Prairie Operating Co. 10-K

Item 1. Business Company Overview Creek Road Miners, Inc. (formerly known as Wizard Brands, Inc., Wizard Entertainment, Inc., Wizard World, Inc., and GoEnergy, Inc.) was incorporated in Delaware on May 2, 2001. Prior to cryptocurrency mining operations that began in October 2021, the Company produced live and virtual pop culture conventions and events and sold a gelatin machine and related consumables that were discontinued in 2021. In addition, the Company operated an eCommerce site selling pop culture memorabilia that was discontinued on June 30, 2022 (known collectively as “legacy operations”). Merger Agreement On October 24, 2022, the Company, Creek Road Merger Sub, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and Prairie Operating Co., LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Prairie”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into Prairie (the “Merger”), with Prairie surviving and continuing to exist as a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. At the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), the Company will (a) deliver the greater of (A) 2,000,000 shares of its common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“common stock”), and (B) the product of (x) the number of issued and outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the consummation of the Restructuring Transactions (as defined below) by the Company multiplied by (y) 33.33% to the members of Prairie (the “Prairie Members”) and (b) convert certain options to purchase membership interests of Prairie into restricted performance-based options to purchase, in the aggregate, 8,000,000 shares of common stock for $0.25 per share only exercisable if specific production hurdles are achieved. In connection with the Merger, the Company will cause the following restructuring transactions (the “Restructuring Transactions”): (1) all holders of the Company’s outstanding shares of Series A preferred stock, Series B preferred stock, Series C preferred stock, and 12% senior secured convertible debentures (the “Convertible Debentures”), and holders of certain warrants, certain convertible promissory notes and certain other accrued liabilities, will convert their respective shares of Series A preferred stock, Series B preferred stock, Series C preferred stock and Convertible Debentures, and respective warrants, convertible promissory notes and accrued liabilities into shares of common stock and (2) thereafter, the Company shall effect a reverse stock split of the common stock at a ratio between 1-23 and 1-30 (the “Reverse Stock Split”). Nature of Business Cryptocurrency Mining We generate substantially all our revenue through cryptocurrency we earn through our mining activities. We have historically mined and held Bitcoin exclusively, which we may sell to fund our operating and capital expenditures. Our mining operations commenced on October 24, 2021. We use special cryptocurrency mining computers (known as “miners”) to solve complex cryptographic algorithms to support the Bitcoin blockchain and, in return, receive Bitcoin as our reward. Miners measure their processing power, which is known as “hashing” power, in terms of the number of hashing algorithms solved (or “hashes”) per second, which is the miner’s “hash rate.” We participate in mining pools that pool the resources of groups of miners and split cryptocurrency rewards earned according to the “hashing” capacity each miner contributes to the mining pool. Since June 30, 2022 the Company is neither receiving meaningful cryptocurrency awards nor generating meaningful revenue from cryptocurrency mining. Mining Equipment All of our miners 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 cryptocurrency rewards. As of December 31, 2022, we had 510 Bitmain S19J Pro miners with 51.0 Ph/s of hashing capacity and 270 Bitmain S19 miners with 24.3 Ph/s of hashing capacity, none of which were in service. 2 On December 17, 2021 the Company entered into a Non-Fixed Price Sales and Purchase Agreement (the “Bitmain Agreement”) with Bitmain Technologies Limited (“Bitmain”) for 600 Bitmain S19XP miners with a reference price of approximately $11,250 per miner. The miners have a total of 84 Ph/s of hashing capacity and an initial estimated purchase commitment of $6,762,000 (the “total reference price”), subject to price adjustments and related offsets, including potential adjustments related to the market price of miners. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has made payments of $3,969,000 (classified as deposits on mining equipment) to Bitmain pursuant to the Bitmain Agreement, and the remaining amount due under the Bitmain Agreement is $47,600 and presented in the table below: Market Price per Miner Total Amount July 2022 batch (100 miners) $ 7,756 $ 775,600 August 2022 batch (100 miners) 7,140 714,000 September 2022 batch (100 miners) 7,140 714,000 October 2022 batch (100 miners) 6,510 651,000 November 2022 batch (100 miners) 5,810 581,000 December 2022 batch (100 miners) 5,810 581,000 Estimated total amount due 4,016,600 Less: Payments made 3,969,000 Remaining amount due $ 47,600 As of December 31, 2022, all 600 miners purchased from Bitmain have not been delivered to the Company, and will remain undelivered until all fees are paid to ship the miners from the Bitmain facility to the Company. Mining Results The Company measures its operations by the number and U.S. Dollar (US$) value of the cryptocurrency rewards it earns from its cryptocurrency mining activities. The following table presents additional information regarding our cryptocurrency mining operations: Quantity of Bitcoin US$ Amounts Balance