Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG) PRE 14CPreliminary information

We are furnishing this Notice and the accompanying Information Statement to the stockholders of Stronghold Digital Mining, Inc., a Delaware corporation (together with its subsidiaries, the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”), as of January 10, 2023 (the “Record Date”) and as of January 18, 2023 (the “Second Record Date”), pursuant to Section 14(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and the rules and regulations prescribed thereunder. The purpose of this Notice is to inform stockholders that, with the unanimous approval of the board of directors of the Company (the “Board”), (i) on January 9, 2023, stockholders holding a majority of the issued and outstanding Common Stock (as defined below) of the Company (collectively, the “Majority Stockholders”), approved, by written consent (the “Written Consent”), (a) the issuance of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, pursuant to the exchange agreement, dated December 30, 2022, by and among the Company and the holders named therein (the “Exchange Agreement”), resulting from the conversion or exercise of the Series C Preferred Stock, the Pre-Funded Warrants, the Amended May 2022 Warrants and the November 2022 Warrants (each as defined in the Information Statement) (the “Stock Issuance”) and certain other Class A Common Stock issued to a party to the Exchange Agreement and (b) authorizing the Board, in its discretion on or prior to June 30, 2023, to approve and adopt an amendment to our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) to effect a reverse stock split of our issued and outstanding Common Stock by a ratio in a range from and including one-for-two (1:2) up to and including one-for-ten (1:10), or anywhere between (the “Reverse Stock Split”), and (ii) on January 18, 2023, stockholders holding a majority of the issued and outstanding Common Stock (collectively, the “OIP Majority Stockholders”), approved, by written consent (the “Second Written Consent”), the First Amendment to the Company’s Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “OIP”) to increase the amount of shares of Class A Common Stock available for delivery with respect to awards under the OIP by 6,000,000 shares, with such total also being available for the issuance of shares upon the exercise of incentive stock options (the “OIP Amendment”).

Stockholder approval of the Reverse Stock Split was required pursuant to Section 242 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) and Article IX of the Certificate of Incorporation, which requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority in voting power of the outstanding shares of stock of the Company entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class, to amend the Certificate of Incorporation. Stockholder approval of the Stock Issuance was required by The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) Rule 5635(b), which requires stockholder approval prior to the issuance of securities when the issuance or potential issuance will result in a change of control of the Company, and Nasdaq Rule 5635(d), which requires stockholder approval prior to a 20% Issuance (as defined in the Information Statement) at a price that is less than the Minimum Price (as defined in the Information Statement) in a transaction other than a public offering. Stockholder approval of the OIP Amendment was required by Nasdaq Rule 5635(c), which requires stockholder approval when the Company establishes or materially amends a plan or arrangement pursuant to which stock may be acquired by officers, directors, employees or consultants.

As the Stock Issuance and the Reverse Stock Split have been duly authorized and approved by the Majority Stockholders pursuant to the Written Consent, and the OIP Amendment has been duly authorized and approved by the OIP Majority Stockholders pursuant to the Second Written Consent, as further detailed in the accompanying Information Statement, your vote or consent is not requested or required to approve these actions. The accompanying

The accompanying Information Statement is being mailed on or about     , 2023, to stockholders of record as of the Record Date and as of the Second Record Date. In accordance with Rule 14c-2 promulgated under the Exchange Act, the actions described herein will become effective no sooner than 20 calendar days after the mailing of the accompanying Information Statement.

You should assume that the information in this Information Statement or any supplement is accurate only as of the date on the front page of this Information Statement. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date and may change again.

We are furnishing this Information Statement to the stockholders of record of Stronghold Digital Mining, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) in connection with (i) a written consent in lieu of a special meeting, dated January 9, 2023 (the “Written Consent”), executed and delivered to the Company by the holders of approximately 52.62% of the voting power of our Common Stock (as defined below) outstanding as of the date of the Written Consent (collectively, the “Majority Stockholders”), and (ii) a written consent in lieu of a special meeting, dated January 18, 2023 (the “Second Written Consent”), executed and delivered to the Company by the holders of approximately 50.54% of the voting power of our Common Stock outstanding as of the date of the Second Written Consent (collectively, the “OIP Majority Stockholders”).

The Written Consent and the Second Written Consent were effected in accordance with the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (our “Certificate of Incorporation”), and our Amended and Restated Bylaws, as amended (our “Bylaws”), which permit any action which may be taken at a meeting of our stockholders to also be taken by written consent of our stockholders holding outstanding stock having at least the number of votes necessary to approve such action at a meeting at which all shares entitled to vote thereon were present and voted. The Written Consent and the Second Written Consent required the approval of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”), and of our Class V common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class V Common Stock” and, together with the Class A Common Stock, the “Common Stock”), voting as a single class.

This Information Statement will be mailed on or about    , 2023, to holders of our outstanding Common Stock of record as of the close of business on January 10, 2023 (the “Record Date”) and January 18, 2023 (the “Second Record Date”). On those dates, there were 31,710,217 shares of our Class A Common Stock and 26,057,600 shares of our Class V Common Stock issued and outstanding. Pursuant to Rule 14c-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), the action will become effective on or after    , 2023, which is 20 calendar days following the date on which we first mail this Information Statement to our stockholders.

On January 9, 2023, our board of directors (the “Board”), acting by unanimous written consent, approved, and recommended that our stockholders approve the following:

On January 18, 2023, the Board, acting by unanimous written consent, approved and recommended that our stockholders approve the following:

This Information Statement contains a summary of the material aspects of the actions relating to the Stock Issuance, the Reverse Stock Split and the OIP Amendment approved by the Board, the Majority Stockholders and the OIP Majority Stockholders, as applicable.

The information, financial projections and other estimates contained herein contain “forward-looking” statements as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to statements regarding the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Exchange Agreement, the Certificate of Designation, the Series C Preferred Stock, the Pre-Funded Warrants, the Stock Issuance, the Certificate of Amendment, the Reverse Stock Split, and the anticipated effect of the same on the Company and our stockholders. Such financial projections and estimates are as to future events and are not to be viewed as facts, and reflect various assumptions of management of the Company concerning the future performance of the Company and are subject to significant business, financial, economic, operating, competitive and other risks and uncertainties and contingencies (many of which are difficult to predict and beyond the control of the Company) that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements and information included herein. Forward-looking statements concern future circumstances and results and other statements that are not historical facts and are sometimes identified by the words “may,” “will,” “should,” “potential,” “intend,” “expect,” “endeavor,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “overestimate,” “underestimate,” “believe,” “could,” “project,” “predict,” “continue,” “target” or other similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based upon current plans, estimates and expectations that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Forward-looking statements may include statements about various risks and uncertainties, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” as detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K, periodic quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and other documents filed with the SEC. Such risk and uncertainties are not exclusive. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or development, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. Additionally, descriptions herein of market conditions and opportunities are presented for informational purposes only; there can be no assurance that such conditions will actually occur or result in positive returns. Recipients of this communication should make their own investigations and evaluations of any information referenced herein.

As of the date of the Written Consent and the Second Written Consent, there were 57,767,817 shares of our Common Stock, including 31,710,217 shares of our Class A Common Stock and 26,057,600 shares of our Class V Common Stock, issued and outstanding. Each share of Common Stock entitles the holder thereof to one vote on each matter submitted to our stockholders. The holders of the Class A Common Stock and the Class V Common Stock vote together as a single class.

Stockholder approval of the Stock Issuance was required by Nasdaq Rule 5635(b), which requires stockholder approval prior to the issuance of securities when the issuance or potential issuance will result in a change of control of the Company, and Nasdaq Rule 5635(d), which requires stockholder approval prior to a 20% Issuance (as defined herein) of securities at a price that is less than the Minimum Price (as defined herein) in a transaction other than a public offering. See “Approval of the Stock Issuance—Nasdaq Listing Requirements and Stockholder Approval.”

Stockholder approval of the Reverse Stock Split was required pursuant to Section 242 of the DGCL and Article IX of the Certificate of Incorporation, which requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority in voting power of the outstanding shares of stock of the Company entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class, to amend the Certificate of Incorporation.

Stockholder approval of the OIP Amendment was required by Nasdaq Rule 5635(c), which requires stockholder approval when the Company establishes or materially amends a plan or arrangement pursuant to which stock may be acquired by officers, directors, employees or consultants.

Pursuant to Section 228 of the DGCL, Section 6.1 of our Certificate of Incorporation and Section 2.12 of our Bylaws, any action required or permitted to be taken at any annual or special meeting of stockholders may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote of stockholders, if a consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares entitled to vote thereon were present and voted.

Pursuant to the Second Written Consent, the OIP Majority Stockholders have approved and adopted the OIP Amendment in all respects, including an increase in the amount of shares of Class A Common Stock available for delivery with respect to awards under the OIP by 6,000,000 shares, with such total also being available for the issuance of shares upon the exercise of incentive stock options.

Set forth below are the stockholders who comprise the OIP Majority Stockholders, and their voting power as of the date of the Second Written Consent:

Such approvals and consents by the Majority Stockholders and the OIP Majority Stockholders constitute the approval and consent of a majority of the total number of shares of the Company’s outstanding voting stock as of the dates of the Written Consent and the Second Written Consent, respectively, and are sufficient under the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation, and the Bylaws to approve the Stock Issuance, the Reverse Stock Split and the OIP Amendment. Accordingly, approval of the Stock Issuance, the Reverse Stock Split and the OIP Amendment will not be submitted to the other stockholders of the Company for a vote, and this Information Statement is being furnished to such other stockholders to provide them with certain information concerning approval of the Stock Issuance, the Reverse Stock Split and the OIP Amendment in accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, and the regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act, including Regulation 14C.

Your consent is not required and is not being solicited in connection with approval of (i) the Stock Issuance and the Reverse Stock Split by the Majority Stockholders, or (ii) the OIP Amendment by the OIP Majority Stockholders. This Information Statement is intended to provide our stockholders information required by the rules and regulations of the Exchange Act.

On December 30, 2022 and January 9, 2023, our Board, acting by unanimous written consent, approved the effectuation of the transactions provided for in the Exchange Agreement, including the Stock Issuance. On January 9, 2023, the Majority Stockholders executed the Written Consent which, among other things, approved the Stock Issuance in all respects, including (i) the adoption of and filing with the Secretary of State for the State of Delaware the Certificate of Designation and the subsequent issuance of the shares of Series C Preferred Stock pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, and (ii) for purposes of Nasdaq Rules 5635(b) and 5635(d), the issuance of up to an aggregate of 67,316,416 shares of Class A Common Stock (a) issued to one of the Noteholders on November 15, 2022, and (b) issuable upon conversion of the Series C Preferred Stock and the exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants, the Amended May 2022 Warrants and the November 2022 Warrants.

