Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
Overview
Core Scientific, Inc. (“we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company,” “Core Scientific,” or “Core”) is a best-in-class large-scale operator of dedicated, purpose-built facilities for digital asset mining and a premier provider of blockchain infrastructure, software solutions and services. We employ our own large fleet of computers (“miners”), primarily manufactured by Bitmain Technologies Limited (“Bitmain”), to earn bitcoin for our own account and provide hosting services for large bitcoin mining customers at our seven operational data centers in Georgia (2), Kentucky (1), North Carolina (1), North Dakota (1) and Texas (2). We derive the majority of our revenue from earning bitcoin for our own account (“self-mining”). We began digital asset mining at scale in 2018 and in 2020 became one of the largest North American providers of hosting services for third-party mining customers. As of December 31, 2023, we were one of the largest blockchain data center, digital asset mining and hosting service providers in North America, with an average hourly operating power demand of approximately 592 megawatts (“MW”) for the year. As of December 31, 2023, we had secured approximately 1,198 MW of contracted power capacity at our sites.
We operate in two segments: “Mining” consisting of bitcoin mining for our own account, and “Hosting” consisting of our third-party hosting business. Our hosting business provides a full suite of services to digital asset mining customers. As part of these hosting services, we provide deployment, monitoring, troubleshooting, optimization and maintenance of our customers’ digital asset mining equipment and provide necessary electrical power and repair and other infrastructure services necessary to operate, maintain and efficiently earn digital assets.
Our business strategy is to increase our capacity, efficiency and productivity to drive cash flow, strengthen our balance sheet and invest in our mining businesses and adjacent market opportunities. We intend to strategically develop the infrastructure necessary to support business growth and profitability, and pursue adjacent high-value compute opportunities that lever our mining expertise and capabilities.
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Our existing, completed facilities lever our specialized construction proficiency by employing high-density, low-cost engineering and power designs. Our proprietary thermodynamic system manages heat and airflow to deliver best-in-class uptime and, ultimately, increasing earned mining rewards to us and our customers. We have accumulated expertise in the installation, operation, optimization and repair of digital mining equipment. We continue to refine and develop our data center design and technology solutions to optimize our data center and mining operations with the knowledge gained from our digital asset mining experience. Our approach to data center design enables us to deliver efficiency at scale. Since energizing our first large-scale data center in Marble, North Carolina, we have evolved multiple generations of infrastructure design to optimize performance, and most recently opened our fourth-generation data center in Denton, Texas. Our proprietary technology uniquely enables our scaled and geographically distributed operation.
We believe our expertise in digital asset mining can be applied favorably to the design, development and operation of large-scale data centers configured to optimize the performance of specialized computers for other specific, high-value applications such as cloud computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence. We intend to look for opportunities to expand our business into these areas using our knowledge, expertise and existing infrastructure where favorable market opportunities exist.
Although our business operations date back to 2018 (and was known as “Core Scientific” (“Legacy Core”)), the current corporate entity operating our business was formerly known as Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. (“XPDI”) which was a special purpose acquisition corporation formed for the purpose of acquiring an operating business such as Legacy Core. On July 20, 2021, XPDI, Core Scientific Holding Co., and XPDI Merger Sub entered into a merger agreement (the “Merger Agreement”) which provided for business combination transactions (the “Business Combination”) pursuant to which the business of Legacy Core was combined with XPDI and XPDI changed its name to Core Scientific, Inc. (“New Core” or the “Company”). XPDI’s stockholders approved the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination at a special meeting of stockholders held on January 19, 2022. See Item 7. — “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for additional information about the Business Combination.
Emergence from Bankruptcy
On December 21, 2022, the Company and certain of its affiliates (collectively, the “Debtors”) filed voluntary petitions (the “Chapter 11 Cases”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”) seeking relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”). The Chapter 11 Cases were jointly administered under Case No. 22-90341. On January 15, 2024, the Debtors filed with the Bankruptcy Court the Fourth Amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan of Core Scientific, Inc. and its Affiliated Debtors (with Technical Modifications) (the “Plan of Reorganization”), and on January 16, 2024, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order confirming the Plan of Reorganization (the “Confirmation Order”). On January 23, 2024 (the “Effective Date”), the conditions to the effectiveness of the Plan of Reorganization were satisfied or waived and the Company emerged from bankruptcy.
