act and Section 3(a)(10) of the Exchange Act, and therefore securities subject to the federal securities laws. In December 2017, the SEC issued a cease-and-desist letter to Munchee Inc., ordering that the company stop its initial coin offering of MUN Tokens on the grounds that it failed to file a registration statement or qualify for an exemption from registration. Similar to the tokens issued by the DAO, the SEC found that the MUN Tokens satisfied the definition of an "investment contract," and were therefore subject to the federal securities laws. In February 2018, both the SEC and CFTC further reiterated their concerns regarding cryptocurrencies in written testimony to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. On March 7, 2018, the SEC released a "Statement on Potentially Unlawful Online Platforms for Trading Digital Assets," and reiterated that, if a platform "offers trading of cryptocurrencies that are securities" and "operates as ‘exchange,' as defined by the federal securities laws," the platform must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration. The SEC's statement serves as a notice to operators of any platforms, including secondary market trading platforms, which the SEC is actively monitoring for potentially fraudulent or manipulative behavior in the market for security tokens, as the SEC has cautioned recently in the context of ICOs. On November 16, 2018, the SEC released a "Statement on Digital Asset Securities Issuance and Trading," and emphasized that market participants must adhere to the SEC's well-established and well-functioning federal securities law framework when dealing with technological innovations, regardless of whether the securities are issued in certificated form or using new technologies, such as blockchain. This has all been followed by additional statements and guidance from the SEC including no-action letters relating to specific blockchain-based projects, and a Framework for "Investment Contract" Analysis of Digital Assets published by the Division of Corporation Finance on April 3, 2019. In an August 2021 interview, SEC Chairman Gensler signaled the SEC is contemplating a robust regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies and reiterated the SEC's position that many cryptocurrencies are unregulated securities. The SEC has been active in asserting its jurisdiction over ICOs and cryptocurrencies and in bringing enforcement cases. The SEC has directed enforcement activity toward cryptocurrencies, and more specifically, ICOs. In September 2017, the SEC created a new division known as the "Cyber Unit" to address, among other things, violations involving distributed ledger technology and ICOs, and filed a civil complaint in the Eastern District of New York charging a businessman and two companies with defrauding investors in a pair of so-called ICOs purportedly backed by investments in real estate and diamonds (see Securities and Exchange Commission v. REcoin Group Foundation, LLC, et al., Civil Action NO. 17-cv- 05725 (E.D.N.Y, filed Sept. 29, 2017)). Subsequently, the SEC has filed several orders instituting cease-and-desist proceedings against (i) Carrier EQ, Inc., d/b/a AirFox and Paragon Coin, Inc. in connection with their unregistered offerings of tokens (see CarrierEQ, Inc., Rel. No. 33-10575 (Nov. 16, 2018) and Paragon Coin, Inc., Rel. No. 33-10574 (Nov. 16, 2018), respectively), (ii) Crypto Asset Management, LP for failing to register a hedge fund formed for the purpose of investing in cryptocurrencies as an investment company (see Crypto Asset Management, LP and Timothy Enneking, Rel. No. 33-10544 (Sept. 11, 2018)), (iii) TokenLot LLC for failing to register as a broker-dealer, even though it did not meet the definition of an exchange (see Tokenlot LLC, Lenny Kugel, and EliL. Lewitt, Rel. No. 33-10543 (Sept. 11, 2018)) and (iv) EtherDelta's founder for failing either to register as a national securities exchange or to operate pursuant to an exemption from registration as an exchange after creating a platform that clearly fell within the definition of an exchange (see Zachary Coburn, Rel. No. 34-84553 (Nov. 8, 2018)). On June 4, 2019, the SEC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Kik Interactive, Inc. with respect to its September 2017 offering of Kin. According to articles published by various news outlets, the SEC has allegedly issued numerous subpoenas and information requests to technology companies, advisers and individuals involved in the cryptocurrency space and ICOs, as part of a broad inquiry into the cryptocurrency market. Recently, a number of proposed ICOs have sought to rely on Regulation A and have filed with the SEC a Form 1-A covering a distribution of a digital token. Two such offerings were qualified in July 2019. In addition, some token offerings have been commenced as private securities offerings intended to be exempt from SEC registration. Further, the SEC has yet to approve listing and trading any exchange-traded products (such as ETFs) holding cryptocurrencies. The SEC has taken various actions against persons or entities that have allegedly misused cryptocurrencies, engaged in fraudulent schemes (i.e., Ponzi scheme) and/or engaged in the sale of tokens that were deemed securities by the SEC. Although our activities are not focused on raising capital or assisting others that do so, the federal securities laws are very broad. We cannot provide assurance as to whether the SEC will continue or increase its enforcement with respect to cryptocurrencies or ICOs, including taking enforcement action against any person engaged in the sale of unregistered securities in violation of the Securities Act or any person acting as an unregistered investment company in violation of the Investment Company Act. Because the SEC has held that certain cryptocurrencies are securities based on the current rules and law, we may be required to register and comply with the rules and regulations under federal securities laws. We cannot be certain as to how future regulatory developments will impact the treatment of cryptocurrencies under the law, including, but not limited to, whether cryptocurrencies will be classified as a security, commodity, currency and/or new or other existing classification. Such additional regulations may result in extraordinary, non-recurring expenses, thereby materially and adversely affecting investment in us. If we determine not to comply with such additional regulatory and registration requirements, we may seek to cease certain or all of our operations. Any such action could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Federal and state laws and regulations may be subject to change or changes in enforcement policies or priorities, including changes that may result from changes in the political landscape and changing technologies. Future legislation and regulations, changes to existing laws and regulations, or interpretations thereof, or changes in enforcement policies or priorities, could require significant management attention and cause additional expenditures, restrictions, and delays in connection with our business operations.

We require significant power resources and related infrastructures to support cryptocurrency mining, and that our business operates under a fast-changing regulatory landscape, both in terms of cryptocurrency and environmental regulations. Such business nature may pose an intrinsic need for us to frequently interact with government authorities by, for example, accessing natural resources and engaging in lobbying activities with respect to any relevant regulatory changes. Frequent governmental interactions may pose higher corruption and bribery risks to us. In addition, our plan to expand internationally, including into jurisdictions which are considered high-risk from an anti-bribery and anti-corruption perspective, also heightens the corruption risks for us.