The Board and the Company’s management regularly evaluate the Company’s liquidity and capital resources, including potential debt and equity transactions.

On May 15, 2022, the Company and the Noteholders entered the Note and Warrant Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company issued and sold to the Noteholders (i) $33,750,000 aggregate principal amount of 10.00% unsecured convertible promissory notes (the “May 2022 Notes”) and (ii) warrants to purchase an aggregate of 6,318,000 shares of Class A Common Stock (the “May 2022 Warrants”). On August 16, 2022, the Company and the Noteholders amended the terms of the May 2022 Notes (the “Amended May 2022 Notes”) whereby an aggregate of $11.25 million of the outstanding principal under the May 2022 Notes was exchanged for an amendment of the May 2022 Warrants to reduce the strike price from $2.50 to $0.01 per share (the “Amended May 2022 Warrants”). After giving effect to the principal reduction under the Amended May 2022 Notes, the Company became required to make subsequent payments to the Noteholders on the fifteenth day of each of November 2022, December 2022, January 2023 and February 2023. The Company made the November 15, 2022 payment to the Noteholders through a combination of cash, Class A Common Stock, and the November 2022 Warrants. On December 15, 2022, the Company entered into an amendment to the Amended May 2022 Notes with each of the Noteholders (“Amendment No. 1”) to delay the December 15, 2022 amortization payment date to December 22, 2022, among other items, and on December 22, 2022, the Company entered into a second amendment to the Amended May 2022 Notes with each of the Noteholders (“Amendment No. 2” and, together with the Amended May 2022 Notes and Amendment No. 1, the “Notes”) to further delay the December 22, 2022 amortization payment to December 30, 2022.

Facing a potentially prolonged downturn in the cryptocurrency markets and the resulting stress on the industry, along with unpredictability of the forward power curve, we entered into negotiations with the Noteholders to pursue an exchange of the Notes for equity. We believe such a deleveraging transaction with respect to the Notes is necessary to preserve cash, reduce our financial obligations, and improve our liquidity position. In addition, we believe an exchange of the Notes for equity will create a more comprehensive alignment of interests between the Company’s existing stockholders and the Noteholders, which is important during this time of stress on the industry. Following the Closing (as defined herein) of the Exchange Agreement, the Company expects to have less than $55 million in total principal amount of debt outstanding.

On December 30, 2022, the Company and the Noteholders entered into the Exchange Agreement. Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, at the Closing the Company will issue an aggregate of 23,102 shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock in exchange for the cancellation of an aggregate $17,893,750.00 of principal and accrued interest representing all of the amounts owed to the Noteholders under the terms of the Notes. Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, no principal or interest on the Notes shall become due or payable from the date of the Exchange Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or the termination of the Exchange Agreement. The rights and preferences of the Series C Preferred Stock will be designated in the Certificate of Designation, and the Company has agreed to provide certain registration rights to the Noteholders with respect to the Class A Common Stock received by the Noteholders upon conversion of their shares of Series C Preferred Stock and exercise of their Pre-Funded Warrants pursuant to the terms of a registration rights agreement in a form to be mutually agreed to by the Company and the Noteholders and executed in connection with the Closing (the “Registration Rights Agreement”). See “—Series C Preferred Stock” and “—Pre-Funded Warrants.”

The foregoing description of the material terms of the Exchange Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of the Exchange Agreement.

Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, the Company will file the Certificate of Designation with the Secretary of State for the State of Delaware in connection with the Closing. The material terms of the Series C Preferred Stock set forth in the Certificate of Designation are as follows:

The Certificate of Designation designates twenty-three thousand, one hundred two (23,102) shares of Series C Preferred Stock, with each share having a stated value of $1,000, subject to any adjustment for stock splits, stock combinations, recapitalizations and similar transactions as set forth in the Certificate of Designation (the “Stated Value”).

The Series C Preferred Stock ranks, with respect to rights upon an acquisition, merger or consolidation of the Company, sale of all or substantially all assets of the Company, other business combination or liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of the Company, either voluntary or involuntary (collectively, a “Liquidation Event”), (i) senior to the Common Stock and any other class or series of capital stock of the Company the terms of which do not expressly provide that such class or series ranks senior to or on parity with the Series C Preferred Stock with respect to a Liquidation Event (“Junior Stock”), (ii) on a parity with any other class or series of capital stock of the Company the terms of which provide that such class or series ranks on a parity with the Series C Preferred Stock with respect to a Liquidation Event (“Parity Stock”), and (iii) junior to any other class or series of capital stock of the Company the terms of which expressly provide that such class or series ranks senior to the Series C Preferred Stock with respect to a Liquidation Event (“Senior Stock”). In the event of a Liquidation Event, each holder of shares of Series C Preferred Stock then outstanding shall be entitled to receive, before any payment or distribution of any assets of the Company shall be made or set apart for holders of the Junior Stock, an amount per share of Series C Preferred Stock equal to the Stated Value.

Except as required by the DGCL or the Certificate of Incorporation, holders of shares of Series C Preferred Stock do not have any voting rights, except that the approval of holders of at least two-thirds (66.67%) of the then-outstanding shares of Series C Preferred Stock is required to (i) amend, alter, repeal or otherwise modify (whether by merger, operation of law, consolidation or otherwise) (a) any provision of the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws in a manner that would adversely affect the powers, rights, preferences or privileges of the Series C Preferred Stock, or (b) any provision of the Certificate of Designation, (ii) authorize, create, increase the amount of, or issue any Series C Preferred Stock or any class or series of Senior Stock or Parity Stock or any security convertible into, or exchangeable or exercisable for, shares of Series C Preferred Stock, Senior Stock, or Parity Stock, (iii) authorize, enter into or otherwise engage in a Fundamental Transaction (as defined in the Certificate of Designation) unless such Fundamental Transaction does not adversely affect the rights, preferences or privileges of the Series C Preferred Stock, and (iv) agree or consent to any of the foregoing.

From and after the date of issuance of the Series C Preferred Stock, each holder shall be entitled, upon written notice to the Company, to convert all or a portion of such holder’s outstanding shares of Series C Preferred Stock into a number of shares of Class A Common Stock (an “Optional Conversion”) at a conversion rate equal to (i) the Stated Value plus cash in lieu of any fractional shares, divided by (ii) a conversion price of $0.40 per share of Class A Common Stock, subject to certain adjustments provided in the Certificate of Designation (the “Conversion Price”). A holder will not have the right to effect an Optional Conversion to the extent that, after giving effect to such conversion, such holder (together with such holder’s affiliates and any person acting as a group with such holder or any of its affiliates) would beneficially own in excess of 9.99% of the number of shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such conversion (the “Beneficial Ownership Limitation”).

In the event of any Fundamental Transaction, as described in the Certificate of Designation and generally including any merger with or into another entity, sale of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, tender offer or exchange offer, reclassification of shares of the Class A Common Stock, or stock purchase agreement or other business combination wherein another person or group acquires more than 50% of the then-outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, then upon any subsequent Optional Conversion or the Automatic Conversion (as defined below), the holder will have the right to receive as alternative consideration, for each share of Class A Common Stock that would have been issuable upon such Optional Conversion or the Automatic Conversion immediately prior to the occurrence of such Fundamental Transaction, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock of the successor or acquiring corporation or of the Company, if it is the surviving corporation, and any additional consideration receivable upon or as a result of such transaction by a holder of the number of shares of Class A Common Stock into which the shares of Series C Preferred Stock are convertible immediately prior to such event.

Upon the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance of the Series C Preferred Stock, each share of Series C Preferred Stock then outstanding will automatically and immediately convert into shares of Class A Common Stock or, to the extent such conversion would cause a holder to exceed the Beneficial Ownership Limitation, into Pre-Funded Warrants (the “Automatic Conversion”). See “—Pre-Funded Warrants.”

We have agreed to provide certain registration rights to the Noteholders with respect to the Class A Common Stock received by the Noteholders upon conversion of their shares of Series C Preferred Stock and exercise of their Pre-Funded Warrants pursuant to the terms of a registration rights agreement in a form to be mutually agreed to by the Company and the Noteholders and executed in connection with the Closing.

The Series C Preferred Stock is not entitled to receive dividends, does not have preemptive or subscription rights, and has no redemption or sinking fund provisions or rights.

There is no established trading market for the Series C Preferred Stock, and the Company does not expect a market to develop. The Company does not intend to apply for a listing for the Series C Preferred Stock on any securities exchange or other nationally recognized trading system. Without an active trading market, the liquidity of the Series C Preferred Stock will be limited.

This section describes the material terms of the Certificate of Designation. The foregoing description of the Certificate of Designation does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of the Certificate of Designation in the form attached as Exhibit A to the Exchange Agreement.

The following is a summary of the material terms and provisions of the Pre-Funded Warrants. This summary is subject to and qualified in its entirety by the Certificate of Designation and the form of Pre-Funded Warrant.

The Pre-Funded Warrants are exercisable at the option of each holder, in whole or in part, on a mandatory cashless basis (with cash in lieu of any fractional shares) upon delivery to the Company of a duly executed exercise

Pre-Funded Warrants will be issued only upon the Automatic Conversion and only to the extent that the Automatic Conversion would cause a holder of Series C Preferred Stock to exceed the Beneficial Ownership Limitation. Accordingly, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock for which the Pre-Funded Warrants are exercisable is currently indeterminate.

In the event of any Fundamental Transaction, as described in the form of Pre-Funded Warrant and generally including any merger with or into another entity, sale of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, tender offer or exchange offer, reclassification of shares of the Class A Common Stock, or stock purchase agreement or other business combination wherein another person or group acquires more than 50% of the then-outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, then upon any subsequent exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrant, the holder will have the right to receive as alternative consideration, for each share of Class A Common Stock that would have been issuable upon such exercise immediately prior to the occurrence of such Fundamental Transaction, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock of the successor or acquiring corporation or of the Company, if it is the surviving corporation, and any additional consideration receivable upon or as a result of such transaction by a holder of the number of shares of Class A Common Stock for which the Pre-Funded Warrant is exercisable immediately prior to such event.

In accordance with its terms and subject to applicable laws, a Pre-Funded Warrant may be transferred at the option of the holder upon surrender of the Pre-Funded Warrant to the Company together with the appropriate instruments of transfer. There is no established trading market for the Pre-Funded Warrants, and the Company does not expect a market to develop. The Company does not intend to apply for a listing for the Pre-Funded Warrants on any securities exchange or other nationally recognized trading system. Without an active trading market, the liquidity of the Pre-Funded Warrants will be limited.