On the Effective Date, in accordance with the Plan of Reorganization, the Company satisfied and extinguished claims in the Chapter 11 cases through the issuance of (i) new common stock (“New Common Stock”), (ii) new warrants (“New Warrants”), (iii) contingent value rights (“CVRs”), (iv) new secured convertible notes due 2029 (“New Secured Convertible Notes”), and (v) new secured notes due 2028 (“New Secured Notes”). In addition, on the Effective Date, a new Board of Directors (“the Board of Directors”) was appointed by the Company’s debt and equity holders and approved by stakeholders as part of the Plan of Reorganization. For more detailed information regarding the Chapter 11 Cases, refer to Note 3 — Chapter 11 Filing and Other Related Matters and Note 17 — Subsequent Events to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of Part II of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Blockchain and Bitcoin
Blockchains are decentralized digital ledgers that record and enable secure peer-to-peer transactions without third-party intermediaries. Blockchains enable the existence of bitcoin by allowing participants to confirm transactions without the need for a central certifying authority. When a participant requests a transaction, a peer-to-peer computer network consisting of nodes validates the transaction and the user’s status using known algorithms. After the transaction is verified, it is combined with other transactions to create a new block of data for the ledger. The new block is added to the existing blockchain in a way that is permanent and unalterable, thereby completing the transaction. As each new block refers back to and “connects” with the immediately prior solved block associated with it, the addition of a new block adds to the blockchain in a manner similar to a new link being added to a chain.
Bitcoin, known as a cryptocurrency, is a medium of exchange that uses encryption techniques to control the creation of units and to verify the transfer of funds. Consumers use digital assets such as bitcoin because they offer lower cost and faster peer-to-peer
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payment options without the need to provide personal details. Every single transaction, and the ownership of every single digital asset in circulation, is recorded in the blockchain, which effectively contains a record of all account balances. Companies and individuals engaged in mining use powerful miners that tally digital asset transactions to operate the blockchain. These miners update stored records each time a transaction is made and ensure the authenticity of information. Each account on the blockchain is identified solely by its unique public key, which renders it effectively anonymous, and is secured with its associated private key, which is kept secret, like a password. The combination of private and public cryptographic keys constitutes a secure digital identity in the form of a digital signature, providing strong control of ownership.
No single entity owns or operates the network associated with these bitcoin. The infrastructure that enables the network is collectively maintained by a decentralized public user base. Because the network operates in a decentralized manner, it does not rely on governmental authorities or financial institutions to create, transmit or determine the value of bitcoin. Rather, value is determined by market factors, primarily the supply and demand for the units, with prices being set in transfers by mutual agreement or through barter among transacting parties, as well as by the number of counterparties that may accept bitcoin. As bitcoin transactions can be broadcast to the network by any user’s blockchain and bitcoin can be transferred without the involvement of intermediaries or third parties, there are currently little to no transaction costs in direct peer-to-peer transactions involving bitcoin. Bitcoin can be converted to fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, at rates determined on various exchanges. Bitcoin prices are quoted on various exchanges and demonstrate volatility.
The user community has viewed bitcoin to offer several advantages over traditional (also known as “fiat”) currency, including:
• Acting as a fraud deterrent, as digital assets recorded on a blockchain are virtually impossible to counterfeit, reverse, or modify;
• Immediate settlement;
• Elimination of counterparty risk;
• No requirement for a trusted intermediary;
• Lower transaction fees;
• Identity theft prevention;
• Universal accessibility;
• Transaction verification and confirmation processes that prevent double spending;
• Decentralized mining at any time of day without any central authority (governments or financial institutions); and
• Universal value.