In accordance with the laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate, we are required to maintain certain approvals, licenses, permits and certifications, such as obtaining certificates of occupancy and passing electrical inspection for our mining datacenters. Complying with such laws and regulations may require substantial expense, and any non-compliance may expose us to liability. In the event of non-compliance, we may have to incur significant expenses and divert substantial management time to rectify the incidents. In the future, if we fail to obtain all the necessary approvals, licenses, permits and certifications, we may be subject to fines or the suspension of operations of the production facilities and research and development facilities that do not have all the requisite approvals, licenses, permits and certifications, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. We may also experience adverse publicity arising from non-compliance with government regulations, which would negatively impact our reputation. There is no assurance that we will be able to fulfill all the conditions necessary to obtain the required government approvals, or that relevant government officials will always, if ever, exercise their discretion in our favor, or that we will be able to adapt to any new laws, regulations and policies. There may also be delays on the part of government authorities in reviewing our applications and granting approvals, whether due to the lack of human resources or the imposition of new rules, regulations, government policies or their implementation, interpretation and enforcement. If we are unable to obtain, or experiences material delays in obtaining, necessary government approvals, our operations may be substantially disrupted, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are not aware of any governmental licenses or authorizations required to offer our products and services to customers in the jurisdictions we offer such products and services. However, our hash rate sharing business may be subject to U.S. jurisdictions under certain circumstances. See the section entitled "- Our hash rate sharing business may be subject to U.S. jurisdiction if we are not able to avoid offering or selling our hash rate products to U.S. customers. Additionally, our hash rate sharing business may be deemed as securities offerings in other jurisdictions where it is offered."

To the extent that we are appropriately restricting U.S. persons from obtaining our hash rate products, such business should not be subject to U.S. securities laws. However, whether we are effective in avoiding U.S. jurisdiction by actually not offering or selling our hash rate products to U.S. customers would depend on, among others, the existence and effectiveness of measures adopted in practice against U.S. persons obtaining our services, such as screening mechanisms and/or contractual restrictions over transfers of the contracts to U.S. persons in the secondary market. If certain U.S. customers, or customers from other jurisdictions where our hash rate sharing may be deemed as securities offerings, end up obtaining access to our hash rate products, and we have not registered the offering of such products, we may be deemed in breach of applicable securities laws. Such breach may result in sizable fines, reputational harms, restrictions of certain businesses, and materially adversely affect our business operation and financial conditions.

An issuer will generally be deemed to be an "investment company" for purposes of the 1940 Act if: it is an "orthodox" investment company because it is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities; or it is an inadvertent investment company because, absent an applicable exemption, it owns or proposes to acquire "investment securities" having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We believe we are not and will not be primarily engaged in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, and we do not hold ourself out as being engaged in those activities. We intend to hold ourself out as a cryptocurrency mining business. Accordingly, we do not believe that we are an "orthodox" investment company as described in the first bullet point above. While certain cryptocurrencies may be deemed to be securities, we do not believe that certain other cryptocurrencies, in particular Bitcoin, are securities; therefore, we believe that less than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis will comprise cryptocurrencies that could be considered investment securities. Accordingly, we do not believe that we are an inadvertent investment company by virtue of the 40% inadvertent investment company test as described in the second bullet point above. Although we do not believe any of the cryptocurrencies we may own, acquire or mine are securities, there is still some regulatory uncertainty on the subject, see the section entitled "- There is no one unifying principle governing the regulatory status of cryptocurrencies nor whether cryptocurrencies are securities in any particular context. Regulatory changes or actions in one or more countries may alter the nature of an investment in us or restrict the use of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoins, in a manner that adversely affects our business, prospects or operations.." If certain cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, were to be deemed securities, and consequently, investment securities by the SEC, we could be deemed an inadvertent investment company. Investment company registration is time consuming and would require a restructuring of our business. Moreover, the operation of an investment company is very costly and restrictive, as investment companies are subject to substantial regulation concerning management, operations, transactions with affiliated persons and portfolio composition, and the Investment Company Act filing requirements. The cost of such compliance would result in us incurring substantial additional expenses, and the failure to register if required would have a materially adverse impact on our operations. We intend to conduct our operations so that we are not required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act. Specifically, we do not believe that cryptocurrencies, in particular Bitcoin, are securities. The SEC Staff has not provided guidance with respect to the treatment of these assets under the 1940 Act. To the extent the SEC Staff publishes new guidance with respect to these matters, we may be required to adjust our strategy or assets accordingly. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our exclusion from registration as an investment company under the 1940 Act. In addition, as a consequence of our seeking to avoid the need to register under the 1940 Act on an ongoing basis, we may be limited in our ability to engage in cryptocurrency mining operations or otherwise make certain investments, and these limitations could result in us holding assets we may wish to sell or selling assets we may wish to hold, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we were to be deemed an inadvertent investment company, we may seek to rely on Rule 3a-2 under the 1940 Act, which allows an inadvertent investment company a grace period of one year from the earlier of (a) the date on which the issuer owns securities and/or cash having a value exceeding 50% of the issuer's total assets on either a consolidated or unconsolidated basis or (b) the date on which the issuer owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of such issuer's total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We are putting in place policies that we expect will work to keep the investment securities held by us at less than 40% of our total assets, which may include acquiring assets with our cash, liquidating our investment securities or seeking no-action relief or exemptive relief from the SEC if we are unable to acquire sufficient assets or liquidate sufficient investment securities in a timely manner. As Rule 3a-2 is available to an issuer no more than once every three years, and assuming no other exclusion were available to us, we would have to keep within the 40% limit for at least three years after we cease being an inadvertent investment company. This may limit our ability to make certain investments or enter into joint ventures that could otherwise have a positive impact on our earnings. If we failed to take adequate steps within the one-year grace period for inadvertent investment companies, we would need to register with the SEC as an investment company under the Investment Company Act or cease almost all business, and our contracts would become voidable. In any event, we do not intend to become an investment company engaged in the business of investing and trading securities. Finally, we believe we are not an investment company under Section 3(b)(1) of the 1940 Act because we are primarily engaged in a non-investment company business. The 1940 Act and the rules thereunder contain detailed parameters for the organization and operations of investment companies. Among other things, the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder limit or prohibit transactions with affiliates, impose limitations on the issuance of debt and equity securities, prohibit the issuance of stock options, and impose certain governance requirements. We intend to continue to conduct our operations so that we will not be deemed to be an investment company under the 1940 Act. However, if anything were to happen that would cause us to be deemed to be an investment company under the 1940 Act, requirements imposed by the 1940 Act, including limitations on our capital structure, ability to transact business with affiliates and ability to compensate key employees, could make it impractical for us to continue our business as currently conducted, impair the agreements and arrangements between and among us and our senior management team and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Company's tax treatment is subject to changes in tax laws, regulations, and treaties, or the interpretation thereof, tax policy initiatives and reforms under consideration, and the practices of tax authorities in jurisdictions in which the Company operates. For instance, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 imposes, among other rules, a 15% minimum tax on the book income of certain large corporations and a 1% excise tax on certain corporate stock repurchases. The income and other tax rules in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates are constantly under review by taxing authorities and other governmental bodies. Changes to tax laws (which changes may have retroactive application) could adversely affect the Company or its shareholders. The Company is unable to predict what tax proposals may be proposed or enacted in the future or what effect such changes would have on the Company's business, but such changes, to the extent they are brought into tax legislation, regulations, policies or practices, could affect the Company's financial position and overall or effective tax rates in the future in countries where the Company has operations and where the Company is organized or resident for tax purposes, and increase the complexity, burden and cost of tax compliance. The Company urges investors to consult with their legal and tax advisers regarding the implication of potential changes in tax laws on an investment in Class A Ordinary Shares.