Except as otherwise provided in the Pre-Funded Warrants or by virtue of the holders’ ownership of shares of Class A Common Stock, the holders of Pre-Funded Warrants do not have the rights or privileges of holders of shares of Class A Common Stock, including any voting rights, until such Pre-Funded Warrant holders exercise their Pre-Funded Warrant.

A Pre-Funded Warrant may be modified or amended, or the provisions thereof waived with the written consent of the Company and the holder of the Pre-Funded Warrant.

We have agreed to provide certain registration rights to the Noteholders with respect to the Class A Common Stock received by the Noteholders upon conversion of their shares of Series C Preferred Stock and exercise of their Pre-Funded Warrants pursuant to the terms of a registration rights agreement in a form mutually agreed to by the Company and the Noteholders and executed in connection with the Closing.

The Series C Preferred Stock ranks senior to the Common Stock with respect to payments upon liquidation, and its issuance may have an adverse effect on the value of the Common Stock. Based on the 57,755,000 shares of Class A Common Stock that we would be required to issue if the Noteholders fully convert their shares of Series C Preferred Stock (not taking into effect the Beneficial Ownership Limitation), as well as the 667,610 shares of Class A Common Stock issued to one of the Noteholders on November 15, 2022, and the 8,893,806 shares of Class A Common Stock that we would be required to issue if the Noteholders fully exercise the Amended May 2022 Warrants and the November 2022 Warrants, our stockholders will experience significant dilution to their ownership, voting power and right to participate in dividends or other payments from future earnings, if any, and the market price of our Class A Common Stock may experience a significant decline. A decline in the market price of our Class A Common Stock could impair our ability to raise funds in additional equity or debt financings.

In addition to the foregoing, the increase in the number of shares of Class A Common Stock issued in connection with the conversion of shares of Series C Preferred Stock and the exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants, the Amended May 2022 Warrants and the November 2022 Warrants, which would equal approximately 51% of the fully diluted shares of Common Stock outstanding as of the Record Date pro forma for such transactions, may result in a change of control of the Company, and may further have an incidental anti-takeover effect in that the additional shares of Class A Common Stock issued could dilute the stock ownership of parties seeking to obtain control of the Company.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we believe the benefits of the transactions contemplated under the Exchange Agreement exceed the potential dilutive effects and related risks described above. We believe that our ability to succeed in our business plans and ultimately generate value for our stockholders is dependent on our ability to materially reduce our debt, strengthen our balance sheet, and improve our liquidity position. Following the Closing, the Company expects to have less than $55 million in total principal amount of debt outstanding.

The Company is subject to the Nasdaq Listing Rules because our Class A Common Stock is currently listed on Nasdaq. The Stock Issuance implicates certain of the Nasdaq listing standards requiring prior stockholder approval in order to maintain our listing on Nasdaq, as follows:

The issuance of our Class A Common Stock upon conversion of shares of Series C Preferred Stock or exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants may be at a discount to the market value of our Class A Common Stock within the meaning of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(d). Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, the aggregate of 57,755,000 shares of Class A Common Stock that we would be required to issue if the Noteholders fully convert their shares of Series C Preferred Stock (not taking into effect the Beneficial Ownership Limitation), as well as the 667,610 shares of Class A Common Stock issued to one of the Noteholders on November 15, 2022, and the 8,893,806 shares of Class A Common Stock that we would be required to issue if the Noteholders fully exercise the Amended May 2022 Warrants and the November 2022 Warrants, would represent in the aggregate approximately 65.9% of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class A Common Stock on the date of the Exchange Agreement, and thus the issuance of such shares requires prior stockholder approval under Nasdaq Rule 5635(d).

On January 9, 2023, our Board, acting by unanimous written consent, approved the Reverse Stock Split. On January 9, 2023, the Majority Stockholders executed the Written Consent which, among other things, approved and adopted (i) the consummation of the Reverse Stock Split with a Reverse Split Ratio to be determined by the Board within the Range, (ii) the bestowal of authorization onto the Board to determine the exact Reverse Split Ratio within the Range, (iii) the Certificate of Amendment and the consequent filing thereof with the Secretary of State for the State of Delaware at any time on or before June 30, 2023, and (iv) the right of the Board to abandon the Reverse Stock Split and not to file the Certificate of Amendment, if the Board, in its discretion, at any time determines that the Reverse Stock Split is no longer in the best interests of the Company or its stockholders.

On November 30, 2022, the Company received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq notifying the Company that, based upon the closing bid price of the Class A Common Stock for the previous 30 consecutive business days, the Class A Common Stock did not meet the minimum bid price of $1.00 per share required by Nasdaq Rule 5450(a)(1). In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has a period of 180 calendar days from the date of the 5450 Notification, or until May 29, 2023, to achieve compliance with the minimum bid price requirement by closing at or above $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days (“Bid Price Compliance”).

The primary purpose of the Reverse Stock Split is to increase the per share market price of the Class A Common Stock in order to achieve Bid Price Compliance. Further, this may increase the acceptability of the Class A Common Stock to long-term investors who may not find our shares attractive due to the trading volatility often associated with stocks below certain prices, or make the Class A Common Stock eligible for investment by brokerage houses and institutional investors that have internal policies and practices that either prohibit them from investing in low-priced stocks or tend to discourage individual brokers from recommending low-priced stocks to their customers or by restricting or limiting the ability to purchase such stocks on margin. The reduction in the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock as a result of the Reverse Stock Split is, absent other factors, expected to proportionately increase the market price of our Class A Common Stock to a level above the current market trading price.

While our Board believes that the shares of Class A Common Stock will trade at higher prices than those which have prevailed in the recent past, there can be no assurance that such increase in the trading price will occur or, if it does occur, that it will equal or exceed the direct arithmetical result of the Reverse Stock Split because there are numerous factors and contingencies which could affect our market price. Further, other factors, such as our financial results, market conditions and the market perception of our business may adversely affect the market price of the Class A Common Stock. As a result, we cannot assure you that the Reverse Stock Split, if completed, will result in the intended benefits described above, that the market price of the Class A Common Stock will increase following the Reverse Stock Split or that the market price of the Class A Common Stock will not decrease in the future. Additionally, we cannot assure you that the market price per share of the Class A Common Stock after the Reverse Stock Split will increase in proportion to the reduction in the number of shares of the Class A Common Stock outstanding before the Reverse Stock Split. Accordingly, the total market capitalization of the Class A Common Stock after the Reverse Stock Split may be lower than the total market capitalization before the Reverse Stock Split.

Additionally, the liquidity of trading in the Class A Common Stock may be harmed by the Reverse Stock Split given the reduced number of shares that would be outstanding after the Reverse Stock Split, particularly if the expected increase in the per share stock price as a result of the Reverse Stock Split is not sustained. In addition, the Reverse Stock Split may increase the number of stockholders who own odd lots (less than 100 shares) of the Class A Common Stock. Following the Reverse Stock Split, the resulting per share stock price may nevertheless fail to attract institutional investors and may not satisfy the investing guidelines of such investors and, consequently, the trading liquidity of the Class A Common Stock may not improve.

We believe that the Board’s authority to (i) select the Reverse Split Ratio within the Range (as opposed to a single reverse stock split ratio), (ii) select the effective date of the Reverse Stock Split, at any time before June 30,

In determining the exact Reverse Split Ratio and whether and when to effect the Reverse Stock Split, the Board will consider a number of factors, including, without limitation:

We believe that granting our Board the authority to pick the Reverse Split Ratio, as well as determining whether and when to implement the Reverse Stock Split‎, is essential because it allows us to take these factors into consideration and to react to changing market conditions. If our Board chooses to implement the Reverse Stock Split, we will make a public announcement regarding the determination of the Reverse Split Ratio and the effective date.

If the Reverse Stock Split is effected, every holder of outstanding shares of Common Stock on the effective date specified in the Certificate of Amendment shall receive, subject to the treatment of fractional shares described in the Certificate of Amendment, one share of Class A Common Stock or Class V Common Stock, as applicable, in exchange for a number of shares of Class A Common Stock or Class V Common Stock, as applicable, held by such holder that is to be determined but will be proportionate to the Reverse Split Ratio selected by the Board. The Reverse Stock Split will be effected simultaneously for all issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock. The Reverse Stock Split will affect all of our stockholders uniformly and will not change any stockholder’s percentage ownership interest in the Company, except for such changes as may result from the treatment of fractional shares as described in more detail below.

The Reverse Stock Split will not change the terms of the Common Stock. The Reverse Stock Split is not intended as, and would not have the effect of, a “going private transaction” covered by Rule 13e-3 under the Exchange Act. Following the Reverse Stock Split, we will continue to be subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the Exchange Act.

As described in more detail below, the Reverse Stock Split will have the effect of increasing the number of authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock. This increase in shares of Common Stock available for issuance could have an anti-takeover effect, in that additional shares could be issued (within the limits imposed by applicable law or the requirements of an applicable stock exchange) in one or more transactions that could make a change in control or takeover of the Company and the removal of incumbent management more difficult. For example, additional shares of Common Stock could be issued by the Company so as to dilute the stock ownership or voting power of persons seeking to obtain control of the Company, even if the persons seeking to obtain control of the Company offer an above-market premium that is favored by a majority of stockholders. Such dilution will cause a party attempting a takeover to be required to buy more shares of Common Stock and to expend additional resources to accomplish a takeover. The Reverse Stock Split is not part of a plan by management to affect the ability of third parties to take over or change control of the Company, nor are we currently contemplating any such anti-takeover plan.

We will also adjust and proportionately decrease the number of shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise or vesting of, and adjust and proportionately increase the exercise price of, existing equity awards under our Amended and Restated 2021 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “Initial LTIP”), the OIP and our other outstanding or issuable convertible instruments, including the Series C Preferred Stock and Pre-Funded Warrants, pursuant to the terms thereof. In addition, as of the effective time of the Reverse Stock Split, we will adjust and proportionately decrease the number of shares of Class A Common Stock that may be the subject of future grants or awards under the LTIP and the OIP.

We are currently authorized under our Certificate of Incorporation to issue up to a total of 288,000,000 shares of Common Stock, including 238,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock and 50,000,000 shares of Class V Common Stock. While the Reverse Stock Split will decrease the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock, it will not change the number of authorized shares under our Certificate of Incorporation. Consequently, the Reverse Stock Split will have the effect of increasing the number of shares of Common Stock available for issuance under our Certificate of Incorporation.

We believe that the availability of additional authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock will provide the Company with additional flexibility to issue additional shares of Common Stock for a variety of general corporate purposes as our Board may determine to be desirable including, without limitation, raising capital, future financings, investment opportunities, acquisitions, or other distributions. Our Board has not authorized the Company to take any action with respect to the additional shares that would be available for issuance as a result of the Reverse Stock Split, and the Company currently does not have any definitive plans, arrangements or understandings with respect to the issuance of the additional shares of Common Stock that would be available for issuance as a result of the Reverse Stock Split, except that a portion of such additional shares may be issued upon the conversion or exercise of outstanding convertible instruments, including upon conversion of shares of Series C Preferred Stock and exercise of Pre-Funded Warrants when issued.