Based on available information, we believe the market for bitcoin has continued to grow. Bitcoin’s daily exchange volume has grown from as low as $1 million in January 2017 to as high as $510 million in December 2023 according to blockchain.com. The initial exchange rate recorded on October 5, 2009, for a single bitcoin, equaled $0.000764. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the trading price of one bitcoin ranged from a high of $44,167 in December 2023 to a low of $16,625 in January 2023. As of March 7, 2024, the published trading price of one bitcoin was $66,925.
Bitcoin Mining
In a proof-of-work approach such as bitcoin, specialized computers, or “miners,” power and secure blockchains by solving complex cryptographic algorithms to validate transactions on specific digital asset networks. In order to add blocks to the blockchain, a miner must map an input data set consisting of the existing blockchain, plus a block of the most recent digital asset transactions and an arbitrary number called a “nonce,” to an output data set of a predetermined length using the SHA256 cryptographic hash algorithm. Solving these algorithms is also known as “solving or completing a block.” In the Bitcoin network, solving a block results in a reward of bitcoin in a process known as “mining.” These rewards of bitcoin currently can be sold profitably when the sale price of bitcoin exceeds the cost of mining, which generally consists of the cost of mining hardware, the cost of the electrical power to operate the machine, and other facility and overhead costs associated with housing, operating and supporting the equipment.
Mining processing power is generally referred to as “hashing power.” A “hash” is the computation run by mining hardware in support of the blockchain. A miner’s “hash rate” refers to the rate at which it is capable of solving such computations per second. Miners with a higher rated hash rate when operating at maximum efficiency have a higher chance of completing a block in the blockchain and receiving a digital asset reward than those operating at a lower hash rate or with lower efficiency. Currently, the
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likelihood that an individual mining participant acting alone will solve a block and be awarded a digital asset reward is extremely low. As a result, to maximize the opportunities to receive a reward, most large-scale mining organizations have joined with other similar operators in “mining pools” where the computing power of each pool participant is coordinated to complete the block on the blockchain and mining rewards are distributed to participants in accordance with the rules of the mining pool. Fees payable to the operator of the pool vary, but typically represent as much as 0.01% to 2% of the reward earned and are deducted from the amounts earned by each pool participant. Mining pools are subject to various risks including communication connection issues, outages and other disruptions that can impact the quantity of digital assets earned by participants.
Mathematically Controlled Supply
The method for creating new bitcoin is mathematically controlled in a manner such that the supply of bitcoin grows at a limited rate, based on a pre-determined schedule. The number of bitcoin awarded for solving a new block is automatically halved every 210,000 blocks. This means every block up to and including block 210,000 produced a reward of 50 bitcoin, while blocks beginning with 210,001 produced a reward of 25 bitcoin. Since blocks are mined on average every 10 minutes, 144 blocks are mined per day, on average. At 144 blocks per day, 210,000 blocks take four years to mine, on average. The current fixed reward for solving a new block is 6.25 bitcoin per block and is expected to decrease by half to become 3.125 bitcoin per block in April 2024. This deliberately controlled rate of bitcoin creation means that the number of bitcoin in existence will never exceed 21 million unless the Bitcoin network’s source code (and the underlying protocol for bitcoin issuance) is altered.
Our Operations and Solutions
As one of the largest owner operators of infrastructure for digital asset mining in North America, we focus primarily on earning bitcoin through mining and selling the bitcoin generated for cash and activities directly related to growing our mining capabilities (increasing the number of bitcoin mined) and enhancing efficiencies in our operations (reducing our cost to mine). Our growing bitcoin mining operation is focused on the generation of bitcoin by solving complex cryptographic algorithms to validate transactions on the Bitcoin network blockchain, which is commonly referred to as “mining.” Our bitcoin self-mining activity competes with myriad mining operations throughout the world to complete new blocks in the blockchain and earn the reward in the form of bitcoin. The terms of our debt agreements currently require that we sell our digital assets, including bitcoin, as we receive them, and we typically use the proceeds to fund our growth strategies or for general corporate purposes. We also provide hosting services for large bitcoin mining customers at our seven operational data centers in Georgia (2), Kentucky (1), North Carolina (1), North Dakota (1) and Texas (2).
