Poolin bankruptcy leaves $164M in wallet claims unresolved

Poolin's bankruptcy gives Bitcoin users a clearer view of how much is at stake after the mining pool's 2022 withdrawal freeze. The company filed for Chapter 11 in New Jersey on July 22, listing about $163.7 million in unsecured IOUs tied to its wallet business. The filing says roughly 11,700 wallet holders had balances above $100.

Two Texas affiliates tied to Poolin's mining expansion are also in Chapter 11 and want court approval to sell their assets. Proposed stalking-horse deals from Thor CALAP LLC value the Pyote and Tarbush assets at a combined $52 million. That is about 31.8% of the wallet IOUs in simple gross terms, but it does not mean users would recover that amount. The Texas assets sit with separate debtors, and liens, expenses, estate allocations, and other claims still have to be settled.

The filings trace the shortfall back to Poolin's wallet lending model. The business borrowed stablecoins against customer crypto, then offered deposit products with annual returns of about 2% to 8.8%. When Bitcoin fell below $20,000 in June 2022, collateral values dropped, withdrawals surged, and Poolin later suspended payouts.

Poolin was once one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools. Its Texas mining buildout later posted heavy losses, and the operation shut on July 10. The Chapter 11 plan is now a wind-down based on asset sales, not a restart of mining.