In a four-year legal battle over the use of mining equipment, Riot Blockchain (RIOTWhinstone )’s Bitcoin mining facility is suing Japanese tech giant GMO Internet for at least US$15 million in damages, according to a document submitted on Monday to the Southern District of New York’s federal court.
According to Coindesk, the argument between the two businesses first erupted in 2018 but has since grown more heated as a result of hosting firms imposing greater electricity bills to run the machines.
Following GMO Internet’s assertion in June that the mining operator had overcharged for power and failed to register GMO equipment at mining sites in Louisiana and Texas, Whinstone filed a lawsuit on behalf of those parties.
GMO Internet asserted that the operation in Louisiana arrived three months later than expected and created space for 385 machines rather than the 66,693 that had been agreed upon. The site was shut down in 2019 as a result of power security issues, it was added.
The two kept up their business ties by hosting GMO machines in Texas for less money while still paying back GMO’s initial deposit and making up for any lost revenue resulting from power shortages.
The Japanese IT company claims that when Riot bought the facility, discussions about the losses came to an end.
Regarding the Louisiana site, Whinstone has refuted the claims presented by GMO. Whinstone asserts that the failure to reach a new contract agreement and the unutilized electricity purchased and reserved for GMO are the sources of the owing damages.