The issuance of additional shares of Common Stock available for issuance as a result of the Reverse Stock Split may occur at times or under circumstances as to have a dilutive effect on earnings per share, book value per share or the percentage voting or ownership interest of the present holders of Common Stock.

The Reverse Stock Split will affect all of our stockholders uniformly and would not affect any stockholder’s percentage ownership interests, except to the extent that the Reverse Stock Split results in such stockholder owning a fractional share. No fractional shares will be issued. Instead, stockholders that would otherwise be entitled to receive a fractional share will have such fractional share rounded up to the nearest whole share.

The par value of the Common Stock will remain unchanged after the Reverse Stock Split. As a result, on the effective date of the Reverse Stock Split, the stated capital on the balance sheet attributable to the Common Stock will be reduced proportionally from its present amount, and the additional paid-in capital account will be increased by the amount by which the stated capital is reduced. The per share Common Stock net income or loss and any other per share amount will be increased because there will be fewer shares of the Common Stock outstanding and we will adjust historical per share amounts set forth in our future financial statements. The Company does not anticipate that any other accounting consequences would arise as a result of the Reverse Stock Split.

The following is a general summary of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations related to the Reverse Stock Split that may be relevant to U.S. Holders (as defined below) of our common stock that hold our common stock as a “capital asset” (generally property held for investment), but does not purport to be a complete analysis of all potential tax considerations. This summary is based on the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), U.S. Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder (“Treasury Regulations”), administrative rulings and judicial decisions, all as in effect on the date hereof, and all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect. We have not sought and will not seek an opinion of counsel or any rulings from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regarding the matters discussed below. There can be no assurance the IRS or a court will not take a contrary position with respect to the tax consequences of the Reverse Stock Split described below.

This summary does not address all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to a holder in light of their personal circumstances. In addition, this summary does not address the Medicare tax on certain investment income, U.S. federal estate or gift tax laws, any state, local or non-U.S. tax laws or any tax treaties. This summary also does not address tax consequences applicable to investors that may be subject to special treatment under the U.S. federal income tax laws, such as:

For purposes of the discussion below, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of shares of our common stock that for U.S. federal income tax purposes is: (1) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; (2) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof, or the District of Columbia; (3) an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or (4) a trust (a) the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and which has one or more United States persons who have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (b) which has made a valid election under applicable Treasury Regulations to be treated as a United States person.

If a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our common stock, the tax treatment of a partner in the partnership generally will depend upon the status of the partner, upon the activities of the partnership and upon certain determinations made at the partner level. Accordingly, we urge partners in partnerships (including entities or arrangements treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes) to consult their tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the Reverse Stock Split to them.

The Reverse Stock Split should be treated as a “recapitalization” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, a U.S. Holder generally should not recognize gain or loss as a result of the Reverse Stock Split. A U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in its post-Reverse Stock Split shares of our common stock should equal the aggregate tax basis of its pre-Reverse Stock Split shares of our common stock, and such U.S. Holder’s holding period in its post-Reverse Stock Split shares of our common stock should include the holding period in its pre-Reverse Stock Split shares of our common stock. A U.S. Holder that holds shares of our common stock acquired on different dates and at different prices should consult its tax advisor with regard to identifying the bases or holding periods of the particular shares of common stock it holds after the Reverse Stock Split.

The OIP was adopted in connection with the initial public offering of the Company (the “IPO”), and provides the Company the ability to grant equity-based incentive awards to certain employees and other service providers of the Company. The OIP replaced the Initial LTIP, under which options for a total of 3,423,715 shares of Class A Common Stock were granted to employees and other service providers. No shares remain available under the Initial LTIP for issuance as of the date hereof.

The OIP authorizes awards to be granted covering up to 5,069,517 shares of our Class A Common Stock, subject to the share recycling and adjustment provisions described below. As of January 10, 2023, there were approximately 3,905,001 shares of our Class A Common Stock available for new awards under the OIP.

On January 18, 2023, our Board, acting by unanimous written consent and subject to approval by our stockholders, approved the OIP Amendment, which increases the amount of shares of Class A Common Stock available for delivery with respect to awards under the OIP by 6,000,000, from 5,069,517 to 11,069,517, with such total also being available for the issuance of shares upon the exercise of incentive stock options. The OIP Amendment was approved by written consent of the OIP Majority Stockholders on January 18, 2023. The number of shares authorized for issuance under the OIP, as amended by the OIP Amendment, is expected to provide flexibility to enable the continued use of stock-based compensation consistent with the objectives of our compensation program for approximately two to three years (based on our historical grant practices) while attempting to minimize dilution to our stockholders. The actual length of time that the OIP share pool will support our incentive compensation program will depend on numerous factors that cannot be fully anticipated by us at this time including our share price, executive retention rate, and changes in compensation practices of companies with which we compete for executive talent.

As of January 10, 2023, awards for a total of 5,539,537 shares of stock have been granted, with options for 3,423,715 shares granted under the Initial LTIP and awards for 2,115,822 shares granted under the OIP out of a total of 5,069,517 shares currently authorized for issuance under the OIP of the awards for 2,115,822 shares granted. As of January 10, 2023, under the OIP, a total of 1,851,579 shares remained subject to unsettled restricted stock units, 137,911 shares remained subject to unsettled performance share units and 126,332 shares remain subject to outstanding stock options. As of January 10, 2023, under the Initial LTIP, no shares remained subject to unsettled restricted stock units, no shares remained subject to unsettled performance share units, and 3,423,715 shares remained subject to outstanding stock options. No other equity awards are outstanding under the OIP or Initial LTIP as of such date. As of January 10, 2023, there were 31,710,217 shares of our Class A Common Stock outstanding. The closing price per share of Class A Common Stock on the Nasdaq as of January 10, 2023 was $0.49.

The following is a summary of the material features of the OIP, as amended by the OIP Amendment. This summary does not purport to be a complete description of all the provisions of the OIP. A copy of the OIP is filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on October 25, 2021, and a copy of the OIP Amendment is attached to this Information Statement as Annex B. The following summary is qualified in its entirely by reference to the full text of the OIP and OIP Amendment, and you should refer to the OIP and OIP Amendment for further details of the OIP and awards that may be made thereunder.

The purpose of the OIP is to attract, retain and motivate qualified persons as employees, directors and consultants of the Company and its affiliates. The OIP also provides a means through which such persons can acquire and maintain stock ownership or awards, the value of which is tied to the performance of the Company, thereby strengthening their concern for the Company and its affiliates.

The OIP provides for potential grants of: (i) incentive stock options qualified as such under U.S. federal income tax laws (“ISOs”); (ii) stock options that do not qualify as ISOs (“Nonstatutory Options,” and together with ISOs, “Options”); (iii) stock appreciation rights (“SARs”); (iv) restricted stock awards (“Restricted Stock Awards”); (v) restricted stock units (“Restricted Stock Units” or “RSUs”); (vi) awards of vested stock (“Stock Awards”); (vii) dividend equivalents; (viii) other stock-based or cash awards; and (ix) substitute awards (“Substitute Awards” and together with Options, SARs, Restricted Stock Awards, RSUs, Stock Awards, dividend equivalents and other stock-based or cash awards, the “Awards”).

The Board (or a committee of two or more directors appointed by the Board) will administer the OIP (as applicable, the “Committee”). Unless otherwise determined by the Board, the Committee will consist at all times of two or more directors who qualify as (i) “nonemployee directors” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and (ii) “independent” under the applicable listing standards or rules of the securities exchange upon which the Company’s Class A Common Stock is traded, but only to the extent such independence is required in order to take the action at issue pursuant to such standards or rules. Unless otherwise limited by the OIP or applicable law, the Committee has broad discretion to administer the OIP, interpret its provisions, and adopt policies for implementing the OIP. This discretion includes the power to determine when and to whom Awards will be granted; decide how many Awards will be granted (measured in cash, shares of Class A Common Stock or as otherwise designated); prescribe and interpret the terms and provisions of each Award agreement (the terms of which may vary); delegate duties under the OIP; terminate, modify or amend the OIP; and execute all other responsibilities permitted or required under the OIP. The Committee’s determinations need not be uniform with respect to all individuals participating in the OIP, and need not apply consistently across Awards.

Employees, non-employee directors and other service providers of the Company and its affiliates are eligible to receive awards under the OIP. Eligible individuals to whom an Award is granted under the OIP are referred to as “Participants.” As of January 10, 2023, the Company and its affiliates have approximately 3 executive officers, 4 non-employee directors, 19 employees and 160 other service providers who will be eligible to participate in the OIP. The Company engages consultants from time to time who could be eligible for awards and the number of employees employed by the Company and its affiliates varies over time, hence these numbers may change during the life of the OIP.

Subject to adjustment, in the event of any distribution, recapitalization, stock split, merger, consolidation or other corporate event, the aggregate number of shares of our Class A Common Stock that may be issued pursuant to Awards under the OIP is equal to 11,069,517, and all such shares will be available for issuance upon the exercise of ISOs; provided, that, on January 1 of each calendar year occurring on January 1 of each calendar year beginning in 2022 and ending in 2031, the total number of shares of Class A Common Stock will be increase by the lesser of (a) 3% of the total number of shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding as of December 31 of the immediately preceding calendar year and (b) such smaller number of shares of Class A Common Stock as determined by the Board. The shares to be delivered under the OIP shall be made available from (i) authorized but unissued shares of Class A Common Stock, (ii) Class A Common Stock held in the treasury of the Company, or (iii) previously issued shares of Class A Common Stock reacquired by the Company, including shares purchased on the open market.

Any shares subject to an Award under the OIP that expires or is cancelled, forfeited, exchanged, settled in cash or otherwise terminated, including shares forfeited with respect to Restricted Stock and the number of shares withheld or surrendered to the Company in payment of any exercise or purchase price or taxes relating to Awards, will not be considered “delivered shares” under the OIP, and will be available for delivery with regard to other Awards.

In each calendar year during any part of which the OIP is in effect, a non-employee member of the Board may not be paid compensation for such individual’s service on the Board in excess of $750,000; provided, that for any calendar year in which a non-employee member of the Board (i) first commences service on the Board, (ii) serves on a special committee of the Board, or (iii) serves as lead director of the Board, additional compensation, whether denominated in cash or Awards may be paid to such non-employee member of the Board in excess of such limit. The limit described in the preceding sentence is without regard to grants of Awards, if any, made to a non-employee member of the Board during any period in which such individual was an employee of the Company or any affiliate or was otherwise providing services to the Company or to any affiliate other than in the capacity as a director of the Company. Any cash compensation that is deferred shall be counted towards the limit for the year in which it was first earned, and not when paid or settled, if later.

