Bitcoin Mining Power Contract Disputes: The Public Record

Since 2022, several disputes over power supply to bitcoin mining sites have reached courts, bankruptcy filings and investigative reporting. This post collects what the public record says about five of them. Contested points are attributed to the party that made them.

The Cases at a Glance

• Cases: Hut 8 v. Validus Power (Ontario); Tether's Microfin and the utility UTE (Uruguay); Block Mining v. Hosting Source (Washington); Celsius and Core Scientific; Rhodium and Riot's Whinstone (Texas)
• Forums: Ontario Superior Court of Justice; U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington; U.S. bankruptcy courts; Texas state court and arbitration; no reported court case in Uruguay
• Terms in the filings: Contracted versus delivered power, minimums and caps, fixed prices and pass through, termination and power cutoffs, deposits, payments and liability caps
• Outcomes on record: Asset purchases that ended the Hut 8 and Rhodium litigation, a settlement between Celsius and Core, a summary judgment in Washington, and a paused operation in Uruguay

Hut 8 v. Validus Power (Ontario)

On January 26, 2023, Hut 8 filed a Statement of Claim in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Validus Power Corp. and its subsidiary Bay Power Corp., which supplied power to Hut 8's mining facility in North Bay, Ontario, under a power purchase agreement. According to The Block, Hut 8 alleged that Validus "failed to achieve certain key operational milestones" on schedule and demanded more money than the agreement allowed. The Block also reported that Validus had cut power to the North Bay site and issued a default notice for failed payments, which Hut 8 denied.

Hut 8's SEC filings describe what followed. On February 9, 2023, Validus sent a notice purporting to terminate Hut 8's lease at North Bay. Validus filed a defence and counterclaim seeking damages and, according to Hut 8, denied the majority of its allegations. On August 10, 2023, a restructuring proceeding for Validus began under the court's Commercial List, and Hut 8 joined Validus's secured creditor, Macquarie Equipment Finance, in a stalking horse bid for Validus assets.

On February 15, 2024, Hut 8 announced it had completed the purchase of four Ontario power plants totaling 310 MW, including a 40 MW facility in North Bay, for about C$64.3 million according to a deal summary from the law firm Torys. Hut 8 said the closing resulted in the full and final resolution of all litigation claims and counterclaims between it and certain Validus entities.

Tether's Microfin and UTE (Uruguay)

This dispute played out between Microfin, Tether's Uruguayan entity, and UTE, the state owned power utility, rather than in court. Reuters reported in August 2026 that the two sides read a figure in the power contract differently. Tether understood it as a minimum supply that could later rise. UTE treated it as a maximum allocation. The Block, summarizing Reuters, reported that the sites sometimes lacked enough power for days at a time as demand grew.

According to Reuters, a new government took office in March 2025 and appointed new UTE leadership. Microfin then stopped paying its electricity bills and told UTE in June 2025 that it would terminate its contracts. Tether representatives did not attend the signing of revised contract texts, and UTE cut power to the sites on July 25, 2025. In November 2025 Tether told Cointelegraph, "We can confirm that we have paused operations in Uruguay." UTE told Reuters that Microfin settled its outstanding debts in December. Tether did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment, and the reporting reviewed does not describe any lawsuit or arbitration.

Block Mining v. Hosting Source (Washington)

Block Mining, Inc. v. Hosting Source, LLC, No. 2:24-cv-00319 (W.D. Wash.), was filed on March 8, 2024. The complaint says Block Mining's 1,106 rigs at Hosting Source's East Wenatchee facility were worth about $6.4 million and that the agreement specified mining power for a hash rate of 141.704 PH/s. It alleged that Hosting Source ran the rigs in low power mode from early 2023 and bought its own power under a "use it or lose it" contract. On December 16, 2025, the court granted Block Mining partial summary judgment, held Hosting Source liable for breach of contract and conversion, declined to apply the agreement's liability cap to tort damages, and awarded $1,219,746. The full timeline is in my post on Block Mining v. Hosting Source.

Celsius and Core Scientific

In a September 2022 bankruptcy court motion, Celsius Mining said its fixed price hosting agreement allowed pass through charges only for new taxes, tariffs or government fees, after Core Scientific billed more than $3.65 million in power cost pass through charges, The Block reported. Celsius also said it was entitled to 79.4 MW but received 21.5 MW. Core shut off Celsius rigs in January 2023, and the companies settled in September 2023 in a deal valued at $45 million, according to CoinDesk. Details are in my post on the Celsius v. Core Scientific power bill dispute.

Rhodium and Whinstone (Texas)

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Whinstone and a Rhodium joint venture signed fourteen 5 MW power agreements in July 2020 at a fixed price for at least ten years. Whinstone sent a termination notice on the night of November 27, 2023, and Rhodium obtained a temporary restraining order two days later. Rhodium claimed at least $7 to $10 million in unpaid profits from Whinstone's energy sales. On April 28, 2025, Riot announced a $185.0 million transaction, including $6.1 million returned from Rhodium's power security deposit, that terminated the legacy hosting contracts and provided for dismissal of all existing litigation. The timeline is in my post on the Riot and Rhodium dispute at Rockdale.

Terms That Recur Across the Filings

The five records differ in forum and outcome, but the same contract terms come up in them.

• Contracted versus delivered power. Celsius said it was entitled to 79.4 MW and received 21.5 MW. Block Mining's agreement listed a 141.704 PH/s hash rate. Hut 8 alleged missed operational milestones.
• Minimums, caps and fixed volumes. Microfin and UTE read one contract figure as a floor and as a ceiling. Block Mining's complaint describes its host's supply contract as "use it or lose it."
• Fixed prices and pass through. Rhodium's agreements fixed prices for at least ten years. Celsius and Core read a pass through clause differently. Hut 8 alleged that Validus sought more than the agreement allowed, and Hosting Source cited its electricity cost when it declined to renew.
• Curtailment and energy sales. Rhodium claimed a share of profits from Whinstone's sales of power to the grid.
• Termination and power cutoffs. The records include a lease termination notice in Ontario, a termination notice in Texas, a nonrenewal in Washington and a customer's termination notice in Uruguay. Power was cut or reduced in all five matters.
• Deposits, payments and liability caps. Rhodium's $6.1 million power security deposit was returned at closing. Default notices and unpaid bills appear in the Ontario and Uruguay records, and the Washington order addressed a liability cap.

Background on hosting disputes is on the crypto hosting practice page, and background on mining site disputes is on the bitcoin mining practice page.