Human Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2023, we had 286 full-time employees. All of our employees are located in the United States in more than 30 states. We also engage consultants and contractors to supplement our permanent workforce on an as needed basis. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or covered by collective bargaining agreements, and we have not experienced any work stoppages.
Core Scientific’s employees, along with its mission and values, are the most valuable assets of our Company. Our mission and values are the foundation for our Company culture. More specifically, our mission is to accelerate digital innovation by scaling high-value compute rapidly, efficiently, and responsibly. As for our values, they include: (1) operating with integrity and maintaining the highest standards, and supporting each other as a single team, to ensure our collective success (“Team First”); (2) acting as owners of the business, in the interest of all stakeholders, holding ourselves and each other accountable for our actions and outcomes (“Extreme Ownership”); (3) relentlessly seeking to accelerate the world’s digital transformation and improve the way we do business to reduce costs, improve quality and grow (“Innovate & Simplify”); and (4) seeking to maximize transparency with all our stakeholders to ensure understanding, alignment and constructive dialog (“Transparency”). Our mission and values reflect who we are and the way our employees interact with one another, our customers, partners, and shareholders. Working together and guided by our mission and values, we are committed to creating a company where everyone is included and respected, and where we support each other in reaching our full potential.
Additionally, Core Scientific works diligently to attract and retain top talent from a diverse range of sources in order to meet the current and future demands of our business. Our competitive compensation and benefits offerings in combination with a strong employee value proposition leverages our shared sense of purpose and collaborative working environment as well as our innovative and cutting-edge business helps us attract and retain top talent at our Company. Furthermore, we strive to empower our people to find new and better ways of doing things, and our dynamic business means that careers can develop in exciting and unexpected directions.
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Segments
We have two operating segments: “Mining,” consisting of bitcoin self-mining, and “Hosting,” consisting of our third-party hosting business. Our Mining operation segment generates revenue from operating our own mining computers as part of a pool of users that process transactions conducted on one or more blockchain networks. In exchange for this activity, we receive digital assets in the form of bitcoin. Our Hosting operation segment generates revenue through the sale of electricity-based consumption contracts for our hosting services which are recurring in nature. During 2022, our “Hosting” segment also included sales of mining equipment to customers and was referred to as “Hosting and Equipment Sales.” We derived e quipment sales revenue from our ability to lever our partnerships with leading equipment manufacturers to secure equipment in advance, which we then sold to our customers when they were unable to obtain them otherwise.
Mining Equipment
We own and host specialized mining computers configured for the purpose of validating transactions on the Bitcoin network. Substantially all of the miners we own and host were manufactured by Bitmain and incorporate application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) chips specialized to solve blocks on the bitcoin blockchains using the 256-bit secure hashing algorithm (“SHA-256”) in return for bitcoin digital asset rewards.
We have entered into agreements with mining equipment manufacturers to supply mining equipment for our digital asset mining operations. The majority of our purchases are made on multi-month contracts with installment payments due in advance of scheduled deliveries. Delivery schedules have ranged from one month to twelve months. We currently have two active purchase agreements with Bitmain. The first agreement is for the acquisition of Antminer S19J XP miners with a combined exahash of 4.08 or 28,400 miners to be delivered from the fourth quarter of 2023 through early 2024. The second agreement is for the acquisition of Antminer S21 miners with a combined exahash of 2.52 or approximately 12,900 miners to be delivered during the first half of 2024. We improved our average self-mining fleet energy efficiency to 27.94 joules per terahash as of December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, we are current on our payment commitments under both agreements.
As of December 31, 2023, we had deployed approximately 209,100 bitcoin miners, which number consists of approximately 158,000 self-miners and approximately 51,100 hosted miners, which represented 16.9 exahash per second (“EH/s”) and 6.3 EH/s for self-miners and hosted miners, respectively.
Suppliers
Mining Equipment
Digital asset mining is dependent on specialized digital asset mining hardware employing ASIC chips to solve blocks on blockchains using the 256-bit secure hashing algorithm. Almost all of these miners are produced outside of the United States, mostly in China and Southeast Asia, by a few manufacturers, the largest of which is Bitmain.
