The Riot and Rhodium Dispute at Rockdale

What Happened

Rhodium Enterprises held hosting and power agreements at the large Rockdale, Texas facility. Those agreements dated to July 2020 and fixed power rates for roughly ten years. Riot Platforms later bought the facility’s operator, Whinstone. Energy prices rose, and Riot has said publicly that the legacy contracts lost it about $15 million in one year.

On November 27, 2023, according to court filings and news reports, Whinstone sent Rhodium a termination notice at 10 at night, cut power to about 125 megawatts of Rhodium’s operation, and brought in private security as Rhodium personnel were removed from the site. Whinstone took the position that it was entitled to end the contracts. Rhodium got a restraining order two days later. The two sides then fought in state court, arbitration, and bankruptcy court. Rhodium also claimed Whinstone owed it a share of profits from selling curtailed power back into the Texas grid, which Rhodium put in the range of $7 to $10 million.

In December 2024, after a week of trial, a bankruptcy judge ruled that none of Rhodium’s contracts had been terminated, according to Rhodium’s announcement of the ruling. In April 2025 the dispute ended with Riot paying about $185 million in cash, stock, and a returned deposit to acquire Rhodium’s assets and end those contracts.

Why This Case Draws Attention

I follow this case for two reasons. First, it shows that a long fixed rate power contract can carry large value. Here the contracts were central to a transaction valued at about $185 million, and the dispute ended when Riot acquired Rhodium’s assets. The operations side of power and hosting contract disputes is covered on the crypto hosting page.

Second, it shows that curtailment involves real money. In Texas, a miner can shut down during price spikes and sell its committed power back to the grid. When the machines belong to a hosting customer, the question of who keeps that money can become a point of disagreement. Rhodium’s claim to a share of curtailment profits was a core piece of this fight. I explain how curtailment works in a separate post, Curtailment Explained.

Issues This Case Raises

The record points to broader questions on which hosts and customers could take different positions.

• When may a host stop service during a contract dispute? Whinstone sent a termination notice and cut power. Rhodium obtained a restraining order two days later, and the bankruptcy court later ruled that the contracts had not been terminated. Hosts and customers can disagree about when a contract allows service to stop, and the answer depends on its terms and the law that applies.
• Who receives curtailment revenue? Rhodium claimed a share of profits from selling curtailed power to the grid. A host may view curtailment sales as part of managing its own power position. A customer may view them as value created by idling its machines. Agreements differ on whether they address this at all.
• How do long fixed rate contracts handle price changes? Fixed rates tend to benefit the customer when market prices rise and the host when they fall. Riot said the legacy contracts lost it about $15 million in one year. The Celsius v. Core Scientific dispute shows a related question from the pass through side.
• How are outages classified? An outage can be described as curtailment, maintenance, or something else, and the parties can disagree on which label fits. Each label can carry different consequences under a hosting agreement. Outage, curtailment, and uptime definitions are among the terms that recur in hosting agreements.

Background on mining and curtailment disputes is on the bitcoin mining practice page.