Our customers are based globally. As such, changes in government policies, taxes, general economic and fiscal conditions, as well as political, diplomatic or social events, expose us to financial and business risks. In particular, changes in policies and laws regarding holding, using and/or mining of Bitcoins could result in an adverse effect on our business operations and results of operations. Moreover, if any international jurisdiction where we operate mining datacenters or sell our Bitcoin mining related services prohibits or restricts Bitcoin mining activities, we may face legal and other liabilities and will experience a material loss of revenue. There are significant uncertainties regarding future regulations pertaining to the holding, using or mining of Bitcoins, which may adversely affect our results of operations. While Bitcoin has gradually gained more market acceptance and attention, it is anonymous and may be used for black market transactions, money laundering, illegal activities or tax evasion. As a result, governments may seek to regulate, restrict, control or ban the mining, use and holding of Bitcoins. Our existing policies and procedures for the detection and prevention of money laundering and terrorism-funding activities through our business activities have only been adopted in recent years and may not completely eliminate instances in which we or our services may be used by other parties to engage in money laundering and other illegal or improper activities. We are subject to anti-money laundering laws in many jurisdictions in which we operate. We cannot assure you that there will not be a failure in detecting money laundering or other illegal or improper activities which may adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. With advances in technology, cryptocurrencies are likely to undergo significant changes in the future. It remains uncertain whether Bitcoin will be able to cope with, or benefit from, those changes. In addition, as Bitcoin mining employs sophisticated and high computing power devices that need to consume a lot of electricity to operate, future developments in the regulation of energy consumption, including possible restrictions on energy usage in the jurisdictions where we sell our products or services, may also affect our business operations and the demand for our current and future mining related products or services, including cloud hash rate, hosting and Minerplus. There have been public backlashes surrounding the environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining, particularly the large consumption of electricity, and governments of various jurisdictions have responded. For example, in the United States, certain local governments of the State of Washington have discussed measures to address environmental impacts of Bitcoin-related operations, such as the high electricity consumption of Bitcoin mining activities.

We have provided worldwide products and services to a number of countries outside of Singapore and derive sales from exporting to those countries, and we intend to continue to sell our current and future products to countries outside of Singapore. Revenue generated from customers located in the United States accounted for 12.4%, 16.6% and 5.1% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. Further, we rely on certain overseas suppliers, including suppliers in the United States, for the supply of certain equipment and tools, such as mining machines. Changes to trade policies, treaties and tariffs in or affecting the jurisdictions in which we operate and to which we sell our products and services, or the perception that these changes could occur, could adversely affect the financial and economic conditions in those jurisdictions, as well as our international sales, financial condition and results of operations. Our business and prospect may be negatively affected by changes in governmental policies including sanctions and export controls administered by other countries' governments, including those imposed as a result of an increasing tense relationship of the political or economic relations among major economic groups and other geopolitical challenges. Although we currently only operate our business in certain countries, there is no assurance that the governmental authorities may take certain possible measures or restrictions towards the products and services we are providing or will provide, which could result in an adverse impact on our business and prospect if we were not able to find substitute customer group with the same quality demand from other countries. Further, some of our customers may experience undue hardship in purchasing or furthering the business relationship with us as a result of the abnormal international trade relations, which could materially and adversely affect our business performance. In addition, countries, which are subject to other countries' sanctions or tariff impositions may further retaliate, in response to new trade policies implemented by such foreign governments. Such retaliation measures may further escalate the tensions between the two countries, which may have a negative impact on the economies of not merely the two countries concerned, but the global economy as a whole. As a result of any major economic downturn, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Depending on its characteristics, a cryptocurrency may be considered a "security" under the federal securities laws. The test for determining whether a particular cryptocurrency is a "security" is complex and difficult to apply, and the outcome is difficult to predict. Whether a cryptocurrency is a security under the federal securities laws depends on whether it is included in the lists of instruments making up the definition of "security" in the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and the Investment Company Act. Cryptocurrencies as such do not appear in any of these lists, although each list includes the terms "investment contract" and "note," and the SEC has typically analyzed whether a particular cryptocurrency is a security by reference to whether it meets the tests developed by the federal courts interpreting these terms, known as the "Howey" and "Reves" tests, respectively. For many cryptocurrencies, whether or not the "Howey" or "Reves" tests are met is difficult to resolve definitively, and substantial legal arguments can often be made both in favor of and against a particular digital asset qualifying as a security under one or both of the "Howey" and "Reves" tests. Adding to the complexity, the SEC staff has indicated that the security status of a particular digital asset can change over time as the relevant facts evolve. Current and future legislation and SEC-rulemaking and other regulatory developments, including interpretations released by a regulatory authority, may impact the manner in which Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are viewed or treated for classification and clearing purposes. In particular, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may not be excluded from the definition of "security" by SEC rulemaking or interpretation requiring registration of all transactions unless another exemption is available, including transacting in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies among owners and requiring registration of trading platforms as "exchanges." Accordingly, cryptocurrencies such as Zcash may currently be a security, based on the facts as they exist today, or may in the future be found by the SEC or a federal court to be a security under the federal securities laws. Historically, we have generated minimum amount of mining yields from Zcash and held minimum amount of Zcash. We do not intend to hold or generate mining yield from cryptocurrencies in violation of the federal securities laws. Accordingly, if Zcash or other cryptocurrencies involved in our business is determined by us, the SEC or other regulatory authorities to be a security under the federal securities laws, it could result in interruption of our business operations. Furthermore, the SEC may determine that certain cryptocurrencies or interests, for example tokens offered and sold in ICOs, may constitute securities under the Howey test as stated by the United States Supreme Court. As such, ICO offerings would require registration under the Securities Act or an available exemption therefrom for offers or sales in the United States to be lawful. Section 5(a) of the Securities Act provides that, unless a registration statement is in effect as to a security, it is unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, to engage in the offer or sale of securities in interstate commerce. Section 5(c) of the Securities Act provides a similar prohibition against offers to sell, or offers to buy, unless a registration statement has been filed. Although we do not intend to be engaged in the offer or sale of securities in the form of ICO offerings, and we do not believe our planned mining activities would require registration for us to conduct such activities and accumulate cryptocurrencies, the SEC, CFTC, Nasdaq, IRS or other governmental or quasi-governmental agency or organization may conclude that our activities involve the offer or sale of "securities," or ownership of "investment securities," and we may be subject to regulation or registration requirements under various federal laws and related rules. Such regulation or the inability to meet the requirements to continue operations, would have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. We may also face similar issues with various state securities regulators who may interpret our actions as subjecting us to regulation, or requiring registration, under state securities laws, banking laws, or money transmitter and similar laws, which are also an unsettled area or regulation that exposes us to risks.

