February 22, 2023
VIA EDGAR
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Attention: |
Mr. Christopher Wall |
|
|
Ms. Sonia Bednarowski Ms. Kate Tillan Ms. Bonnie Baynes |
|
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
|
|
|
Re: |
CleanSpark, Inc. |
|
|
Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2022 |
|
|
File No. 001-39187 |
Dear Mr. Wall, Ms. Bednarowski, Ms. Tillan and Ms. Baynes:
This letter is being furnished on behalf of CleanSpark, Inc. (the “Company”) in response to the comments received from the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance Office of Crypto Assets (the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) by letter dated February 6, 2023, regarding the Company’s Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2022 (the “10-K”) (File No. 001-39187).
The text of the Staff’s comment has been included in bold and italics for your convenience, and we have numbered the paragraph below to correspond to the number in the Staff’s letter. For your convenience, we have also set forth the Company’s response immediately below the numbered comment.
Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2022
General
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the impact of crypto asset market developments on the Company continues to be indirect, and such impacts were described in the following sections of the 10-K:
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
The Company further notes that the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 filed on February 9, 2023 (the “Quarterly Report”) includes a new risk factor “We may face several risks due to disruptions in the crypto asset markets, including but not limited to the risk from depreciation in our stock price, financing risk, risk of increased losses or impairments in our investments or other assets, risks of legal proceedings and government investigations, and risks from price declines or price volatility of crypto assets” that is responsive to the above comment. The Company further confirms that it will continue to monitor and assess significant crypto asset market developments and will include appropriate disclosure in future filings.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that it included an analysis of the profitability of its bitcoin mining operations under the heading “Bitcoin Mining Operations” in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section of the Quarterly Report. The Company further confirms that it will update such disclosure as appropriate in future filings.
Lines of Business, page 5
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and will disclose the information requested in its 2023 10-K and in other applicable future filings.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and will disclose the information requested in its 2023 10-K and in other applicable future filings. Notably, the Company does not currently host miners for any other companies.
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and confirms, as disclosed under the heading “Lines of Business” in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section of the Quarterly Report, that it has no intention to mine or produce any other cryptocurrencies at this time. If such intent changes, it will include such disclosure in future filings. The Company further confirms that it will disclose the information requested regarding material strategic acquisitions in its 2023 10-K and in other applicable future filings.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and will disclose the information requested in its 2023 10-K and in other applicable future filings. In addition to bitcoin, the Company does hold de minimis amounts of the following digital assets:
It is not the Company’s strategy to hold or transact in these types of digital assets as the above activities are not directly related to the Company’s operating activities.
Working Capital Items, page 6
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and will disclose the information requested in its 2023 10-K and in other applicable future filings.
Distribution, Marketing and Strategic Relationships, page 7
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and will disclose the information requested in its 2023 10-K and in other applicable future filings.
Cybersecurity, Page 10
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and will disclose the information requested in its 2023 10-K and in other applicable future filings.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the 10-K includes a risk factor “The properties included in our mining operation may experience damages, including damages that may not be covered by insurance,” which discloses insurance risk with respect to our miners. The Company further submits that the Quarterly Report includes a new risk factor “Our lack of insurance protection exposes us and our shareholders to the risk of loss of our bitcoin for which
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
no person is liable,” which discloses insurance risk with respect to our bitcoin. The Company further submits that the above named risk factors include all material information regarding insurance risk.
The value of bitcoin has historically been subject to wide swings, page 17
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the risk factor has been updated in the Quarterly Report to include quantitative information regarding the wide swings of bitcoin prices.
If the SEC or another regulatory body consider bitcoin to be a security, page 28
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and confirms that, as disclosed under the heading “Lines of Business” in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section of the Quarterly Report, it has no intention to mine or produce any other cryptocurrencies at this time. If such intent changes, it will include the disclosure requested above in future filings.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Results of Operations for the Year Ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, page 37
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that it included disclosure regarding number of bitcoin miners, hashrate, difficulty and other operational measures under the heading “Bitcoin Mining Operations” in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section of the Quarterly Report. The Company further submits that daily average GPUs is not a relevant measure to the Company’s operations because the Company does not utilize GPUs, but has provided similar such data pertaining to the equipment the Company does use with respect to hashrate and difficulty. The Company further confirms that it will update such disclosure as appropriate in future filings.
Non-GAAP Measure, page 39
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and submits that, taking into account guidance provided in Questions 100.01 and 102.03 of the Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (as updated on December 13, 2022), it clarified in its non-GAAP measures disclosure in the Quarterly Report to state that some of the excluded items involve cash outlays and some of them recur on a regular basis but that management does not believe any such items are normal operating expenses necessary to generate bitcoin related revenues. The Company also notes that it removed any disclosure implying that all such adjustments were non-recurring. The Company further submits that the new disclosure specifically identifies each adjustment to Adjusted EBITDA, including each non-cash line item, and each such item is quantified in the reconciliation table. The Company further notes that similarly modified the non-GAAP disclosure in the Company’s earnings release for the quarter ended December 31, 2022.
Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Revenue Recognition, page F-11
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comments and respectfully submits that the Company’s revenue breakdown was as follows:
The Company’s energy costs by provider were as follows:
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
The Company purchases power from several cities who are part of an energy co-op referred to as the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (“MEAG”). The Company has power purchase agreements with each of these cities that in turn purchase power collectively from MEAG. The terms of the agreements are relatively similar, with total costs either being fixed or variable calculated as hourly wholesale power cost (as provided by MEAG) plus a margin and fees. For the periods presented, one MEAG contract was billed at a fixed rate of $0.0285 per kilowatt hour plus taxes and fees and the other was priced at wholesale rates plus a margin of $0.00741 per kilowatt hour consumed plus taxes and fees. Power purchased from Georgia Power is provided at hourly market wholesale rates, under a real time pricing tariff , which are variable.
With respect to renewable energy credits, in November 2021, the Company began participating in a program offered by Georgia Power known as the Simple Solar Program. The Company’s participation in that program resulted in us receiving and retiring 20,277-megawatt hours’ worth of renewable energy credits. The Company had no unretired renewable energy credits as of September 30, 2022 or 2021.
Step 1 of ASC 606
Step 2 of ASC 606
Step 3 of ASC 606
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company has analyzed the revenue requirements under ASC 606 as follows:
Step 1 of ASC 606
The Company noted the following requirements pursuant to ASC 606-10-25-1:
“An entity shall account for a contract with a customer that is within the scope of this Topic only when all of the following criteria are met:
The Company has concluded that the customer is the mining pool operator, such as Foundry Digital LLC. The Company currently only participates in one mining pool (Foundry) but has previously utilized up to three separate mining pools. The Company enters into contracts with these bitcoin mining pool operators to provide computing power to the mining pools. The delivery of computing power is governed by a written contract with the mining pool operator, executed electronically when the Company signs up on the mining pool operator’s portal. The Company, operating in the mining pool, attempts to solve the stated algorithm that identifies a verified block in exchange for bitcoins automatically awarded by the system. As each block is identified and verified a mining pool operator receives the specified bitcoin consideration. The services required by the customer and consideration payable are specified by the terms of the contract between the customer (the mining pool operator) and the service provider (the Company), and collectability of contract consideration is assured.
The contracts are terminable at any time by either party and the Company’s enforceable right to compensation only begins when the Company starts providing computing power to the mining pool operator. Based on the facts and circumstances of the Company’s relationships with the mining pool operators, the Company concluded that the contract arises at the point that the Company provides computing power to the mining pool (i.e., ‘contract inception’). While the Company has no obligation to perform and can exit the mining pool at any time, when it does provide computing power the Company has a right to consideration from the mining pool operator for the computing power that it has provided. The mining pool operator’s payment obligation arises upon the provision of computing power, but such payment is a function of the bitcoin received by the pool in a successful block verification and block addition to the blockchain. As a result, the pool operator is obligated to pay for the computing power it receives from the Company, in bitcoin, which the pool operator receives as a direct result of the collective efforts of the mining pool participants. Each
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
participant receives bitcoin according to their contribution of computing power to the mining pool. The Company has concluded that it is probable that it will collect substantially all the consideration to which it is entitled in exchange for the Company’s computing power services upon transfer of such computing power to each mining pool based on the mining pool’s ability and intention to pay the contracted amount of consideration when it is due.
With respect to penalties for contract termination, there are none. The Company may cancel at any point and any revenues earned by the Company will be calculated based on the computing power contributed to the pool until such termination and/or disconnect from the mining pool. Furthermore, the Company can withdraw computing power midterm and reinstitute it later the same day as frequently happens with power outages or as a result of the Company managing its power consumption.
In conclusion, the Company’s contracts with customers meet all the criteria set forth in ASC 606-10-25-1 to be considered a contract under ASC 606. Refer to the ‘Foundry USA Pool Service Agreement’ for a contract example, which is short in length and self-explanatory. The Foundry USA Pool Service Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A is being provided to the Staff on a supplemental basis pursuant to Rule 12b-4 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Step 2 of ASC 606
The Company noted the following requirements pursuant to ASC 606-10-25-14:
“At contract inception, an entity shall assess the goods or services promised in a contract with a customer and shall identify as a performance obligation each promise to transfer to the customer either:
The Company also noted criteria to be distinct pursuant to ASC 606-10-25-19:
“A good or service that is promised to a customer is distinct if both of the following criteria are met:
Additionally, the Company noted further relevant guidance pursuant to ASC 606-10-25-21 and ASC 606-10-25-22:
“ASC 606-10-25-21: In assessing whether an entity's promises to transfer goods or services to the customer are separately identifiable in accordance with paragraph 606-10-25-19(b), the objective is to determine whether the nature of the promise, within the context of the contract, is to transfer each of those goods or services individually or, instead, to transfer a combined item or items to which the promised goods or services are inputs. Factors that indicate that two or more promises to transfer goods or services to a customer are not separately identifiable include, but are not limited to, the following:
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
ASC 606-10-25-22: If a promised good or service is not distinct, an entity shall combine that good or service with other promised goods or services until it identifies a bundle of goods or services that is distinct. In some cases, that would result in the entity accounting for all the goods or services promised in a contract as a single performance obligation.”
