Stablecoin issuer Tether has filed a lawsuit against crypto finance firm Swan Bitcoin, alleging a “material breach” of agreements for a joint bitcoin-mining venture, Cointelegraph reported.
In 2022 the partners formed a JV called 2040 Energy to mine cryptocurrency. Under the arrangement, Tether provided financing and Swan handled operations.
In September 2024 the latter accused former employees of its mining division of stealing confidential information to create a rival firm, Proton Management.
Proton’s founders — former head of business Michael Holmes and chief investment officer Rafael Zagury — allegedly persuaded Tether to sever ties with Swan and support them.
According to the filing, back in August the new company formally took over administrative functions in the mining JV. Swan claims the stablecoin issuer facilitated a “hostile takeover” of its stake.
Tether said it had acted in good faith throughout the partnership.
“On the contrary, Swan acted recklessly, and its actions resulted in material breaches of the agreements between us. Consequently, we were forced to take necessary measures to protect our investments,” a company representative added.
In January 2024 Swan said that over roughly six months its quietly launched mining unit had produced 750 BTC. The stated hashrate at the time was 4.5 EH/s — about 1% of the network’s global figure. It planned to increase capacity to 8 EH/s.
In July, the firm’s founder and CEO, Cory Klippsten, said it would shut down its bitcoin-mining business.