The cryptocurrency industry in which we operate is characterized by constant changes, including rapid technological evolution, continual shifts in customer demands, frequent introductions of new products and solutions and constant emergence of new industry standards and practices. Thus, our success will depend, in part, on our ability to respond to these changes in a cost-effective and timely manner. Advances in Bitcoin mining-related technology have led to increased demand for higher speed and power efficiency for solving computational problems of increasing complexity. We need to invest significant resources in research and development in order to keep our services competitive in the market. Also, if we are unable to generate enough revenue or raise sufficient capital to make adequate research and development investments going forward, our service improvement and relevant research and development initiatives may be restricted or delayed, or we may not be able to keep pace with the latest market trends and satisfy our customers' needs, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations. Furthermore, research and development activities are inherently uncertain, and we might encounter practical difficulties in commercializing our research and development results, which could result in excessive research and development expenses or delays. Given the fast pace with which blockchain technologies have been and will continue to be developed, we may not be able to timely upgrade our technologies in an efficient and cost-effective manner, or at all. In addition, new developments relating to computing power (e.g., quantum computer), computing energy consumption, blockchain and cryptocurrency could render our services obsolete or unattractive. If we are unable to keep up with the technological developments and anticipate market trends, or if new technologies render our technologies or solutions obsolete, customers may no longer be attracted to our services. As a result, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be materially and adversely affected.

Many cryptocurrencies face significant scaling obstacles that can lead to high fees or slow transaction settlement times, and attempts to increase the volume of transactions may not be effective. Scaling cryptocurrencies, and particularly Bitcoin, is essential to the widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, which is necessary to the growth and development of our business. Many cryptocurrency networks face significant scaling challenges. For example, cryptocurrencies are limited with respect to how many transactions can occur per second. In this respect, Bitcoin may be particularly affected as it relies on the PoW validation, which due to its inherent characteristics may be particularly hard to scale to allow simultaneous processing of multiple daily transactions by users. Participants in the cryptocurrency ecosystem debate potential approaches to increasing the average number of transactions per second that the network can handle and have implemented mechanisms or are researching ways to increase scale, such as "sharding," which is a term for a horizontal partition of data in a database or search engine, which would not require every single transaction to be included in every single miner's or validator's block. There is no guarantee that any of the mechanisms in place or being explored for increasing the scale of settlement of cryptocurrency transactions will be effective, how long they will take to become effective or whether such mechanisms will be effective for all cryptocurrencies. There is also a risk that any mechanisms of increasing the scale of cryptocurrency settlements may significantly alter the competitive dynamics in the cryptocurrency market, and may adversely affect the value of Bitcoin and the price of our Ordinary Shares, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. To the extent that any miners cease to record transactions in solved blocks, transactions that do not include the payment of a transaction fee will not be recorded on the blockchain until a block is solved by a miner who does not require the payment of transaction fees. Any widespread delays in the recording of transactions could result in a loss of confidence in that cryptocurrency network, which could adversely impact an investment in us. To the extent that any miners cease to record transactions in solved blocks, such transactions will not be recorded on the blockchain. Currently, there are no known incentives for miners to elect to exclude the recording of transactions in solved blocks; however, to the extent that any such incentives arise (e.g., a collective movement among miners or one or more mining pools forcing Bitcoin users to pay transaction fees as a substitute for or in addition to the award of new Bitcoins upon the solving of a block), actions of miners solving a significant number of blocks could delay the recording and confirmation of transactions on the blockchain. Any systemic delays in the recording and confirmation of transactions on the blockchain could result in greater exposure to double-spending transactions and a loss of confidence in certain or all cryptocurrency networks, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

As an alternative to fiat currencies that are backed by central governments, cryptocurrencies, which are relatively new, are subject to supply and demand forces based upon the desirability of an alternative, decentralized means of buying and selling goods and services. It is unclear how this supply and demand will be impacted by geopolitical events. Nevertheless, political or economic crises may motivate large-scale acquisitions or sales of cryptocurrencies either globally or locally. Large-scale sales of cryptocurrencies likely would result in a reduction in the price of the subject cryptocurrency and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the price of cryptocurrencies may be affected by the buying and selling of a significant amount of cryptocurrencies by a holder, or a group of holders. Any unforeseen actions by holders of a significant amount of cryptocurrencies, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

