Marathon Digital, the largest Bitcoin mining company by market capitalization, was fined $138 million for violating a non-disclosure or non-circumvention agreement.
Michael Ho, former co-founder of US Bitcoin Corp and chief strategy officer of Hut 8, won his case against Marathon Digital Holdings with a unanimous jury verdict. This agreement is intended to prevent parties from walking away from a committed transaction.
Marathon breached its agreement with Michael Ho
Affeld England & Johnson LLP, representing Michael Ho, explained that in 2020, Ho developed a growth strategy for Marathon, including the development of a large Bitcoin mining facility in North America.
Marathon breached its agreement with Ho by using his strategy without compensating him, violating its non-circumvention agreement. David Affeld, partner at Affeld England & Johnson LLP, emphasizes the importance of honoring business partners and commitments.
The jury's unanimous verdict of $138 million affirmed the importance of respecting contractual obligations and professional relationships. Affeld partnered with Gregg Zucker at Foundation Law Group LLP to file the lawsuit.
Marathon Digital remains the world's largest mining company
Despite the lawsuit, Marathon Digital Holdings remains the world's largest Bitcoin mining company with a market capitalization of $6.77 billion.
In June, Marathon doubled its operating hashrate to 26.3 exahashes (EH/s) thanks to improvements to its Ellendate facility, which went fully operational in July. CEO Fred Thiel said its mining pool has captured 158 blocks during the month, a 10% increase over the previous year.