The delivery of computing power services as part of the mining pool operator’s block validation service is the only performance obligation of the Company. Mining pool participants are awarded by the mining pool operator a number of bitcoin for their effort based on the computing power it provides to the mining pool.
In conclusion, the Company has a single performance obligation to its customers to provide computing power services to the mining pool operator customer. The computing power is also known as the hashrate, which is a measure of the computational power and speed by which a computer server guesses the answer to an algorithmic hashvalue on the bitcoin network, also commonly known as bitcoin mining. The Company is then compensated daily based on what the Company is providing to the mining pool in terms of its hashrate. The Company accounts for each day as a separate transaction, which is settled the following day. As a result, there are no continued performance obligations with the customer after each daily settled performance occurs. In other words, the Company could operate one day, and cease operations the next day, thus being compensated on the first day and not for the days in which the operations ceased. There are no termination fees or other obligations that could be viewed as an additional performance obligation.
Step 3 of ASC 606
The Company noted the following requirements pursuant to ASC 606-10-32:
“ASC 606-10-32-2 An entity shall consider the terms of the contract and its customary business practices to determine the transaction price. The transaction price is the amount of consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services to a customer, excluding amounts collected on behalf of third parties (for example, some sales taxes). The consideration promised in a contract with a customer may include fixed amounts, variable amounts, or both.
ASC 606-10-32-3 The nature, timing, and amount of consideration promised by a customer affect the estimate of the transaction price. When determining the transaction price, an entity shall consider the effects of all of the following:
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
ASC 606-10-32-4 For the purpose of determining the transaction price, an entity shall assume that the goods or services will be transferred to the customer as promised in accordance with the existing contract and that the contract will not be cancelled, renewed, or modified.”
The Company has concluded in its analysis that ASC 606-10-32-3a, b, d and e apply to the Company. The transaction consideration in the Company’s agreements with mining pool operators is all variable as the transaction consideration that the Company can receive is dependent on the daily computing power provided by the Company. The Company’s agreement with Foundry is “Full-Pay-Per-Share” (“FPPS”) for which the Company shares in the expected bitcoin rewards and a proportionate amount of the transaction rewards, based on what the pool mathematically should earn based on contributed hashrate as compared to the bitcoin networks algorithmic difficulty. The Company’s bitcoins earned through FPPS is not known until the Company’s computational hashrate contributed over the daily measurement period is confirmed by the pool operator and its proportionate amount of the pools transaction fees earned are calculated at the end of each transactional day. There are no other forms of variable considerations, such as discounts, rebates, refunds, credits, price concessions, incentives, performance bonuses, penalties, or other similar items.
Revenue is not recognized until the mining pool operator communicates the Company’s share of the bitcoin and transaction fee rewards and the confirmation of the Company’s share of the awarded bitcoins is received.
There is no significant financing component in these transactions, ASC 606-10-32-3c does not apply to the Company.
In exchange for providing computing power (i.e., the single performance obligation), the Company is entitled to a fixed bitcoin award from mining pool operator, plus a fractional share of the transaction fees received by the pool operator over the transactional day. The Company’s fixed bitcoin award is based on a calculation for a fixed amount of bitcoin for each hashrate per second in computing power submitted to the pool by the Company, which adjust only when network difficulty increases or decreases, which occurs approximately every 14 days.
The Company’s fractional share of the transaction fees is based on the proportion of computing power the Company contributed to the mining pool operator to the total computing power contributed by all mining pool participants over the transactional period. The transaction consideration the Company receives is noncash consideration in the form of bitcoin, which the Company measures at fair value on the date received. The formula in which the Company is compensated remains consistent with the initial terms of the agreement, whereas only the value of the inputs used in the formula (i.e., the Company’s daily hashrate and bitcoin network difficulty) will change on a daily basis. It is the Company’s analysis that the bitcoin valued upon receipt is not materially different than the formula stated in the initial contract and fair value of the bitcoin award received is determined using the spot price of the related bitcoin on the date earned (i.e., “contract inception”) consistent with 606-10-32-21.