There is a risk that some or all of the cryptocurrencies held or hosted by us could be lost, stolen or destroyed. We believe that the cryptocurrencies held or hosted by ourself and our mining operation will be an appealing target to hackers or malware distributors seeking to destroy, damage or steal our cryptocurrencies. Our security procedures and operational infrastructure may be breached due to the actions of outside parties, error or malfeasance of one of our employees, or otherwise, and, as a result, an unauthorized party may obtain access to our cryptocurrency accounts, private keys, data or cryptocurrencies. Although we implement a number of security procedures with various elements such as two-factor verification, segregated accounts and secured facilities and plan to implement the maintenance of data on computers and/or storage media that is not directly connected to, or accessible from, the internet and/or networked with other computers, or "cold storage," to minimize the risk of loss, damage and theft, and we update such security procedures whenever reasonably practicable, there is no guarantee that the prevention of such loss, damage or theft, whether caused intentionally, accidentally or by an act of God. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce our employees to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our infrastructure. As the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently, or may be designed to remain dormant until a predetermined event, and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. As technological change occurs, the security threats to our Bitcoin will likely adapt and previously unknown threats may emerge. Our ability to adopt technology in response to changing security needs or trends may pose a challenge to the safekeeping of our cryptocurrencies. To the extent we are unable to identify and mitigate or stop new security threats, our cryptocurrencies may be subject to theft, loss, destruction or other attacks. Any of these events could expose us to liability, damage our reputation, reduce customer confidence in our products and services and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, we believe that as our assets grow, we may become a more appealing target for security threats, such as hackers and malware. If an actual or perceived breach of our cryptocurrency accounts occurs, the market perception of our effectiveness could be harmed.

Transaction processing requires the investment of significant capital for the acquisition of hardware, leasing or purchasing space, involves substantial electricity costs and requires the employment of personnel to operate the data facilities, which may lead transaction processing operators to liquidate their positions in cryptocurrencies to fund these capital requirements. In addition, if the reward of new cryptocurrencies for transaction processing declines, and/or if transaction fees are not sufficiently high, profit margins for transaction processing operators may be reduced, and such operators may be more likely to sell a higher percentage of their cryptocurrencies. Whereas it is believed that individual operators in past years were more likely to hold cryptocurrencies for more extended periods, the immediate selling of newly transacted cryptocurrencies by operators may increase the supply of such cryptocurrencies on the applicable exchange market, which could create downward pressure on the price of the cryptocurrencies and, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The quality of the products and services we are providing is critical to the success of our business and depends significantly on the effectiveness of our and our manufacturing service providers' quality control systems. In our efforts to quickly meet new market trends and demand and adopt new technologies, our products and services may not have adequate time to go through our normal rigorous testing procedures and final inspection, which could result in instances where our products and services cannot reach the required performance standard, or our products and services are found to be defective or significantly unsatisfying. These instances could result in our customers suffering losses. Defects detected before products and services performance to our customers may result in additional costs for remediation and rework. Defects detected after the performance of our products and services may result in our incurring further costs relating to inspection, installation or remediation, which may result in damages to our reputation, loss of customers, government fines and disputes and litigation. On the other hand, we may have to turn to less reputable suppliers if we cannot source adequate equipment or other supplies from our regular suppliers. Under such circumstances, the quality of the equipment may suffer and could cause performance issues in our products and services. Shortages of supplies could result in reduced production or delays in production, as well as an increase in costs, which may negatively affect our abilities to fulfill orders or provide timely services to customers, as well as our customer relationships and profitability. Supplies shortages may also increase our costs of revenue because we may be required to pay higher prices for products in short supply, without being able to pass such cost to customers. As a result, our business, results of operations and reputation could be materially and adversely affected.

Historically, we have not experienced constraints on our business activities, including at our mining datacenters, due to power outage or shortages, labor disputes or other factors. However, there can be no assurance that our operations will not be affected by power outage or shortages, labor disputes or other factors in the future, thereby causing material disruptions and delays in our delivery schedule. In such an event, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Bitcoins are inherently scarce, given they are designed to have a finite supply of 21 million associated with "halving" mechanism. The number of blocks that can be solved in a year is designed to be fixed, and the number of Bitcoins awarded for solving a block in the blockchain halves approximately every four years until the estimated complete depletion of Bitcoin available for mining by around 2140. When the Bitcoin network was first launched, the reward for validating a new block was 50 Bitcoins. In November 2012, the reward for validating a new block was reduced to 25 Bitcoins. In July 2016, the reward for validating a new block was reduced to 12.5 Bitcoins, and in May 2020, the reward was further reduced to 6.25 Bitcoins. The next halving for Bitcoin is expected in 2024 at block 840,000, when the reward will reduce to 3.125 Bitcoins. While the remaining Bitcoins are not designed to be entirely depleted in the near future, a decrease in the reward for solving a block or an increase in the transaction fees may result in a decrease in incentives for miners to continue their mining activities and the loss of Bitcoin's dominant position among the cryptocurrencies, thereby reducing the demand for Bitcoin mining related services of us. As of the date of this Report, the largest portion of our revenue was generated from our proprietary mining business and hash rate sales through Cloud Hash Rate, which are associated with Bitcoin mining. We may not be able to quickly adapt to new businesses or expand to other cryptocurrencies when all the Bitcoins have been discovered or Bitcoin is replaced by other cryptocurrencies as the mainstream cryptocurrency, which will result in a significant negative impact on our business and results of operations.

The difficulty of Bitcoin mining, or the amount of computational resource required for a set amount of reward for recording a new block, directly affects the expected economic returns for Bitcoin miners, which in turn affects our proprietary mining business and the demand for our Bitcoin mining related products and services including hash rate sharing and hosting. Bitcoin mining difficulty is a measure of how much computing power is required to record a new block and it is affected by the total amount of computing power in the Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin algorithm is designed to the effect that one block is generated, on average, every ten minutes, no matter how much computing power is in the network. Thus, as more computing power joins the network, and assuming the rate of block creation does not change (remaining at one block generated every ten minutes), the amount of computing power required to generate each block and hence the mining difficulty increases. In other words, based on the current design of the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin mining difficulty would increase together with the total computing power available in the Bitcoin network, which is in turn affected by the number of Bitcoin mining machines in operation. As a result, a strong growth in promotion of Bitcoin computing power supply services can contribute to further growth in the total computing power in the network, thereby driving up the difficulty of Bitcoin mining and resulting in downward pressure on the expected economic return of Bitcoin mining and the demand for, and pricing of, our products and services.

