Poolin, along with its two subsidiaries, Lonestar Dream Inc. and Lonestar Taproot LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on July 22, 2026, entering proceedings with total prepetition liabilities of $173.1 million.
The majority of that debt burden stems from legacy issues. Out of the total liabilities, $163.7 million is tied to unsecured IOU promissory notes issued to roughly 11,700 Poolin Wallet users. These customers held balances exceeding $100 when the platform abruptly halted withdrawals during the 2022 crypto market crash.
Poolin’s trajectory has reversed sharply over the past few years. Founded in 2017 by Zhibao Pan, Fa Zhu, and Tianzhao Li, the firm once held the crown as the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool in September 2019. Today, it has plummeted to 17th place with a remaining hashrate share of just 0.2%. A cascade of challenges began with China’s mining ban in 2021, which was further aggravated by the crypto price collapse in 2022, creating severe dual pressure on its business model.
Mounting Losses in the United States
Warning signs of the collapse were already evident in late 2022. Antalpha Technologies liquidated Poolin’s collateral in November 2022 as management estimated debts reached $260 million against $265 million in assets. The financial condition of its two U.S. subsidiaries also continued to deteriorate over time, with Lonestar Dream and Lonestar Taproot accumulating $45.9 million in aggregate losses since inception.
Mining operations at the Pyote and Tarbush sites in West Texas were officially shut down on July 10, 2026. The facilities, which once hummed with active mining rigs, now stand quiet and are monitored only by a skeleton security crew. This shutdown marks the start of the liquidation process for the company’s physical infrastructure in Texas.
Targeting Capital from the Computing Industry
Poolin’s attention has pivoted toward marketing $52 million in assets. A baseline stalking-horse agreement has already been executed with an entity named Thor CALAP LLC, allocating $15 million for the Pyote site and $37 million for the Tarbush facility.
The marketing process for the assets spanned three months, proactively courting buyers outside the traditional crypto space. More than 335 prospective bidders were engaged, including high-performance computing (HPC) operators focused on artificial intelligence (AI), hyperscale data center operators, private equity (PE) firms, and real estate investment trusts (REITs). This broad interest highlights the growing appeal that former crypto mining power capacity in Texas holds for the AI industry.
The bankruptcy court set an auction bid deadline of September 8, allowing individual facilities to be acquired separately should superior bids emerge. For the thousands of Poolin Wallet customers who have held IOU notes since 2022, the outcome of the Texas asset sale will determine whether their stranded funds can be recovered or are lost permanently.
Reported by crypto.news.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