In certain contracts, there could be consideration payable to customers as a transaction fee to the mining pool operators, commonly referred to as a “mining pool operator fee”. The fee is withheld by the mining pool operator from the net proceeds received by the Company and is accounted for as consideration payable to the customer. The Company’s current contract with the mining pool operator is for zero (0%) fees on all mining activity. However, if there were to be fees charged by
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
the mining pool operators, this consideration payable would not relate to a distinct good or service as described in paragraphs 606-10-25-18 through 10-25-22, but rather it would be recorded as a reduction to the transaction price. Accordingly, such fees payable to the mining pool operator for successful mining transactions would be recorded by the Company as contra-revenue.
In conclusion, the Company has considered all of the effects of 606-10-32-3 regarding the nature, timing, and amount of consideration promised by a customer. The Company is compensated based on the “Full-Pay-per-Share Base” basis, which calculates in bitcoin the amounts the Company is awarded and earned for its mining activity. The share the Company earns is not dependent on the value of the bitcoin on the date earned, but rather on the bitcoin amounts themselves. For example, if the Company earns one bitcoin based on its daily earnings, the Company receives one bitcoin regardless of the price of a bitcoin on that date.
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company’s transaction fee revenue does not require any amounts other than bitcoin, and therefore, there is no additional considerations under ASC 606-10-50-4 for disclosure. Bitcoin rewards are typically deposited the next day after earning such rewards and such bitcoin received are rounded to four decimal places (ten-thousandths).
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company has removed any such statements from the Quarterly Report.
Concentration of Credit Risk, page F-13
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company made the necessary change in the Quarterly Report.
2022 Goodwill Impairment Analysis, page F-16
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company will include further details about facts and circumstances leading to material goodwill impairments.
Bitcoin, page F-17
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company values each bitcoin (or fraction thereof) individually at the fair value on the date it was mined. Each of these individual bitcoins which are held at the quarter end are then evaluated for impairment based on their respective carrying basis. The impairment analysis on bitcoin, performed quarterly, compares the carrying amount of each bitcoin to the lowest daily closing bitcoin price during such quarter. The fair value of bitcoin pricing is derived daily from NASDAQ.com and the Company compares the quoted price from NASDAQ.com to other sources to ensure there is no material variance in quoted pricing. The Company selected NASDAQ.com due to its consistent daily activity, whereas other sources were not as reliable on a daily basis. The Company utilizes quotes from NASDAQ.com to impair its bitcoin balances on a daily basis, using bitcoin price as of midnight Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company believes the Staff was referring to ASC 210-10-20 and the Company’s response will reflect its analysis of that codification section. ASC 210-10-20 notes that current assets are defined as follows:
“Current assets is used to designate cash and other assets or resources commonly identified as those that are reasonably expected to be realized in cash or sold or consumed during the normal operating cycle of the business.”
The Company converts bitcoin to USD to cover its various operating and capital expenditures on a frequent basis. Since bitcoins are delivered to the Company’s wallet within a day of earning the bitcoin, the Company has immediate access to convert the bitcoin to USD or send bitcoin to vendors as payment.
The Company held 595 bitcoin as of September 30, 2022, which approximately represented the last 42 days’ worth of bitcoin mining during the period ended September 30, 2022. The Company held 627 bitcoin as of September 30, 2021, which approximately represented the last 133 days’ worth of bitcoin mining during the period ended September 30, 2021. It is important to note that the Company saw tremendous growth in bitcoin mining operations in fiscal 2022 which resulted in the Company mining more bitcoin per day. However, the bitcoin price was decreasing throughout fiscal 2022 which caused the Company to spend more of the bitcoin it earned to pay for operational and capital expenditures. The average time the Company holds bitcoin will vary depending on a number of factors including the cash requirements for operational and capital expenditures as well as the bitcoin price at any given time.
The Company evaluates its bitcoin balance at every balance sheet date to determine what portion, if any, is expected to be held for a period of twelve months or longer. Since the Company has entered the business of bitcoin mining, the Company has disclosed that it plans to use the majority of its bitcoin produced to fund operational and capital expenditures. This is further reflected in the fact that its bitcoin balance fluctuates from period to period.
Note 3. Discontinued Operations, page F-21
Response:
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that the Company has removed any such statements from the Quarterly Report, as they do not represent significant amounts.
We appreciate the Staff’s time and attention and we hope that the foregoing has been responsive to the Staff’s comments. If you have any further questions or need any additional information, please feel free to contact the undersigned at 702-989-7692 ext. 700 or Mark D. Wood of our counsel Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP at 312-902-5493 at your convenience.
Sincerely, |
|
|
|
/s/ Gary A. Vecchiarelli |
|
Gary A. Vecchiarelli |
|
Chief Financial Officer |
|
|
|
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
|
|
|
|
cc: Mark D. Wood
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3
Exhibit A
DOCPROPERTY "CUS_DocIDChunk0" 156137991v3