We have entered into agreements with Bitmain from time to time to supply most of the miners we intend to acquire for our mining operations. These agreements, like those of other miner manufacturers, generally require significant refundable deposits payable months in advance of delivery and additional advance payments in monthly installments thereafter. These agreements also contain other terms and conditions favorable to the manufacturer. Our mining business is dependent upon digital asset mining equipment suppliers such as Bitmain providing an adequate and timely supply of new generation digital asset mining machines at economical prices to enable profitable mining by us and by third-party customers intending to purchase our hosting and other solutions.
Power Providers and Facility Development
Our in-house power and facility development teams focus on sourcing, evaluating, developing and constructing the facilities where we earn digital assets, primarily bitcoin, through self-mining and host third-party mining equipment. Historically, we have contracted with large electric utility providers to provide a sufficient supply of electricity to power the mining operations in our facilities. We have fixed, variable and interruptible bi-lateral power supply consumption agreements with electric power suppliers at our various facilities. These agreements provide for both firm and interruptible power supply through each provider’s transmission and distribution systems to dedicated substations owned by the power provider, the local utility or the Company. We value our relationships with our power providers and work to lever our operating capabilities to take advantage of any interruptible programs and cost saving opportunities.
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The table below summarizes the contracted capacity in megawatts (“MW”) by facility location and electric utility provider:
Electric Utility Providers
Contracted Power Capacity (MW)
Facility Location
Tennessee Valley Authority 150 Calvert City, Kentucky ("Calvert")
Murphy Electric Power Board 35 Marble, North Carolina ("Marble 1")
Duke Energy 68 Marble, North Carolina ("Marble 2")
Dalton Utilities 53 Dalton, Georgia ("Dalton 1 & 2")
Dalton Utilities 142 Dalton, Georgia ("Dalton 3")
Nodak Electric Cooperative, Inc.
100 Grand Forks, North Dakota ("Grand Forks")
Denton Municipal Electric 297 Denton, Texas ("Denton")
Texas New-Mexico Power
253 Pecos, Texas ("Cottonwood”)
Oklahoma Gas & Electric
100 Muskogee, Oklahoma ("Muskogee 1")
Total
1,198
Competition
We operate in a highly competitive industry with a growing number and scale of participants.
Our bitcoin self-mining operations compete with mining operations throughout the world to complete new blocks on the blockchain and earn the reward in the form of bitcoin. We compete on the basis of our total number of miners, the degree of mining difficulty, the efficiency of our mining operations and the fiat value of the mining reward.
While miners of bitcoin historically range from individual enthusiasts and entrepreneurs to large public company mining operations and large company mining hosting operations with dedicated data centers, the vast majority of mining is now undertaken and further trending towards large-scale, industrial mining facilities. A mining pool is created when mining participants pool the processing power of their miners over a network and mine transactions together. Rewards are then distributed proportionately to the pool participants based on the work/hash power contributed to solving a block. Our self-mining operations also compete with non-digital asset operations for access to suitable real estate and access to affordable and dependable electric power. In addition to competing to solve new blocks, we compete to acquire new miners, to raise capital, to obtain access to facilities for the location of mining operations, and to develop or acquire new technologies.
Our hosting activities compete with a large number of other hosting operations. Our success in our hosting operations depends on our ability to supply hosting space and power, our performance with respect to installation, operation and repair of customer equipment, our ability to obtain replacement parts, the value of our service offering to our customers and the availability of mining equipment. To compete effectively as a hosting provider, we continue to market our services effectively to large scale miners that value our ability to host at scale and who are willing to pay a premium hosting fee for our high up-time and operational expertise.
In both our self-mining and hosting activities, we additionally compete with other operations and participants for equity and debt financing since our business is capital intensive.
Several public companies (traded in the United States, Canada, and internationally), such as the following, may be considered competitors to the Company:
• Applied Digital Corp.;
• Argo Blockchain PLC;
• Bitdeer Technologies Group;
• Bit Digital, Inc.;
• Bitfarms Technologies Ltd. (formerly Blockchain Mining Ltd);
• Cipher Mining Inc.;
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• Cleanspark, Inc.;
• Greenidge Generation Holding Inc.;
• Hive Blockchain Technologies Inc.;
• Hut 8 Corp. (including the merged operations of U.S. Bitcoin Corp.);
• Iris Energy Ltd.
• Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc.;
• Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc.;
• Riot Platforms, Inc.;
• Stronghold Digital Mining, Inc.; and
• TeraWulf Inc.
The bitcoin mining industry is a highly competitive and evolving industry and new competitors and/or emerging technologies could enter the market and affect our competitiveness in the future. Other market participants in the bitcoin mining industry include investors and speculators, retail users transacting in digital assets, and service companies that provide a variety of services, including buying, selling, payment processing and storing of bitcoin. To continue to be successful, we will require sufficient additional capital to build additional facilities and to acquire new mining equipment and related infrastructure. Subject to raising additional capital, our bitcoin initiatives will compete with other industry participants that focus on investing in and securing the blockchains of bitcoin and other digital assets.
Intellectual Property
We seek protection for our intellectual property as appropriate. To establish and protect our proprietary rights, we rely upon a combination of patent, copyright, trade secret and trademark laws and contractual restrictions such as confidentiality agreements, licenses and intellectual property assignment agreements.
We have filed over 120 patent applications in technologies such as blockchain, data center management, infrastructure and cooling. The patent applications have been filed in the United States and in certain locations outside the United States. A subset of the patent applications have issued as patents. We maintain a policy requiring our employees, contractors, consultants and other third parties to enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements to control access to our proprietary information. These laws, procedures and restrictions provide only limited protection, and any of our intellectual property rights may be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed or misappropriated. Furthermore, the laws of certain countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and we therefore may be unable to protect our proprietary technology in certain jurisdictions. Moreover, our platform incorporates software components licensed to the general public under open-source software licenses. We obtain many components from software developed and released by contributors to independent open-source components of our platform. Open-source licenses grant licensees broad permissions to use, copy, modify and redistribute those open-source components of our platform. As a result, open-source development and licensing practices can limit the value of our software copyright assets.
We pursue the registration of our domain names, trademarks and service marks in the United States and in certain locations outside the United States. To protect our brand, we file trademark registrations in some jurisdictions.
Government Regulation
Due to the relatively short history of digital assets like bitcoin, and their emergence as a new asset class, government regulation of blockchain and bitcoin is constantly evolving, with increased interest expressed by U.S. and international regulators. In October 2020, the Cyber-Digital Task Force of the U.S. Department of Justice published a report entitled “Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework” that detailed the Department’s view with respect to digital assets and the tools at the Department’s disposal to deal with threats posed by digital assets. In February 2021, representatives of the government of Inner Mongolia, China announced plans to ban digital asset mining within the province due to the energy and rare earth mineral demands of the industry. In March 2021, the nominee for Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) expressed the need for investor protection along with promotion of innovation in the digital asset space. In March 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order outlining an “whole-of-government” approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and its underlying technology. The executive order lays out a national policy for digital assets over six highlighted priorities. In January 2023, the U.S. House of
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Representatives created a new congressional subcommittee focused on digital assets, the Subcommittee of Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion, operating under the House Financial Services Committee.
In addition to the activities of the United States federal government and its various agencies and regulatory bodies, government regulation of blockchain and digital assets is also under active consideration by similar entities in other countries and transnational organizations, such as the European Union. State and local regulations within the United States also may apply to our activities and other activities in which we may participate in the future. Other governmental or semi-governmental regulatory bodies have shown an interest in regulating or investigating companies engaged in blockchain or digital asset businesses. For instance, the SEC has taken an active role in regulating the use of public offerings of proprietary coins (so-called “initial coin offerings”) and has made statements and official promulgations as to the status of certain digital assets other than bitcoin as “securities” subject to regulation by the SEC.
