Prusak to depart January 31, 2024 to assume role as Chief Executive Officer of new bitcoin mining company to which Hut 8 will provide end-to-end managed services in connection with Celsius Network LLC bankruptcy proceedings
MIAMI - Jan. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hut 8 Corp. (Nasdaq | TSX: HUT), ("Hut 8” or the “Company”) one of North America’s largest, most innovative digital asset mining pioneers and high performance computing infrastructure providers, today announced that Matt Prusak, Chief Commercial Officer of the Company, will depart Hut 8 on January 31, 2024. As previously disclosed in filings from the Celsius Network LLC bankruptcy proceedings, Prusak will assume a new role as Chief Executive Officer of the new bitcoin mining company being formed upon emergence.
Prusak joined Hut 8 on November 30, 2023 after serving as Chief Commercial Officer of USBTC since early 2021, where he spearheaded commercial and innovation strategies, was instrumental in building institutional partnerships, oversaw research and development, scaled the business and team, and led the company’s strategic capital formation, investor relations, government relations, and growth initiatives.
“Matt has a natural ability to navigate complex environments, build powerful partnerships, and drive business growth,” said Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8. “We look forward to working closely with Matt to build a deep, synergistic partnership between our organizations. As the new company’s operating partner, we are excited to leverage our scale and expertise to support their growth and drive value for creditors of Celsius.”
As part of the Celsius Network LLC bankruptcy proceedings, Hut 8 was approved to provide end-to-end managed services for the new company’s operations at five sites in Texas, including the design and development, engineering, financial modeling, budgeting, accounting, construction management, procurement, logistics, and RFP coordination at the fifth and largest site named Cedarvale. It is expected that when construction is complete at Cedarvale, Hut 8 managed services will oversee approximately 12 EH/s of computing capacity and more than 300 MW of energy infrastructure. Under the 4-year Mining Management Agreement, Hut 8 will receive a cash management fee of more than US$20M per year above certain passthrough operating expenses in addition to restricted stock and incentive equity in the new company. Hut 8 President and Director Asher Genoot will serve on the board of directors of the new company.
As previously announced, Hut 8 closed a merger of equals with U.S. Data Mining Group, Inc. d/b/a US Bitcoin Corp on November 30, 2023 and was selected by Celsius to provide end-to-end development services for the Cedarvale site.
About Hut 8
Through innovation, imagination, and passion, Hut 8 Corp.’s seasoned executive team is bullish on creating value at the intersection of infrastructure and energy through Bitcoin mining and hosting, groundbreaking managed services, energy arbitrage, operating traditional data centers, and capitalizing on emerging technologies like AI and machine learning. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Hut 8 Corp.’s infrastructure portfolio includes eleven sites: five high performance computing data centers across British Columbia and Ontario that offer cloud, co-location, AI, machine learning, and VFX rendering computing solutions, and six Bitcoin mining, hosting, and managed services sites located in Alberta, New York, Nebraska, and Texas. Long-distinguished for its unique treasury strategy, Hut 8 Corp. has one of the highest inventories of self-mined Bitcoin of any publicly-traded company globally.