The following discussion is for general information only and is intended to summarize briefly the U.S. federal income tax consequences to Participants that are U.S. residents arising from participation in the OIP and to the Company. This description is based on current law, which is subject to change (possibly retroactively). In addition, Nonstatutory Options or SARs with an exercise price less than the fair market value of a share of Class A Common Stock on the date of grant or Nonstatutory Options or SARs that are based on shares of Class A Common Stock that are not deemed to be service recipient stock for the Participant could be subject to additional taxes unless such Nonstatutory Options or SARs are designed to comply with certain restrictions set forth in the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Rules, and Participants should consult with their legal counsel before determining for themselves whether a transaction relating to a Nonstatutory Option or a SAR complies with the conditions specified in the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Rules. The tax treatment of Participants in the OIP may vary depending on the particular situation and may, therefore, be subject to special rules not discussed below. No attempt has been made to discuss any potential foreign jurisdiction, or U.S. state or local tax consequences in this section.

Participants eligible to receive an ISO will not recognize taxable income on the grant of an ISO. Upon the exercise of an ISO, a Participant will not recognize taxable income, although the excess of the fair market value of the shares of Class A Common Stock received upon exercise of the ISO (“ISO Stock”) over the exercise price will increase the alternative minimum taxable income of the Participant, which may cause such Participant to incur alternative minimum tax. The payment of any alternative minimum tax attributable to the exercise of an ISO would be allowed as a credit against the Participant’s regular tax liability in a later year to the extent the Participant’s regular tax liability is in excess of the alternative minimum tax for that year.

Upon the disposition of ISO Stock that has been held for the requisite holding period (generally, at least two years from the date of grant and one year from the date of exercise of the ISO), a Participant will generally recognize capital gain (or loss) equal to the excess (or shortfall) of the amount received in the disposition over the exercise price paid by the Participant for the ISO Stock. However, if a Participant disposes of ISO Stock that has not been held for the requisite holding period (a “Disqualifying Disposition”), the Participant will recognize ordinary compensation income in the year of the Disqualifying Disposition in an amount equal to the amount by which the fair market value of the ISO Stock at the time of exercise of the ISO (or, if less, the amount realized in the case of an arm’s length disposition to an unrelated party) exceeds the exercise price paid by the Participant for such ISO Stock. A Participant would also recognize capital gain to the extent the amount realized in the Disqualifying Disposition exceeds the fair market value of the ISO Stock on the exercise date. If the exercise price paid for the ISO Stock exceeds the amount realized (in the case of an arm’s-length disposition to an unrelated party), such excess would ordinarily constitute a capital loss.

Under current rulings, if a Participant transfers previously held shares of Class A Common Stock (other than ISO Stock that has not been held for the requisite holding period) in satisfaction of part or all of the exercise price of a Nonstatutory Option or ISO, no additional gain will be recognized on the transfer of such previously held shares in satisfaction of the Nonstatutory Option or ISO exercise price (although a Participant would still recognize ordinary compensation income upon exercise of an Nonstatutory Option in the manner described above). Moreover, that number of shares of Class A Common Stock received upon exercise which equals the number of shares of previously held Class A Common Stock surrendered therefor in satisfaction of the Nonstatutory Option or ISO exercise price will have a tax basis that equals, and a capital gains holding period that includes, the tax basis and capital gains holding period of the previously held shares of Class A Common Stock surrendered in satisfaction of the Nonstatutory Option or ISO exercise price. Any additional shares of Class A Common Stock received upon exercise will have a tax basis that equals the amount of cash (if any) paid by the Participant, plus the amount of compensation income recognized by the Participant under the rules described above.

The OIP allows the Committee to permit the transfer of Awards in limited circumstances. For income and gift tax purposes, certain transfers of Nonstatutory Options and SARs generally should be treated as completed gifts, subject to gift taxation.

The IRS has not provided formal guidance on the income tax consequences of a transfer of Nonstatutory Options (other than in the context of divorce) or SARs. However, the IRS has informally indicated that after a transfer of stock options (other than in the context of divorce pursuant to a domestic relations order), the transferor will recognize income, which will be subject to withholding, and FICA/FUTA taxes will be collectible at the time the transferee exercises the stock options. If Nonstatutory Options are transferred pursuant to a domestic relations order, the transferee will recognize ordinary income upon exercise by the transferee, which will be subject to withholding, and FICA/FUTA taxes (attributable to and reported with respect to the transferor) will be collectible from the transferee at such time.

In addition, if a Participant transfers a vested Nonstatutory Option to another person and retains no interest in or power over it, the transfer is treated as a completed gift. The amount of the transferor’s gift (or generation-skipping transfer, if the gift is to a grandchild or later generation) equals the value of the Nonstatutory Option at the time of the gift. The value of the Nonstatutory Option may be affected by several factors, including the difference between the exercise price and the fair market value of the Class A Common Stock, the potential for future appreciation or depreciation of the Class A Common Stock, the time period of the Nonstatutory Option and the illiquidity of the Nonstatutory Option. The transferor will be subject to a federal gift tax, which will be limited by (i) the annual exclusion of $17,000 per person (the amount is current for the 2023 year, but may change in future tax years), (ii) the transferor’s lifetime unified credit, or (iii) the marital or charitable deduction rules. The gifted Nonstatutory Option will not be included in the Participant’s gross estate for purposes of the federal estate tax or the generation-skipping transfer tax.

This favorable tax treatment for vested Nonstatutory Options has not been extended to unvested Nonstatutory Options. Whether such consequences apply to unvested Nonstatutory Options is uncertain and the gift tax implications of such a transfer is a risk the transferor will bear upon such a disposition. The IRS has not specifically addressed the tax consequences of a transfer of SARs.

A Participant will be subject to withholding for federal, and generally for state and local, income taxes at the time he or she recognizes income under the rules described above with respect to Class A Common Stock or cash received. Dividends that are received by a Participant prior to the time that the Class A Common Stock is taxed to the Participant under the rules described in the preceding paragraph are taxed as additional compensation, not as dividend income. The tax basis in the Class A Common Stock received by a Participant will equal the amount recognized by him as compensation income under the rules described in the preceding paragraph, and the Participant’s capital gains holding period in those shares will commence on the later of the date the shares are received or the restrictions lapse.

Subject to the discussion immediately below, the Company or its affiliate (as applicable) will be entitled to a deduction for federal income tax purposes that corresponds as to timing and amount with the compensation income recognized by a Participant under the foregoing rules.

The future awards, if any, that will be made to eligible persons under the OIP are subject to the discretion of the Committee, and therefore, the benefits or number of shares subject to awards that may be granted in the future to our executive officers, employees and directors is not currently determinable. Therefore, a New Plan Benefits Table is not provided.

The following section provides compensation information pursuant to the scaled disclosure rules applicable to “emerging growth companies” under the rules of the SEC and may contain statements regarding future individual and company performance targets and goals. These targets and goals should not be understood to be statements of management’s expectations or estimates of results or other guidance. We specifically caution investors not to apply these statements to other contexts.

We are currently considered an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act for purposes of the SEC’s executive compensation disclosure rules. Accordingly, we are required to provide a Summary Compensation Table and an Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End Table, as well as limited narrative disclosures regarding executive compensation for our last completed fiscal year.

This section discusses the material components of the executive compensation program for our Chief Executive Officer and our next two most highly compensated officers other than our Chief Executive Officer (collectively, our “Named Executive Officers”) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, our Named Executive Officers and their positions were as follows:

We entered into a transition and separation agreement with Mr. Ricardo Larroude, our former Chief Financial Officer. The terms and conditions of these arrangements are described further in the section below.

The compensation of our Named Executive Officers has consisted of a base salary, annual cash bonus opportunities, long-term incentive compensation in the form of equity awards and other benefits, as described below. As described below, Named Executive Officers are also eligible to receive certain payments and benefits upon a termination of employment under certain circumstances in accordance with the terms of their employment arrangements.

The following table summarizes the compensation paid to, awarded to, or earned by the Named Executive Officers for our last two completed fiscal years.

We currently do not have a formal employment agreement or offer letter with Mr. Shaffer. We did not have a formal employment agreement or offer letter with Mr. Larroudé, but in connection with his resignation as Chief Financial Officer effective April 17, 2022, we entered into a transition and separation agreement, as described below. On July 8, 2021, Mr. Beard executed an offer letter with the Company, which provides for at-will employment and sets forth an annualized base salary of $600,000 and Mr. Beard’s eligibility to participate in the Company’s benefit plans. In connection with his offer letter, Mr. Beard also entered into a confidentiality, intellectual property, arbitration and non-solicitation agreement, effective January 1, 2021. On November 7, 2022, Mr. Beard agreed to receive his salary of $600,000 in the form of a cash salary of $58,000 and equity grants totaling $542,000 paid in quarterly installment in arrears in immediately vested stock.

Mr. Smith executed the Offer Letter on April 14, 2022 and currently serves as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, effective as of April 18, 2022 (the “Effective Date”). Under the Offer Letter, Mr. Smith is entitled to receive (i) an annual salary of $300,000; (ii) an initial equity award of 200,000 restricted stock units, vesting in equal amounts each month over three (3) years; (iii) an initial equity award of 200,000 performance stock units, vesting in equal amounts each quarter over three (3) years which may be settled into shares of Class A common stock in an amount of zero (0) to three (3) times the number of performance stock units granted based on extent to which certain financial metrics set forth in the Offer Letter are achieved; (iv) and an annual equity award grant, subject to the approval of the Company’s Compensation Committee, in a mix of stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units and/or performance stock units consistent with those granted to other executive officer equity participants. In connection with his appointment as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Smith has resigned as a member and the Chairperson of both the Audit and Compensation Committees of the Company.

If Mr. Smith is terminated without Cause or for Good Reason (each as defined in the Offer Letter), as each is defined in the Offer Letter, within eighteen (18) months of the Effective Date, Mr. Smith is eligible to receive the sum of one year’s salary, a pro rata share of his annual bonus, reimbursement for of the cost of COBRA premiums for one year, and additional vesting of his restricted stock units as set forth in the Offer Letter, subject to the execution and non-revocation of a general release of claims. If Mr. Smith is terminated without Cause or for Good Reason within 60 days following a change in control that is consummated within 18 months following the Effective Date, Mr. Smith is eligible to receive to the sum of one year’s salary, one times the annual bonus for the year of termination plus any earned but not paid bonus for prior year, a lump sum amount equal to of the cost of COBRA premiums for 18 months, and accelerated vesting of 50% of the unvested restricted stock units, subject to the execution and non-revocation of a general release of claims.

