For further details on these and other agreements, see Liquidity and Capital
ResourcesContractual Obligations and Other Commitments.
We aim to deploy the computing power that we will create to mine Bitcoin and validate
transactions on the Bitcoin network. We believe that Cipher will become an important player in the Bitcoin network due to our planned large-scale operations,
best-in-class technology, market-leading power and hosting arrangements and a seasoned, dedicated senior management team.
As of August 5, 2022, Bitfury Top HoldCo (together with Bitfury Holding) beneficially owns approximately 81.6% of our common stock with sole voting and
sole dispositive power over those shares and, as a result, Bitfury Top HoldCo has the power to elect all of our directors and we are a controlled company under Nasdaq corporate governance standards. For additional information, see
Risk FactorsRisks Related to our Common Stock and WarrantsWe are a controlled company within the meaning of Nasdaq listing rules and, as a result, can rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements
that provide protection to shareholders of other companies in our 2021 Form 10-K.
The Business
Combination
On August 27, 2021, as contemplated by the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of March 4, 2021 (the Merger
Agreement), by and among GWAC, a Delaware corporation, Currency Merger Sub, Inc. (Merger Sub), a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned direct subsidiary of GWAC, and the Company, the
parties entered into the business combination transaction pursuant to which Merger Sub merged with and into the Company, the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub ceasing and the Company being the surviving corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of GWAC (the Merger and, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the Business Combination). Following the Business Combination, the
combined company was named Cipher Mining Inc. (Cipher Mining). Cipher Mining comprises all of GWACs and Cipher Mining Technologies operations.
Upon the consummation of the Business Combination, all holders of Cipher common stock received shares of our common stock of $10.00 per share after giving
effect to the Exchange Ratio, resulting in 200,000,000 shares of our common stock to be immediately issued and outstanding to Bitfury Top HoldCo (in addition to 8,146,119 shares of our common stock held by GWAC), 32,235,000 shares of our common
stock held by the PIPE Investors and 6,000,000 shares of our common stock received by Bitfury Holding B.V., an affiliate of Bitfury Top HoldCo, under the Bitfury Private Placement, based on the following events contemplated by the Merger Agreement:
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the cancellation of each issued and outstanding share of Cipher common stock; and |
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the conversion into the right to receive a number of shares of our common stock based upon the Exchange Ratio.
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In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, GWAC entered into: (i) the PIPE Subscription Agreements to sell to
certain investors (the PIPE Investors), an aggregate of 32,235,000 shares of GWAC Common Stock, immediately following the Closing, for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and at an aggregate gross proceeds of $322.4 million (the
PIPE Financing) and (ii) the Bitfury Subscription Agreement to sell to Bitfury Top HoldCo (or an affiliate of Bitfury Top HoldCo), an aggregate of 6,000,000 shares of GWAC Common Stock, following the Closing, for a purchase price of
$10.00 per share and Bitfury Top HoldCos payment in cash and/or forgiveness of outstanding indebtedness for aggregate gross proceeds of $60.0 million (the Bitfury Private Placement).
Upon the consummation of the Business Combination, GWAC Common Stock and GWAC Warrants ceased trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange (the Nasdaq),
and our common stock and Public Warrants began trading on August 30, 2021 on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbols CIFR and CIFRW, respectively. The Business Combination resulted in cash proceeds, net of issuance costs, of
approximately $384.9 million.
On April 8, 2022, we, as
successor-in-interest to GWAC, and Cipher Mining Technologies, with respect to certain sections (collectively, the Company), entered into a Waiver Agreement,
with Bitfury (the Waiver Agreement), pursuant to which we waived certain restrictions on transfer of shares under (a) that certain Lock-up Agreement, dated as of August 26, 2021, by and
between Good Works Acquisition Corp. and Bitfury and (b) those certain Lock-up Agreements, dated as of August 26, 2021, by and between Good Works Acquisition Corp. and each of (i) I-B Goodworks, LLC, (ii) Magnetar Financial LLC, (iii) Mint Tower Capital Management B.V., (iv) Periscope Capital, Inc. and (v) Polar Asset Management Partners Inc., respectively (the
stockholders contemplated by clauses (a)-(b), the Stockholders) imposing similar restrictions on the Stockholders (collectively, the Lock-up Agreements and each a Lock-up Agreement). The Waiver Agreement was negotiated and approved by an independent committee of our Board of Directors (the Board). The Waiver Agreement permits each Stockholder to pledge
or otherwise hypothecate up to
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