September 30, 2021 — $ — Revenue recognized from cryptocurrency mined 6.7 369,804 Mining pool operating fees (0.1 ) (7,398 ) Impairment of cryptocurrencies — (59,752 ) Balance December 31, 2021 6.6 $ 302,654 Revenue recognized from cryptocurrency mined 8.3 343,055 Mining pool operating fees (0.2 ) (6,868 ) Impairment of cryptocurrencies — (106,105 ) Balance March 31, 2022 14.7 $ 532,736 Revenue recognized from cryptocurrency mined 4.6 166,592 Mining pool operating fees (0.1 ) (3,428 ) Proceeds from the sale of cryptocurrency (18.9 ) (564,205 ) Realized loss on the sale of cryptocurrency — (131,075 ) Impairment of cryptocurrencies — (34 ) Balance June 30, 2022 (1) 0.3 $ 586 Revenue recognized from cryptocurrency mined 0.3 7,955 Mining pool operating fees — (156 ) Impairment of cryptocurrencies — (1,035 ) Balance September 30, 2022 (1) 0.6 $ 7,350 Revenue recognized from cryptocurrency mined — — Mining pool operating fees — — Proceeds from the sale of cryptocurrency (0.6 ) (11,203 ) Realized gain on the sale of cryptocurrency — 3,853 Balance December 31, 2022 (1) — $ — (1) Since June 30, 2022 the Company is neither receiving meaningful cryptocurrency awards nor generating meaningful revenue from cryptocurrency mining. 3 Factors Affecting Profitability Our business is heavily dependent on the market price of Bitcoin. The prices of cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, have experienced substantial volatility. Further affecting the industry, and particularly for the Bitcoin blockchain, the cryptocurrency reward for solving a block is subject to periodic incremental halving. Halving is a process designed to control the overall supply and reduce the risk of inflation in cryptocurrencies using a Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm. At a predetermined block, the mining reward is cut in half, hence the term “halving”. For Bitcoin the reward was initially set at 50 Bitcoin currency rewards per block. The Bitcoin blockchain has undergone halving three times since its inception as follows: (1) on November 28, 2012 at block 210,000; (2) on July 9, 2016 at block 420,000; and (3) on May 11, 2020 at block 630,000, when the reward was reduced to its current level of 6.25 Bitcoin per block. The next halving for the Bitcoin blockchain is anticipated to occur in March 2024 at block 840,000, when the reward will be reduced to 3.125 Bitcoin per block. This process will reoccur until the total amount of Bitcoin currency rewards issued reaches 21 million and the theoretical supply of new Bitcoin is exhausted. Many factors influence the price of Bitcoin, and potential increases or decreases in prices in advance of, or following, a future halving is unknown. We have historically mined and held Bitcoin exclusively, which we may sell to fund our operating and capital expenditures. S ince June 30, 2022 the Company is neither receiving meaningful cryptocurrency awards nor generating meaningful revenue from cryptocurrency mining. Our business is heavily dependent on the market price of Bitcoin, which has experienced substantial volatility and has recently dropped to its lowest price since December 2020. As of December 31, 2022 the market price of Bitcoin was $16,547, which reflects a decrease of approximately 60% since the beginning of 2022, and of approximately 75% from its all-time high of approximately $67,000. In addition, the cost of natural gas that we use to produce electricity to power our miners has increased substantially. The cost of natural gas in the United States during 2022 has increased by as much as approximately 260% since the beginning of 2022. These price movements result in decreased cryptocurrency mining revenue and increased cryptocurrency mining costs, both of which have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results. Government Regulation Cryptocurrency is increasingly becoming subject to governmental regulation, both in the U.S. and internationally. State and local regulations also may apply to our activities and other activities in which we may participate in the future. Numerous regulatory bodies have shown an interest in regulating blockchain or cryptocurrency activities. For example, on March 9, 2022 President Biden signed an executive order on cryptocurrencies. While the executive order does not mandate any specific regulations, it instructs various federal agencies to consider potential regulatory measures, including the evaluation of the creation of a U.S. Central Bank digital currency. 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 reliability. As the regulatory and legal environment evolves, we may become subject to new laws and regulation which may affect our mining and other activities. For additional discussion regarding our belief about the potential risks existing and future regulation pose to our business, see the Section entitled “Risk Factors”. Intellectual Property We do not currently own any patents in connection with our existing and planned blockchain and cryptocurrency related operations. Liquidity and Ability to Continue as a Going Concern Historically, we have relied upon cash from financing activities to fund substantially all of the cash requirements of our activities and have incurred significant losses and experienced negative cash flow. The Company had net losses from continuing operations of $13,401,076, and $19,202,114, for the years ended December 2022 and 2021, respectively. We cannot predict if we will be profitable. We may continue to incur losses for an indeterminate period of time and may be unable to achieve profitability. An extended period of losses and negative cash flow may prevent us from successfully operating and