Our business is highly dependent upon cryptocurrency mining equipment suppliers providing an adequate supply of new generation cryptocurrency mining machines at economical prices to support our proprietary mining, hash rate sharing and hosting business lines and our customers' mining activities. The growth in our business is directly related to increased demand for hosting services and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin which is dependent in large part on the availability of new generation mining machines offered for sale at a price conducive to profitable cryptocurrency mining, as well as the trading price of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The market price and availability of new mining machines fluctuates with the price of Bitcoin and can be volatile. Historically, an increase in interest and demand for cryptocurrencies has led to a shortage of mining hardware and increased prices. In addition, as more companies seek to enter the mining industry, the demand for machines may outpace supply and create mining machine equipment shortages. There is no assurance that cryptocurrency mining equipment suppliers will be able to keep pace with any surge in demand for mining equipment. We and our customers and the potential customers of our hosting service may in the future experience difficulty in obtaining new equipment or replacement components for our and their existing equipment, including graphics processing units and application-specific integrated circuit chipsets and computer servers, which in the future may have, a material impact on the demand for our products and services and associated revenue. Further, we may have little or no recourse in the event a mining machine manufacturer or distributor defaults on our mining machine delivery commitments. If we and our customers are not able to obtain a sufficient number of cryptocurrency mining machines at favorable prices, our growth expectations, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations will be negatively impacted.

Our ability to generate economic benefits (i.e., positive cash flow or profits) from Bitcoin mining is directly affected by the market price of Bitcoin. The Bitcoin price may impact the use of our mining machines. When the market price of a Bitcoin drops below certain thresholds, the operation of existing mining machines may not be economically beneficial for us. In addition, the depreciation and impairment potential of our mining machines may be affected by the volatility of the market prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, a drop in Bitcoin price may also create an opportunity for us to add cheaper mining machines to our mining fleets. The appreciation potential of Bitcoin is high in general, which is due to several factors. Bitcoins are inherently scarce, given they are designed to have a finite supply of 21 million associated with a depreciating rewarding mechanism, termed "halving," under which the reward for Bitcoin mining is reduced in half every four years. The growing recognition of Bitcoin also attracts large investment into the Bitcoin economy, as evidenced by an increasing installed network hash rate of Bitcoin globally, and increasing adoption of Bitcoin as an investment instrument and a payment method. Further, more countries are establishing clear and robust regulations to create a stable environment for Bitcoin mining and trading, which may facilitate the demand for Bitcoins and Bitcoin price appreciation. Despite the general appreciation potential of Bitcoin, there are a number of other factors that contribute to changes in Bitcoin price and volatility, including, but not limited to, Bitcoin market sentiment, macroeconomic factors, utility of Bitcoin, and idiosyncratic events such as exchange outages or social media, some of which are beyond our control. For example, decentralization, or the lack of control by a central authority, is a key reason that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have attracted many committed users. However, the decentralized nature of Bitcoin is subject to growing discussion and suspicion. Some claim that most of the actual services and businesses built within the Bitcoin ecosystem are in fact centralized since they are run by specific people, in specific locations, with specific computer systems, and that they are susceptible to specific regulations. Individuals, companies or groups, as well as Bitcoin exchanges that own vast amounts of Bitcoins, can affect the market price of Bitcoin. For example, Bitcoin price has recently been adversely affected by the continued industry-wide fallout from the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings of cryptocurrency exchanges FTX Trading Ltd., et al. ("FTX") (including its affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research LLC), crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital ("Three Arrows"), crypto miners Compute North LLC ("Compute North") and Core Scientific Inc. ("Core Scientific") and crypto lenders Celsius Network LLC, et al. ("Celsius Network"), Voyager Digital Ltd., et al. ("Voyager Digital") and BlockFi Inc., et al. ("BlockFi"). Furthermore, mining equipment production and mining pool locations are becoming centralized. Some argue that the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies is a fundamental flaw rather than a strength. The suspicion about the decentralized nature of Bitcoin may cause the market to lose confidence in the prospect of the Bitcoin industry, which would adversely affect Bitcoin price. This in turn could adversely affect the market demand for our services and business. Any future significant reductions in the price of Bitcoin will likely have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. There is no assurance that the Bitcoin price will remain high enough to sustain the demand for our hash rate sharing and hosting services or that the Bitcoin price will not decline significantly in the future. Furthermore, fluctuations in the Bitcoin price can have an immediate impact on the trading price of Class A Ordinary Shares. If the Bitcoin price drops, the expected economic return of Bitcoin mining activities will diminish, thereby resulting in a decrease in demand for our Bitcoin-related services, and in value appreciation from our proprietary mining activities. As a result, we may need to reduce the price of our Cloud Hash Rate and hosting services. For risks relating to the impact of Bitcoin price fluctuation on our growth trends, see the section entitled "- We may be unable to execute our growth strategies or effectively maintain our rapid growth trends" below.

Risks associated with our business and operations include, but are not limited to, business interruption due to regulatory changes, power shortages or network failure, product liability claims and losses of key personnel, any of which may result in significant costs or business disruption. In line with general market practice, we do not have any business liability or disruption insurance to cover our operations. However, our current insurance policies may be insufficient in the event of a prolonged or catastrophic event. The occurrence of any such event that is not entirely covered by our insurance policies may result in interruption of our operations, subject us to significant losses or liabilities and damage our reputation as a provider of business continuity services. In addition, the property, transit and director and officer insurance policies we have obtained may not cover all risks associated with our business. It may not be possible, either because of a lack of available policies, limits on coverage or prohibitive cost, for us to obtain insurance of any type that would cover losses associated with our cryptocurrency portfolio. The occurrence of certain incidents including severe weather, earthquake, fire, war, power outages, flooding and the consequences resulting from them may not be covered by our insurance policies adequately, or at all. If we were subject to substantial liabilities that were not covered by our insurance, we could incur costs and losses that could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. The cryptocurrencies held by us are not insured. Therefore, a loss may be suffered with respect to our cryptocurrencies which is not covered by insurance and for which no person is liable in damages which could adversely affect our operations and, consequently, an investment in us.