Mr. Smith is also eligible to receive benefits and perquisites, consistent with those other executive officers are eligible to receive, including life and health insurance benefits, and participation in a qualified 401(k) savings plan. Mr. Smith recused himself from Compensation Committee discussions about his salary and benefits. The foregoing description of the Offer Letter is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Offer Letter, including exhibits thereto, a copy of which is filed as an exhibit to a prior Company filing.

On April 14, 2022, we entered into a transition and separation agreement and general release of claims with Mr. Larroudé (the “Separation Agreement”) pursuant to which Mr. Larroudé resigned as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer effective April 17, 2022 and was required to leave the Company no later than May 15, 2022 (the last day of his employment, the “Separation Date”). We also entered into an offer letter with Matthew J. Smith, a member of our board of directors, to become the Company’s Chief Financial Officer (the “Offer Letter”). A description of the terms of the Separation Agreement and Offer Letter are described below.

Each of our Named Executive Officers for fiscal year 2022 provided for the payment of a base salary. The base salary payable to each Named Executive Officer is intended to provide a fixed component of compensation reflecting each Named Executive Officer’s skill set, experience, role, responsibilities and contributions. The annualized base salaries for our Named Executive Officers during 2022 were Mr. Beard $600,000, Mr. Smith $300,000, and Mr. Shaffer $156,291.

The annual bonus payable to each Named Executive Officer, if any, is intended to provide a fixed component of compensation reflecting each Named Executive Officer’s skill set, experience, role, responsibilities and contributions. The annual bonuses for our Named Executive Officers during 2022 were Mr. Beard $0, Mr. Smith $300,000, and Mr. Shaffer $30,498.29.

Prior to our IPO, we adopted the Initial LTIP pursuant to which we granted stock options to employees and officers of the Company and our affiliates. Our Named Executive Officers were eligible to participate in the Initial LTIP and were granted stock options as detailed below. The Initial LTIP was administered by our board of directors. Following our IPO, no further awards can be granted under the Initial LTIP.

Under the stock option award agreement pursuant to which Messrs. Beard and Shaffer entered into in connection with stock options granted in fiscal year 2021, each Named Executive Officer entered into restrictive covenants including non-disclosure, non-solicit and non-compete covenants. These restrictive covenants apply to the Named Executive Officer throughout their employment or service and through the first anniversary of their termination. In addition, each Named Executive Officer covenanted to devote his full business attention to the Company upon the occurrence of a change in control for a period of one year following such change in control. If an Named Executive Officer violates these restrictive covenants, the Company has the right to cause automatic forfeiture of the outstanding stock options, in addition to all other remedies available in law or equity.

In addition to the stock options granted under the Initial LTIP, certain of the Company’s employees, including Messrs. Larroudé and Shaffer, were granted equity-based awards in Q Power. Under the associated award agreements, Messrs. Larroudé and Shaffer entered into restrictive covenants including non-disclosure, non-solicit and non-compete covenants. These restrictive covenants apply to Messrs. Larroudé and Shaffer so long as they are employed by Q Power, the Company or any of their respective affiliates and through the first anniversary of their termination. Similarly to the stock option grants discussed above, if Messrs. Larroudé and Shaffer violate these restrictive covenants, Q Power has the right to cause an automatic forfeiture of the outstanding equity interests, in addition to all other remedies available in law or equity.

In connection with our IPO, we adopted the OIP, which provides the Company with the ability to grant awards to employees, consultants and directors. Our Named Executive Officers are eligible to participate in the OIP. The OIP provides that we may grant options (including incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options), stock

We currently provide broad-based welfare benefits that are available to all of our employees, including our Named Executive Officers, and include health, dental, life, vision and short- and long-term disability insurance.

In addition, we maintain, and the Named Executive Officers participate in, a 401(k) plan, which is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code and provides eligible employees with an opportunity to save for retirement on a tax-advantaged basis, and we match 100% of an employee’s contributions up to 3% of the employee’s eligible earnings. Employees’ pre-tax contributions and our matching contributions are allocated to each participant’s individual account and are then invested in selected investment alternatives according to the participant’s directions.

The following reflects information regarding outstanding equity-based awards held by the Named Executive Officers as of December 31, 2022.

We believe that attracting and retaining qualified non-employee directors is critical to our future growth and governance. Our non-employee director compensation policy provides the following cash and equity-based incentive awards and other benefits to our non-employee directors:

On March 22, 2022, we amended the Compensation Policy to better align it with peer companies. The Compensation Policy now provides the following cash and equity-based incentive awards:

To further align the interests of Mr. Spence with the interests of our stockholders and to further focus Mr. Spence on our long-term performance, on September 3, 2021 Mr. Spence, as co-chairman of the board, was granted stock options to purchase 835,200 shares of our Class A common stock. Under the stock option award agreement Mr. Spence entered into restrictive covenants including non-disclosure, non-solicit and non-compete covenants. These restrictive covenants apply to Mr. Spence throughout his service and through the first anniversary of his separation from service. In addition, Mr. Spence covenanted to devote his full business attention to the Company upon the occurrence of a change in control for a period of one year following such change in control. If Mr. Spence violates these restrictive covenants, the Company has the right to cause automatic forfeiture of the outstanding stock options, in addition to all other remedies available in law or equity. The vesting of outstanding stock options did not accelerate in connection with the IPO.

Under the OIP, in a single calendar year, a non-employee director may not be granted awards for such individual’s service on our board of directors having a value in excess of $750,000. Additional awards may be granted for any calendar year in which a non-employee director first becomes a director, serves on a special committee of our board of directors, or serves as lead director. This limit does not apply to cash fees or awards granted in lieu of cash fees.

The following table presents the total compensation for each person who served as a non-employee member of our Board during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. We also reimbursed our non-employee directors for their business expenses incurred in connection with their performance of services.

The following management’s discussion and analysis of financial conditions and results of operations of the Company for three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, and the years ended December 31, 2021, and 2020, and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s financial statements and the notes to those financial statements that are included elsewhere in this Information Statement.

We are a vertically integrated crypto asset mining company currently focused on mining Bitcoin. We wholly own and operate two low-cost, environmentally-beneficial coal refuse power generation facilities that we have upgraded: (i) our first reclamation facility located on a 650-acre site in Scrubgrass Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, which we acquired the remaining interest of in April 2021 and has the capacity to generate approximately 83.5 megawatts (“MW”) of electricity (the “Scrubgrass Plant”) and (ii) a facility located near Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, which we acquired in November 2021 and which has the capacity to generate approximately 80 MW of electricity (the “Panther Creek Plant”), each of which is as an Alternative Energy System because coal refuse is classified under Pennsylvania law as a Tier II Alternative Energy Source (large-scale hydropower is also classified in this tier). We are committed to generating our energy and managing our assets sustainably, and we believe that we are one of the first vertically integrated crypto asset mining companies with a focus on environmentally beneficial operations. We believe that our integrated model of owning our own power plants and Bitcoin mining data center operations helps us to produce Bitcoin at a cost that we believe is attractive versus the price of Bitcoin, and generally below the prevailing market price of power that many of our peers must pay and may have to pay in the future during periods of uncertain or elevated power pricing. Due to the environmental benefit resulting from the remediation of the sites from which the waste coal utilized by our two power generation facilities is removed, we also qualify for Tier II renewable energy tax credits (“RECs”) in Pennsylvania. These RECs are currently valued at approximately $17.00 per megawatt hour and help reduce our net cost of power. We believe that our ability to utilize RECs in reducing our net cost of power further differentiates us from our public company peers that purchase power from third party sources or import power from the grid and that do not have access to RECs or other similar tax credits. Should power prices weaken to a level that is below the Company’s cost to produce power, we have the ability to purchase power from the PJM (as defined below) grid to ensure that we are producing Bitcoin at the lowest possible cost. Conversely, if power prices exceed the price of Bitcoin, we may choose to sell power to the PJM grid instead of producing Bitcoin, as we have recently done, on an opportunistic basis.

We expect that our net cost of power will be approximately $45.00 to $50.00 per megawatt-hour (“MWh”) in the first quarter of 2023 and thereafter, taking into account RECs and waste coal tax credits that we receive. This $45.00 to $50.00 per MWh corresponds to approximately $10,000 to $12,000 per Bitcoin equivalent with modern miners and assuming a network hash rate of approximately 250 exahash per second (“EH/s”). We believe this cost to mine is attractive versus the price of Bitcoin and generally below the prevailing market price of power that many of our peers, who do not generate power but must purchase it, must pay. For reference, per Bloomberg, as of December 21, 2022, average 2023 futures grid prices for six major pricing points (Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”) North, ERCOT West, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (“MISO”) Illinois, MISO Indiana, PJM East, and PJM West) range from approximately $50.00 to $65.00 per MWh, with an average of approximately $58.00 per MWh, to which our expected cost of approximately $45.00 to $50.00 per MWh compares favorably.

In addition, we operate as a market participant through PJM Interconnection, a Regional Transmission Organization (“RTO”) that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity. Our ability to sell energy in the wholesale generation market in the PJM RTO provides us with an additional source of revenue. We also believe that owning our own power source makes us a more attractive partner to crypto asset mining equipment purveyors. We intend to leverage these competitive advantages to continue to grow our business through the opportunistic acquisition of additional power generating assets and miners.

In light of the recent downturn in the price of Bitcoin, we have taken steps that we believe will strengthen our balance sheet and liquidity position, including transferring a portion of our Bitcoin miners back to certain equipment lenders in exchange for cancellation of indebtedness, entering into the Exchange Agreement described in this Information Statement, and selling power generated at our power plants to the grid on an opportunistic basis. We are actively monitoring the Bitcoin miner market for both new and used Bitcoin miners and evaluating options to purchase additional miners or otherwise enter into arrangements to replenish our current unfilled mining capacity.

During 2018 and 2019, we began providing Bitcoin mining services to third parties and also began operating our own Bitcoin mining equipment to generate Bitcoin, which we then exchange for U.S. Dollars. We have been expanding our mining operations since such date. As of September 30, 2022, we operated approximately 18,200 Bitcoin mining computers (known as “miners”) with hash rate capacity of approximately 1.6 EH/s. As of September 30, 2022, we had entered into definitive agreements with one supplier to deliver approximately 600 additional miners with capacity of approximately 54 PH/s through the end of 2022. We intend to house our miners at the Scrubgrass Plant and the Panther Creek Plant data centers. On August 16, 2022, the Company agreed to sell approximately 26,000 NYDIG-secured Bitcoin miners to NYDIG ABL, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company formerly known as Arctos Credit LLC (“NYDIG”), fewer than 19 thousand of which were installed as of August 16, 2022, to NYDIG in exchange for assignment to us and cancellation of the NYDIG Debt (as defined below). Through October 26, 2022, we have sold or assigned all of the approximately 26,000 miners that we agreed to sell or assign and cancelled all of the NYDIG Debt.