The effect of any regulatory change by the federal, state, local or foreign governments or any self-regulatory agencies on the Company is impossible to predict, but such change could be substantial and may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, in November 2022, the State of New York enacted a law prohibiting new proof-of-work mining activities that use power generated from carbon inputs. While the Company does not currently operate in New York, there is no guarantee that future regulation or adverse action will not take place and interpretation of existing regulations in a manner adverse to our business is possible. In January 2024, a decade after initial applications were filed, the SEC approved a series of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which have received billions of dollars of in-flows. In February 2024, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (the “EIA”) commenced a six-month survey among participants in the U.S. cryptocurrency mining industry to collect data to track and analyze the electricity consumption by such industry participants. The EIA’s analysis would focus on how the energy demand for cryptocurrency mining is evolving, identify geographic areas of high growth, and quantify the sources of electricity used to meet cryptocurrency mining demand. It is unclear what, if any, regulatory policy changes may result following the collection and analysis of the data obtained through the EIA’s survey if it proceeds, but if regulators seek to curb electricity consumption by cryptocurrency mining operations in the future our business could be adversely affected. As of February 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (the agency governing the EIA) agreed to temporarily suspend this survey following a lawsuit by a cryptocurrency association and bitcoin mining company. The Company will closely monitor the outcome of this and other regulatory developments concerning cryptocurrency mining, as to the potential effects on our business.
In addition, various foreign jurisdictions either have adopted, or may adopt, laws, regulations or directives that affect digital assets such as bitcoin, digital asset networks, and their users and participants. Such laws, regulations or directives may conflict with those of the United States, may negatively impact the acceptance of bitcoin by users, merchants and service providers outside of the United States, and may therefore impede the growth of bitcoin. Presently, we do not believe any U.S. or state regulatory body other than the State of New York has taken any action or position adverse to bitcoin with respect to its production, sale, and use as a medium of exchange; however, future changes to existing regulations or entirely new regulations may affect our business in ways it is not presently possible for us to predict with any reasonable degree of certainty. As the regulatory and legal environment evolves, we may become subject to new laws, such as further regulation by the SEC and other agencies, which may affect our mining and other activities.
Environmental
The effects of human activity on global climate change have attracted considerable public and scientific attention, as well as the attention of the United States and other foreign governments. In general, efforts are being made by government regulators and others to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly those from coal combustion power plants. Some of these plants may be those our operations rely upon for power. In addition, there are increasing concerns over the quantity of energy, particularly from non-renewable sources, used for bitcoin mining and its effects on the environment (with lesser recognition for any positive contributions by bitcoin mining to the operation of existing electrical grids and systems).
While the nature or effect on the Company of any environmental regulatory changes by federal, state, local or foreign governments or self-regulatory agencies is impossible to predict , the added cost of any environmental taxes, charges, assessments or penalties levied on power plants we rely upon could be passed on to us, increasing the cost to run our facilities. If environmental laws or regulations or industry standards are either changed or adopted and impose significant operational restrictions and compliance requirements on our operations, our business, capital expenditures, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position could be materially adversely impacted.
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Seasonality
The Company’s production of bitcoin can be affected when extremely high or low temperatures in locations where its data centers operate result in local power price volatility that necessitates economic or grid stabilization-driven curtailment. Digital asset generation from the Company’s mining operations may also vary depending on the Company’s total hash rate at a given point in time relative to the total hash rate of the Bitcoin network.
Corporate Information
We were originally known as Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. On January 19, 2022, Legacy Core, XPDI, and XPDI Merger Sub consummated the transactions contemplated under the Merger Agreement, following the approval at the special meeting of the stockholders of XPDI held on January 19, 2022. In connection with the closing of the Business Combination, we changed our name from Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. to Core Scientific, Inc.
Our principal executive offices are located at 838 Walker Road, Suite 21-2105, Dover, Delaware 19904, and our telephone number is (512) 402-5233. Our corporate website address is www.corescientific.com. Information contained on or accessible through our website is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the inclusion of our website address in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is an inactive textual reference.
Available Information
Our principal executive offices and telephone number are listed on the cover page of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our website address is www.corescientific.com. The contents of our website are not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our internet address is included in this document as an inactive textual reference only. We currently make our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy reports and all amendments to those reports available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such reports with, or furnish such reports to, the SEC.
You can access our filings through the SEC’s internet site: www.sec.gov (intended to be an inactive textual reference only).
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