We face risks including those related to: a decline in the adoption and use of Bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies within the technology industry or a decline in value of cryptocurrencies;increased costs of complying with existing or new government regulations applicable to cryptocurrencies and other factors;a downturn in the market for blockchain hosting space generally, which could be caused by an oversupply of or reduced demand for blockchain space;any transition by our customers of blockchain hosting from third-party providers like the Company to customer-owned and operated facilities;the rapid development of new technologies or the adoption of new industry standards that render us or our customers' current products and services obsolete or unmarketable and, in the case of our customers, that contribute to a downturn in their businesses, increasing the likelihood of a default under their service agreements or their becoming insolvent;a slowdown in the growth of the internet generally as a medium for commerce and communication;availability of an adequate supply of new generation cryptocurrency mining equipment to enable us to mine cryptocurrencies at scale and for customers who want to purchase hash rate from us or host with us to be able to do so; and the degree of difficulty in mining cryptocurrencies and the trading price of such assets. Additionally, Bitcoin, a mainstream cryptocurrency based upon blockchain technology, was first introduced in 2008 and is generally regarded as the first application of the blockchain technology. The Bitcoin network and its surrounding ecosystem is still in a relatively early development stage. Cryptocurrencies have only recently become selectively accepted as a means of payment for goods and services by many industries, and use of cryptocurrency by consumers to pay in such industries remains limited. In addition, there may be some jurisdictions that restrict the use of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange and the conversion between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. There is no assurance that usage of cryptocurrencies, in particular Bitcoins, will continue to grow. As our business focuses on proprietary cryptocurrency mining and serving cryptocurrency miners, and relies heavily on the cryptocurrency market, any lack of usage of or fade in the public interest for cryptocurrency may adversely affect our business, future prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

A consensus algorithm is the mechanism through which a blockchain network reach consensus. There are several types of consensus algorithms, the most common among which are Proof-of-Work ("PoW"), Proof-of-Stake ("PoS"), Delegated-Proof-of-Stake ("DPoS"), Proof-of-Space-Time ("PoST"), and Proof-of- Capacity ("PoC"). PoW is employed by Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies, according to which miners with higher computing power have better chances to find a valid solution for the next block. On the contrary, according to PoS, the creator of a new block is chosen in a deterministic way based on his or her stake, which is the number of coins he or she owns. As validation under PoS does not depend on computing power, PoS reduces the need for electricity and mining hardware. DPoS works similarly to PoS except it involves a voting and delegation mechanism to incentivize users to secure the network with their staked collateral. PoST and PoC are consensus mechanism algorithm used in blockchains that allows for mining devices in the network to use their available storage space and time to decide mining rights and validate transactions. PoST and PoC emerged as some of the many alternative solutions to the problem of high energy consumption in PoW systems and cryptocurrency hoarding in PoS systems. Currently, the original PoW cryptocurrency network, Bitcoin, enjoys a first-to-market advantage over other networks such as PoS networks and dominates the cryptocurrency markets as it was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto back in 2009, way earlier than other cryptocurrencies, and since then grew into the most populator cryptocurrency. Bitcoin's market capitalization and its share of the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies fluctuate as other cryptocurrencies were introduced to the digital assets industry at a later time and became more mainstream for various reasons, and there is no guarantee that Bitcoin or other PoW cryptocurrency networks, will continue to enjoy such market leading position and could be is overtaken by another virtual asset. For example, as the cryptocurrency community continues to develop and advance PoS technologies, PoS networks may offer actual or perceived advantages over PoW networks. While we intend to enrich our product and service portfolio by providing mining services covering new crypto protocols, including PoS, DPoS, PoST and PoC, and steadily increase the weight of new business to diversify revenue streams and attract new customers who are users of these new crypto protocols, our services primarily support PoW protocol currently. Specifically, prior to the second half of 2021, our business was limited to PoW protocol only; commencing from the second half of 2021, we started to mine Filecoin, which adopted PoST protocol, on a proprietary basis, and to offer computing power sharing solutions regarding Filecoin mining under our Cloud Hash Rate business. If preferences in the cryptocurrency markets shift away from PoW networks and PoS networks achieve widespread adoption, it could attract users away from Bitcoin and the other PoW cryptocurrencies we mine and the PoW related products mining services we offer, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our prospects or operations as there is no guarantee that we will be able to adapt to new businesses swiftly enough, if at all.

Under the current protocols governing the Bitcoin network, the reward for validating a new block on that network is cut in half from time to time, which has been referred to in our industry as the "halving." When the Bitcoin network was first launched, the reward for validating a new block was 50 Bitcoin. In November 2012, the reward for validating a new block was reduced to 25 Bitcoin. In July 2016, the reward for validating a new block was reduced to 12.5 Bitcoin, and in May 2020, the reward was further reduced to 6.25 Bitcoin. The next halving for Bitcoin is expected in 2024 at block 840,000, when the reward will reduce to 3.125. In addition, other networks may operate under rules that, or may alter their rules to, limit the distribution of new cryptocurrencies. We, and to our knowledge, our potential hosting customers, currently rely on these rewards to generate a significant portion of our total revenue. If the award of cryptocurrencies for solving blocks and transaction fees are not sufficiently high, neither we nor our customers may have an adequate incentive to continue transaction processing and may cease transaction processing operations altogether, which as a result may significantly reduce demand for our hosting services. As a result, the halving of available rewards on the Bitcoin network, or any reduction of rewards on other networks, would have a negative impact on our revenue and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the reduction of rewards may reduce our profit margins, which could result in us selling a substantial portion of our cryptocurrencies, which are subject to high volatility. If we are forced to sell cryptocurrencies at low prices, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Bitcoin-related industry is characterized by rapid launches of new products, continuous technological advancements and changing market trends and customer preferences, all of which may translate to fluctuations in the average selling prices of products or services over time. Because we compete in an environment of rapidly evolving technology advancement, market trends and developments of the hash rate sharing and hosting industry, there is no assurance that we will be able to pass on any decrease in average selling prices of our services to our suppliers in a timely manner or at all. In the event that average selling prices of our services unusually or significantly decrease, and such decreases cannot be offset by a corresponding decrease in the prices of the principal components of our services, our gross profit margins may be materially and adversely affected.

