- Bitmain seeks repossession of 2,700 mining rigs from bankrupt Orb Energy over alleged asset mismanagement and breach of contract.
- Orb CEO accused of diverting $10M in Bitcoin mining revenue to private wallets before bankruptcy filing.
Orb Energy, which has declared bankruptcy, is facing legal action from Bitmain after Bitmain obtained court injunctions in Texas. According to Bitmain, Orb engaged in improper handling of its assets.
Documents submitted to the bankruptcy court indicate that Bitmain is requesting the return of thousands of Bitcoin miners. The company states that Orb diverted digital assets, caused damage to the miners, and denied access to the equipment.
The claim involves 2,700 Antminer servers, machines located at an Orb facility in Van Vleck, Texas. The equipment is valued at over $5.5 million. Bitmain cites the Hosting Sale Agreement, which establishes their ownership rights. Therefore, these servers should be separated from Orb’s bankruptcy proceedings.
According to legal documents, Orb began diverting mining proceeds last year. Payments from the machines were directed to wallets controlled by Jamieson Zaniewski, Orb’s CEO, amounting to approximately $10 million.
Furthermore, records indicate that the CEO sold Bitcoin around the middle of this year, shortly before scheduled state court hearings were set to begin. Bitmain alleges that the CEO concealed wallet addresses and transaction details related to these sales.
Other accusations against Orb include preventing Bitmain employees from accessing the mining site, both physically and through software means, in violation of state court instructions. A separate charge involves the use of unauthorized firmware, software that disabled security features and caused hundreds of miners to fail.
The hosting contract between Bitmain and Orb ended in July of this year. Multiple breach notices were issued during this period, but Orb did not respond. Instead, Orb listed the equipment as company property when it declared bankruptcy, triggering the legal dispute.
