Data management company Sphere3D has acquired exclusive right to assume all of Hertford Advisors’ bitcoin mining agreements throughout six months, reported MarketWatch.
The firm has reportedly already started taking action. It said it has assumed and executed the first agreement to purchase 60,000 new bitcoin mining rigs. The deal was completed directly with the manufacturer, Sphere said, and deliveries are expected to begin in November 2021 and continue over the following ten months.
As part of the deal, Sphere3D will issue common stock shares to Hertford. Additionally, a new series of preferred stock shares will also be issued upon achieving a set of milestones.
The set of milestones include the ability of Sphere 3D to assume a couple more contracts. The first would reportedly entitle the firm to negotiate and purchase 160,000 additional miners. In contrast, the second would give Sphere 3D the right to negotiate a long-term contract for a 200,000 square foot bitcoin mining facility.
If purchased and completed, the mining facility could reportedly provide Sphere 3D with up to 1 gigawatt of carbon-neutral power, as well as 1 gigawatt of power from the grid as backup.
The company didn’t provide details on the transaction value. But based on the 4.5 million shares it will issue to Hertford once the milestones are achieved and Sphere 3D’s closing price on Thursday, that would amount to $15.5 million.
In June, the data management firm announced it had entered into an agreement and plan of merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, a privately-held bitcoin mining company. The union, which would change Sphere 3D’s name to Gryphon’s, would be finalized in Q4 2021. In July, Gryphon bought 7,200 bitcoin mining rigs for $48 million.