As of November 8, 2022, we operate approximately 21,900 Bitcoin miners with hash rate capacity of approximately 1.9 EH/s. Of these Bitcoin miners, approximately 19,000 are wholly owned with hash rate capacity of approximately 1.7 EH/s. We will host the remaining approximately 2,900 Bitcoin miners, for which we will receive a hosting fee of $60 per MWh and profit share of 50% of the Bitcoin mining profit. As of November 8, 2022, we have entered into definitive agreements to receive an additional approximately 8,400 Bitcoin miners with hash rate capacity of approximately 0.8 EH/s, which includes approximately 0.4 EH/s related to the MinerVa Purchase Agreement that have not yet been scheduled for delivery. We do not know when the remaining MinerVa miners will be received, if at all.

On March 3, 2021, Stronghold Digital Mining LLC (“SDM”) entered into a non-binding letter of intent (the “Olympus LOI”) with Olympus Power, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Olympus”) for the purchase of (i) the ownership interest in Scrubgrass Reclamation Company, L.P. (f/k/a Scrubgrass Generating Company, L.P.) (“Scrubgrass”) held by Aspen Scrubgrass Participant, LLC (the “Aspen Interest”), (ii) the Panther Creek Plant, and (iii) a third coal refuse power generation facility (the “Third Plant”).

On July 9, 2021, Stronghold Digital Mining Holdings LLC (“Stronghold LLC”) entered into a purchase agreement for the Panther Creek Plant (the “Panther Creek Acquisition”), as contemplated by the Olympus LOI, from Olympus. The Panther Creek Acquisition included all of the assets of Panther Creek Power Operating LLC, comprising of primarily the Panther Creek Plant. We completed the Panther Creek Acquisition on November 2, 2021. The consideration for the Panther Creek Plant was approximately $2.2 million ($3 million less $0.8 million in shared land closing costs) in cash and 1,152,000 Class A common units of Stronghold LLC (“Stronghold LLC Units”), together with a corresponding number of shares of Class V Common Stock.

We continue to evaluate the acquisition of the Third Plant as contemplated by the Olympus LOI, although we do not consider this acquisition to be probable at this time. The acquisition of the Third Plant is subject to further due diligence and the negotiation of a definitive agreement, and there is no assurance that the acquisition will be completed.

We completed the issuance and sale of our Class A Common Stock in an initial public offering (the “IPO”) on October 22, 2021, and our Class A Common Stock is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “SDIG.”

We effected a 2.88-for-1 stock split on October 22, 2021, pursuant to which each share of Common Stock held of record by the holder thereof was reclassified into approximately 2.88 shares of Common Stock. No fractional shares were issued. Pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of

On October 28, 2021, we entered into an agreement with Bitmain Technologies Limited (“Bitmain”) to purchase 12,000 miners, which were to be delivered in six equal batches on a monthly basis beginning in April 2022 (the “First Bitmain Purchase Agreement”). Per the First Bitmain Purchase Agreement, on October 29, 2021, we made an initial payment of $23,300,000 to Bitmain for the miners. On November 18, 2021, we made an additional payment of $4,550,000. Subsequent payments were to be made in the future in connection with additional deliveries of miners under the First Bitmain Purchase Agreement. The miners associated with the First Bitmain Purchase Agreement were part of the APA Collateral (as defined below) pursuant the Asset Purchase Agreement whereby the APA Seller Parties (as defined below) agreed to sell, and the purchasers (or their respective designee) agreed to purchase, the APA Collateral in a private disposition in exchange for the forgiveness, reduction and release of the NYDIG Debt.

On November 16, 2021, we entered into a second agreement with Bitmain to purchase 1,800 miners, which were to be delivered in six equal batches on a monthly basis beginning in July 2022 (the “Second Bitmain Purchase Agreement”). Per the Second Bitmain Purchase Agreement, on November 18, 2021, we made an initial payment of $6,835,000 to Bitmain for the miners. Subsequent payments were to be made in the future in connection with additional deliveries of miners under the Second Bitmain Purchase Agreement.

The miners purchased pursuant to the two agreements with Bitmain were to have an aggregate hash rate capacity of approximately 1,450 PH/s.

On May 13, 2022, we entered into a purchase order to transfer the Second Bitmain Purchase Agreement for 1,800 Bitmain Antminer S19 XP miners (the “Bitmain Sale”) to Cryptech Solutions, Inc. (“Cryptech”) for a total value of $12,600,000, including a $5,638,500 payment to the Company along with a transfer of the responsibility of the future payments to Cryptech.

We paid for two separate purchases of miners from Nowlit Solutions Corp. The first purchase payment was made on November 23, 2021, in the amount of $1,605,360 for 190 miners. The second purchase payment was made on November 26, 2021, in the amount of $2,486,730 for an additional 295 miners.

We paid for three separate purchases of miners from Luxor Technology Corporation (“Luxor”). The first purchase payment was made on November 26, 2021, in the amount of $4,312,650 for 770 miners. The second and third purchase payments were made on November 29, 2021, in the amount of $5,357,300 for 750 miners and $3,633,500 for 500 miners, respectively.

On November 30, 2021, we entered into a fourth purchase agreement with Luxor to acquire 400 Antminer T19 miners with a hash rate of 84 TH/s and 400 Antminer T19 miners with a hash rate of 88 TH/s for a total purchase price of $6,260,800.

On December 7, 2021, we entered into a Hardware Purchase and Sales Agreement (the “Cryptech Purchase Agreement”) with Cryptech to acquire 1,000 Bitmain S19a miners with a hash rate of 96 TH/s for a total purchase price of $8,592,000. Pursuant to the Cryptech Purchase Agreement, all hardware will be paid for in advance of being shipped to the Company.

On December 10, 2021, we entered into a Hardware Purchase and Sale Agreement (the “First Supplier Purchase Agreement”) to acquire 3,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners (the “M30S Miners”) with a hash rate per unit of 87 TH/s. Pursuant to the First Supplier Purchase Agreement, the unit price per M30S Miner was $6,960 for a cumulative purchase price of $20,880,000 that was paid in full within five business days of the execution of the First Supplier Purchase Agreement.

On December 15, 2021, we entered into a Master Equipment Finance Agreement (the “Second NYDIG Financing Agreement”) with NYDIG whereby NYDIG agreed to lend Stronghold Digital Mining BT, LLC (“Digital Mining BT”) up to $53,952,000 to finance the purchase of certain Bitcoin miners and related equipment (the “Second NYDIG-Financed Equipment”). Outstanding borrowings under the Second NYDIG Financing Agreement were secured by the Second NYDIG-Financed Equipment, contracts to acquire Second NYDIG-Financed Equipment, and the Bitcoin mined by the Second NYDIG-Financed Equipment. The Second NYDIG Financing Agreement included customary restrictions on additional liens on the Second NYDIG-Financed Equipment.

See “– Recent Developments” and Note 6 – Long-Term Debt in the notes to the Company’s financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 attached to this Information Statement (the “Q322 Financials”) for further discussion of the transactions we completed on October 26, 2022, pursuant to the Asset Purchase Agreement, which resulted in the cancellation of all of the NYDIG Debt and the termination of the NYDIG Financing Agreements.

On November 2, 2021, we entered into the Operations, Maintenance and Ancillary Services Agreement (the “Omnibus Services Agreement”) with Olympus Stronghold Services, LLC (“Olympus Stronghold Services”), whereby Olympus Stronghold Services provides certain operations and maintenance services to Stronghold LLC, as well as employs certain personnel to operate the Panther Creek Plant and the Scrubgrass Plant. Stronghold LLC reimburses Olympus Stronghold Services for those costs incurred by Olympus Stronghold Services and approved by Stronghold LLC in the course of providing services under the Omnibus Services Agreement, including payroll and benefits costs and insurance costs. The material costs incurred by Olympus Stronghold Services are approved by Stronghold LLC. Stronghold LLC also pays Olympus Stronghold Services a management fee at the rate of $1,000,000 per year, payable monthly, and an additional one-time mobilization fee of $150,000 upon the effective date of the Omnibus Services Agreement. Effective October 1, 2022, Stronghold LLC only pays Olympus Stronghold Services a management fee in the amount of $500,000 per year, payable monthly, for services provided at the Panther Creek Plant.

During the second quarter of 2022, the Company entered into multiple miner sales agreements with multiple buyers. The Company previously disclosed its effort to optimize its Bitcoin miner fleet through its sale of 3,425 miners (approximately 411 PH/s) with a historical carrying value of $21.9 million, or $50.70 per TH/s. The Company recognized a realized loss on sale of miner assets of approximately $8.0 million on these miners during the second quarter of 2022. The Company undertook these sales due to its priorities of improving its liquidity position and improved returns over growth. The loss was recorded in Realized loss on sale of miner assets on the consolidated statements of operations. The various buyers paid the Company an aggregate of $13.8 million up front and took over the remaining installment payment obligations upon transfer of the contract, relieving the Company of the outstanding purchase obligation.

During the third quarter of 2022, the Company consensually delivered approximately 26,000 Bitcoin miners (approximately 18,700 of which were plugged in and operating prior to delivery) to NYDIG and BankProv and the related debt was cancelled pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement. See Note 6 – Long-Term Debt in the notes to the Q322 Financials for further discussion of the Asset Purchase Agreement.

On April 1, 2021, we effected the corporate reorganization described in Note 1 – Business Combinations in the notes to the Q322 Financials.

The coronavirus (“COVID-19”) global pandemic has resulted and is likely to continue to result in significant national and global economic disruption, which may adversely affect our business. Among other things, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused supply chain disruptions that may have lasting impacts. Additionally, the global supply chain for Bitcoin miners is presently further constrained due to unprecedented demand coupled with a global shortage of mining equipment and mining equipment parts. Based on our current assessments, however, we do not expect any material impact on long-term development, operations, or liquidity due to the spread of COVID-19. However, we are actively monitoring this situation and the possible effects on its financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, and industry.

In May 2021, the Chinese government called for a crackdown on Bitcoin mining and trading. Following this, the majority of Bitcoin miners in China were taken offline. This resulted in (i) a significant reduction in the Bitcoin global network hash rate, (ii) an increase in the availability of Bitcoin miners for purchase and (iii) an increase in the demand for power outside of China. Further, in September 2021, Chinese regulators instituted a blanket ban on all crypto mining and transactions, including overseas crypto exchange services taking place in China, effectively making all crypto-related activities illegal in China. The reduction in network hash rate has improved Bitcoin mining profitability (not factoring in underlying Bitcoin prices), with plugged-in Bitcoin miners representing a larger percentage of the global hash rate. We do not believe that higher demand for power will have a negative impact on our business because we own and operate our power sources.

