Ionic
Digital,
the
bitcoin
miner
that
bought
bankrupt
crypto
lender
Celsius’
mining
assets,
has
delayed
a
plan
to
go
public
after
losing
its
CEO
and
auditor.
Former
CEO
Matt
Prusak
told
the
company
in
July
he
won’t
stay
on
after
the
end
of
his
employment
term
on
Aug.
14,
the
miner
said
in
a
statement
Thursday.
Ionic
has
started
searching
for
a
new
CEO
and
named
its
recently
hired
CFO,
John
Penver,
the
interim
boss.
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Why
the
Howey
Test
Remains
Contentious
for
Crypto
Penver
was
hired
in
July
to
shepherd
the
company’s
plan
to
go
public.
Ionic
said
that
despite
the
leadership
change,
it
still
intends
to
do
an
initial
public
offering
and
is
“confident”
that
Penver
will
be
able
to
lead
the
company
to
that
goal.
How
long
it
will
take
is
another
matter.
Ionic
also
said
that
its
auditor,
RSM
US,
severed
ties
with
the
miner,
citing
a
strategic
decision
by
the
accounting
firm
to
end
service
to
crypto-related
firms.
“RSM’s
decision
was
not
a
result
of
any
disagreements
with
the
Company
on
accounting
principles,
practices,
financial
statement
disclosure,
or
auditing
scope
or
procedure,”
Ionic
said
in
the
statement,
adding
that
it
has
made
good
progress
in
finding
a
replacement.
Ionic
came
out
of
stealth
earlier
this
year.
At
the
time
the
miner
said
it
would
acquire
all
of
Celsius’
mining
assets
as
part
of
the
bankrupt
lender’s
emergence
from
Chapter
11
and
that
it
would
go
public
within
12
months.
Getting
dumped
by
RSM
has
thrown
a
wrench
in
the
works.
“The
temporary
absence
of
an
auditor
has
prevented
the
Company
from
being
able
to
update
its
SEC
filings,
which
in
turn
has
delayed
Ionic
Digital’s
efforts
to
become
a
public
reporting
company,”
the
statement
added,
without
giving
a
revised
timeline.
News
the
of
delay
comes
at
a
time
when
the
mining
landscape
has
become
more
competitive
after
the
recent
Bitcoin
halving,
which
cut
the
block
rewards
paid
regularly
to
miners
by
half.
The
availability
of
spot
bitcoin
exchange
traded-funds
(ETFs)
have
also
deterred
many
investors
from
the
mining
industry,
shutting
some
doors
to
capital
for
miners.
This
has
put
pressure
on
some
companies
trying
to
take
their
firms
public.