Our cloud hash rate and hosting contracts are generally priced taking into account various factors including the then Bitcoin price, network hash rate, purchase cost of mining machines, estimated power consumption by our clients, along with other costs of products or services, as adjusted for actual costs. Our ability to earn a profit on such contracts requires that we accurately estimate the costs involved and outcomes likely to be achieved and assess the probability of generating sufficient hosting and colocation capacity within the contracted time period. Our pricing of hash rates may cause significantly lower income than we could have generated through using the same hash rates for proprietary mining. We may also not be able to accurately forecast the outcome of selling our products and services at a particular price and the inability to accurately estimate the factors upon which we base our contract pricing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The threats to network and data security are increasingly diverse and sophisticated. Despite our efforts and processes to prevent breaches, our computer servers and computer systems may be vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, including denial-of-service attacks, physical or electronic break-ins, employee theft or misuse and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our computer servers and computer systems. The preventive actions we take to reduce the risk of cyber incidents and protect our information technology and networks may be insufficient to repel a major cyber-attack in the future. To the extent that any disruption or security breach results in a loss or damage to our network, in unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or in a loss of our cryptocurrencies, it could cause significant damage to our reputation, lead to claims against us and ultimately have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, we may be required to incur significant costs to protect against damage caused by these disruptions or security breaches in the future.

Cryptocurrencies are each accessible and controllable only by the possessor of both the unique public key and private key associated with the cryptocurrency, wherein the public and private keys are held in an offline or online digital wallet. To the extent a private key is lost, destroyed or otherwise compromised and no backup of the private key is available, we will be unable to access the applicable cryptocurrency associated with that private key and the private key cannot be restored. As a result, any cryptocurrencies associated with such key could be irretrievably lost. Any loss of private keys relating to digital wallets used to store the applicable cryptocurrencies could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may temporarily lose access to our cryptocurrencies as a result of software or systems upgrades or maintenance. In this case, we would likely rely on third parties to assist in restoring our access, and there is no assurance such third parties will be able to restore access on a timely basis, or at all. Any temporary loss, if it occurs, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Bitcoin transactions are entirely digital and, as with any virtual system, are at risk from hackers, malware and operational glitches. Hackers can target Bitcoin exchanges and Bitcoin transactions, to gain access to thousands of accounts and digital wallets where Bitcoins are stored. Bitcoin transactions and accounts are not insured by any type of government program and all Bitcoin transactions are permanent because there is no third party or payment processor. Bitcoin has suffered from hacking and cyber-theft as such incidents have been reported by several cryptocurrency exchanges and miners, highlighting concerns about the security of Bitcoin and therefore affecting its demand and price. To the extent that cryptocurrency exchanges or other trading venues are involved in fraud or experience security failures or other operational issues, a reduction in cryptocurrency prices could occur. Cryptocurrency market prices depend, directly or indirectly, on the prices set on exchanges and other trading venues, which are new and, in most cases, largely unregulated as compared to established, regulated exchanges for securities, derivatives and other currencies. For example, during the past three years, a number of Bitcoin exchanges have been closed due to fraud, business failure or security breaches. In many of these instances, the customers of the closed Bitcoin exchanges were not compensated or made whole for the partial or complete losses of their account balances in such Bitcoin exchanges. Also, the price and exchange of Bitcoin may be affected due to fraud risk. While Bitcoin uses private key encryption to verify owners and register transactions, fraudsters and scammers may attempt to sell false Bitcoins. All of the above may adversely affect the operation of the Bitcoin network which would erode user confidence in Bitcoin, which would negatively affect demand for our products and services. In addition, smaller exchanges are less likely to have the infrastructure and capitalization that provide larger exchanges with additional stability, larger exchanges may be more likely to be appealing targets for hackers and "malware" ?(i.e., software used or programmed by attackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems) and may be more likely to be targets of regulatory enforcement action. For example, during the past three years, a number of Bitcoin exchanges have been closed due to fraud, business failure or security breaches. In many of these instances, the customers of the closed Bitcoin exchanges were not compensated or made whole for the partial or complete losses of their account balances in such Bitcoin exchanges. While smaller exchanges are less likely to have the infrastructure and capitalization that provide larger exchanges with additional stability, larger exchanges may be more likely to be appealing targets for hackers and "malware" ?(i.e., software used or programmed by attackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems) and may be more likely to be targets of regulatory enforcement action. Further, digital asset exchanges on which cryptocurrencies trade are relatively new and, in most cases, largely unregulated. Many digital exchanges do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices or regulatory compliance. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in, or may experience problems relating to, cryptocurrency exchanges, including prominent exchanges handling a significant portion of the volume of digital asset trading. During 2022, a number of companies in the crypto industry have declared bankruptcy, including Compute North, Core Scientific, Alameda Research LLC, Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, Three Arrows, BlockFi, and FTX. In June 2022, Celsius began pausing all withdrawals and transfers between accounts on its platform, and in July 2022, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Further, in November 2022, FTX, one of the major cryptocurrency exchanges, also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Such bankruptcies have contributed, at least in part, to further price decreases in Bitcoin, a loss of confidence in the participants of the digital asset ecosystem and negative publicity surrounding digital assets more broadly, and other participants and entities in the digital asset industry have been, and may continue to be, negatively affected. These events have also negatively impacted the liquidity of the digital assets markets as certain entities affiliated with FTX engaged in significant trading activity. We have not been directly impacted by any of the recent bankruptcies in the crypto asset space, as we have no contractual privity or relationship to the relevant parties. However, we are dependent on the overall crypto assets industry, and such recent events have contributed, at least in part, to our peers' stock price as well as the price of Bitcoin. If the liquidity of the digital assets markets continues to be negatively impacted, digital asset prices (including the price of Bitcoin) may continue to experience significant volatility and confidence in the digital asset markets may be further undermined. A perceived lack of stability in the digital asset exchange market and the closure or temporary shutdown of digital asset exchanges due to business failure, hackers or malware, government-mandated regulation, or fraud, may reduce confidence in digital asset networks and result in greater volatility in cryptocurrency values. These potential consequences of a digital asset exchange's failure could adversely affect an investment in us, discourage overall participation in the cryptocurrency industry, and result in loss of customer demand for our products and services. Cryptocurrency investments may be subject to losses or impairments if cryptocurrency values decrease as a result of failure of any digital asset exchange, however, we do not anticipate to actively participate in such activities in the foreseeable future.