expanding our business. We may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. On December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of $246,358, a working capital deficit of approximately $8.1 million, and an accumulated deficit of approximately $61 million. We have evaluated the significance of the uncertainty regarding the Company’s financial condition in relation to our ability to meet our obligations, which has raised substantial doubts about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. While it is very difficult to estimate our future liquidity requirements the Company believes that if it is unable close the Merger, or obtain debt and/or equity financing, existing cash resources will be depleted in early 2023. The Company may be able to generate cash through the sale of fixed assets, specifically cryptocurrency miners. However, the total cash generated would be significantly less that the total of the Company’s liabilities. There are no assurances that the Merger will close, that debt and/or equity financing can be obtained, or that the sale of fixed assets, specifically cryptocurrency miners can be achieved. 4 The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets, or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the matters discussed herein. The Company’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon the Company’s ability to close the merger with Prairie, or obtain debt and/or equity financing, and there are no assurances that either can occur. Employees As of March 31, 2023, we had 2 full time employees. Corporate Information and History Creek Road Miners, Inc. (formerly known as Wizard Brands, Inc., Wizard Entertainment, Inc., Wizard World, Inc., and GoEnergy, Inc.) was incorporated in Delaware on May 2, 2001. Prior to cryptocurrency mining operations that began in October 2021, the Company produced live and virtual pop culture conventions and events and sold a gelatin machine and related consumables that were discontinued in 2021. In addition, the Company operated an eCommerce site selling pop culture memorabilia that was discontinued on June 30, 2022 (known collectively as “legacy operations”). On August 6, 2021, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Informa Agreement”) with Informa Pop Culture Events, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Informa”). Pursuant to the Informa Agreement, Creek Road Miners Corp. (fka Kick the Can Corp.) sold, transferred, and assigned certain assets, properties, and rights to Informa related to the business of operating and producing live pop culture events. The Company released deferred revenue and other liabilities totaling $722,429 and recognized other income of this amount. On September 15, 2021, we sold our wholly owned subsidiary which contained our Jevo assets and all rights to our Jevo operations for $1,500,000 and recognized a gain on the transaction of approximately $1,130,740. We implemented a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of our outstanding shares of common stock that was effective on January 23, 2020. Unless otherwise noted, all share and related option, warrant, and convertible security information presented has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the reduced number of shares, and the increase in the share price which resulted from this action. Merger Agreement On October 24, 2022, the Company, Creek Road Merger Sub, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and Prairie, entered into the Merger Agreement, pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into Prairie, with Prairie surviving and continuing to exist as a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. At the Effective Time, the Company will (a) deliver the greater of (A) 2,000,000 shares of its common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“common stock”), and (B) the product of (x) the number of issued and outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the consummation of the Restructuring Transactions (as defined below) by the Company multiplied by (y) 33.33% to the members of Prairie (the “Prairie Members”) and (b) convert certain options to purchase membership interests of Prairie into restricted performance-based options to purchase, in the aggregate, 8,000,000 shares of common stock for $0.25 per share only exercisable if specific production hurdles are achieved. In connection with the Merger, the Company will cause the following restructuring transactions (the “Restructuring Transactions”): (1) all holders of the Company’s outstanding shares of Series A preferred stock, Series B preferred stock, Series C preferred stock, and 12% senior secured convertible debentures (the “Convertible Debentures”), and holders of certain warrants, certain convertible promissory notes and certain other accrued liabilities, will convert their respective shares of Series A preferred stock, Series B preferred stock, Series C preferred stock and Convertible Debentures, and respective warrants, convertible promissory notes and accrued liabilities into shares of common stock and (2) thereafter, the Company shall effect a reverse stock split of the common stock at a ratio between 1-23 and 1-30 (the “Reverse Stock Split”). Where You Can Find More Information Our website address is www.creekroadminers.com. We do not intend our website address to be an active link or to otherwise incorporate by reference the contents of the website into this Report. The public may read and copy any materials the Company files with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0030. The SEC maintains an Internet website (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. 5