During the fourth quarter of 2021 and continuing into the second and third quarter of 2022, the Scrubgrass Plant had downtime that was greater than anticipated, driven largely by mechanical failures. The upgrades and maintenance that were necessary took longer and were more extensive than originally anticipated. Additionally, during the first half of 2022, higher than anticipated requirements from PJM Interconnection LLC (“PJM”) resulted in unplanned and extended outages of our mining operations at the Scrubgrass Plant, diverting capacity away from our mining operations at a time that was not economical for our business strategy. These diversions of power away from our mining operations during the first and second quarters had a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The Scrubgrass Plant also experienced higher than expected cost capping, as the result of its role as a capacity resource, from PJM which obligated the Scrubgrass Plant to supply power to the PJM grid at pre-set prices in an effort to stabilize PJM grid pricing. Starting in June, Scrubgrass Plant was no longer classified as a capacity resource, and is now an energy resource, which allows the plant to sell power to the grid at market prices.

Starting in the third quarter of 2022, the Scrubgrass Plant conducted its planned maintenance outage that lasted for approximately two weeks from the end of September into early October, during which time it did not generate power. During the outage, management undertook a thorough review of plant-level profitability and identified opportunities for immediate cost reductions including improved fuel purchasing, headcount reductions and optimization, and inventory and maintenance planning enhancements. Given seasonally low power prices in October, and some additional desired maintenance objectives, management kept the plant offline while it implemented the cost reduction program and improved the fuel mix through accelerated deliveries of low-cost fuel, and then returned Scrubgrass to service in late October. Following the outage, the Scrubgrass Plant has demonstrated the ability to run at baseload output levels, as expected. During the outage, the Scrubgrass Data Center imported power from the grid to support operations.

During the second quarter of 2022, the Panther Creek Plant's mining operations were offline for ten days due to the failure of a switchgear and the need to source, deliver and install a new piece of equipment, causing ten days of no mining revenue generation at the facility and resulting in an estimated loss of approximately $1.4 million. The operation of our power generation facilities, information technology systems and other assets and conduct of other activities subjects us to a variety of risks, including the breakdown or failure of equipment, accidents, security

As previously disclosed on the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 25, 2022, the Panther Creek Plant experienced approximately 8.5 days of unplanned downtime in the month of June from damaged transmission lines caused by a storm, and other plant maintenance issues. The Company estimated the financial impact of the June outages to be lost revenue of $1.8 million and a net income impact of $1.4 million.

In the third quarter of 2022, the Panther Creek Plant completed its planned maintenance outage which lasted for approximately two weeks, during which time it did not generate power. The outage went as planned, and the plant was restored to service in October. During the outage, the Panther Creek Data Center imported power from the grid to support operations.

The market price of Bitcoin has historically and recently been volatile. For example, the price of Bitcoin ranged from a low of approximately $29,000 to a high of approximately $69,000 during 2021 and has ranged from approximately $18,000 to approximately $48,000 year-to-date as of November 7, 2022. Since the IPO, the price of Bitcoin has dropped over 70%, resulting in an adverse effect on our results of operations, liquidity and strategy, and resulting in increased credit pressures on the cryptocurrency industry. Our operating results depend on the value of Bitcoin because it is the only crypto asset we currently mine.

We cannot accurately predict the future market price of Bitcoin and, as such, we cannot accurately predict potential adverse effects, including whether we will record impairment of the value of our Bitcoin assets. The future value of Bitcoin will affect the revenue from our operations, and any future impairment of the value of the Bitcoin we mine and hold for our account would be reported in our financial statements and results of operations as charges against net income, which could have a material adverse effect on the market price for our securities.

As disclosed in our Form 8-K filing on December 6, 2022, on November 30, 2022, we received a written notification from Nasdaq notifying the Company that, based upon the closing bid price of the Class A Common Stock, for the last 30 consecutive business days, the Class A Common Stock did not meet the minimum bid price of $1.00 per share required by Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1), initiating an automatic 180 calendar-day grace period for the Company to regain compliance. Pursuant to the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has been granted a 180 calendar day compliance period, or until May 29, 2023, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. During the compliance period, the Class A Common Stock will continue to be listed and traded on the Nasdaq Global Market. The Company will regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement if at any time before May 29, 2023, the bid price for the Class A Common Stock closes at or above $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days.

If the Company does not regain compliance within the allotted compliance period, including any extensions that may be granted by Nasdaq, Nasdaq will provide notice that the Class A Common Stock will be subject to delisting. At such time, the Company may appeal the delisting determination to a hearings panel. The Company intends to continue to monitor the bid price levels for the Class A Common Stock and will consider appropriate alternatives to achieve compliance within the initial 180 calendar-day compliance period, including, among other things, the reverse stock split described in this Information Statement. There can be no assurance, however, that the Company will be able to do so.

The prices of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, have experienced substantial volatility. For example, the price of Bitcoin ranged from a low of approximately $30,000 to a high of approximately $68,000 during 2021, and has ranged from approximately $15,000 to approximately $50,000 year-to-date as of December 15, 2022. During 2022, a number of companies in the crypto assets industry have declared bankruptcy, including Core Scientific Inc., Celsius Network LLC, Voyager Digital Ltd., Three Arrows Capital, BlockFi Lending LLC (“BlockFi”), and FTX Trading Ltd. Such bankruptcies have contributed, at least in part, to further price decreases in Bitcoin, a loss of confidence

We safeguard and keep private our digital assets, including the Bitcoin that we mine, by utilizing storage solutions provided by Anchorage Digital Bank (“Anchorage”), which requires multi-factor authentication. While we are confident in the security of our digital assets held by Anchorage, given the broader market conditions, there can be no assurance that other crypto asset market participants, including Anchorage as our custodian, will not ultimately be impacted. Further, given the current conditions in the digital assets ecosystem, we are liquidating our mined Bitcoin often, and at multiple points every week through Anchorage. We continue to monitor the digital assets industry as a whole, although it is not possible at this time to predict all of the risks stemming from these events that may result to us, our service providers, our counterparties, and the broader industry as a whole.

On August 17, 2021, Stronghold LLC entered into an agreement with Northern Data PA, LLC (“Northern Data”) whereby Northern Data will construct and operate a colocation data center facility located on the Scrubgrass Plant (the “Hosting Agreement”), the primary business purpose of which will be to provide hosting services and support the cryptocurrency miners that we have purchased but not yet received entirely from Northern Data. On March 28, 2022, we restructured the Hosting Agreement to obtain an additional 2,675 miners at cost of $37.5 per terahash (to be paid five months after delivery) and temporarily reduced the profit share for Northern Data while incorporating performance thresholds until the data center build-out is complete. On August 10, 2022 the Company and Northern Data terminated the provision of the restructured Hosting Agreement related to the additional 2,675 miners and the Company shall neither make payment for such additional miners nor obtain title to such additional miners.

On September 30, 2022, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with Northern Data (the “Settlement Agreement”) whereby the Hosting Agreement was mutually terminated. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, for a term of two years until October 1, 2024, the Company has the right to lease from Northern Data for its exclusive use, access, and operation of (i) 24 Northern Data manufactured pods capable of supporting approximately 550 Bitcoin miners each for an aggregate amount of approximately 13,200 available slots and (ii) four Strongboxes that the Company previously sold to Northern Data capable of supporting approximately 264 Bitcoin miners each for an aggregate of approximately 1,056 mining slots for $1,000 annually. Following the Settlement Agreement, no future revenue share will be applicable for miners in the Northern Data pods or Strongboxes, and the Company will receive 100% of the profits generated by Bitcoin miners in the Northern Data pods and Strongboxes. At the end of the two-year term of the Settlement Agreement, the Company has the option, but not the obligation, to purchase the Northern Data pods and Strongboxes for an amount between $2 million and $6 million based on the prevailing hash price at the time, net of a maximum of $1.5 million of expenditures that the Company has the option to use to upgrade the Northern Data pods throughout the two-year term.

Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the Company will pay Northern Data an aggregate amount of $4.5 million as follows: (i) $2.5 million to Northern Data not later than October 3, 2022, which amount was paid to Northern Data in full on October, 3, 2022; (ii) $1.0 million to Northern Data not later than October 31, 2022, which amount was paid to Northern Data in full on October 31, 2022; and (iii) $1.0 million to Northern Data not later than November 30, 2022, and included in accounts payable on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2022. The Company recorded the settlement costs of $4.5 million in September 2022, partially offset by the elimination of approximately $2.6 million payable to Northern Data. The net impact of $1.9 million was recorded as operations and maintenance expense on the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022.

On April 2, 2021, we entered into a purchase agreement with MinerVa (the “MinerVa Purchase Agreement”) for the acquisition of 15,000 of their MV7 ASIC SHA256 model cryptocurrency miner equipment (miners) with a total terahash to be delivered equal to 1.5 million terahash. In December 2021, we extended the deadline for delivery of the MinerVa miners to April 2022. As of September 30, 2022, MinerVa has delivered, refunded cash, or swapped into deliveries of industry leading miners of equivalent value to approximately 9,100 of the 15,000 miners. We do not know when the remaining MinerVa miners will be received, if at all. As a result, an impairment totaling $12,228,742 was recognized on March 31, 2022. On July 18, 2022, the Company provided written notice of dispute to MinerVa pursuant to the MinerVa Purchase Agreement obligating the Company and MinerVa to work together in good faith towards a resolution for a period of sixty (60) days. In accordance with the MinerVa Purchase Agreement, if no settlement has been reached after sixty (60) days, Stronghold may end discussions and declare an impasse and adhere to the dispute resolution provisions of the MinerVa Purchase Agreement. As the 60-day period has now expired, the Company is evaluating all available remedies under the MinerVa Purchase Agreement.

On May 9, 2022, an award in the amount of $5.0 million plus interest computed as of May 15, 2022, in the amount of $0.8 million was issued in favor of the McClymonds Supply & Transit Company, Inc. in the previously disclosed dispute over a trucking contract between the claimant and our subsidiary. The two managing members of Q Power, LLC, our primary Class V shareholder, have agreed to and begun to pay the full amount of the award such that there will be no effect on the financial condition of the Company.

On September 13, 2022, we entered into Securities Purchase Agreements (the “Armistice Purchase Agreements”) with Armistice Capital Master Fund Ltd. (“Armistice”) and Greg Beard, our co-chairman and chief executive officer, for the purchase and sale of 2,274,350 and 602,409 shares, respectively, of Class A Common Stock at a purchase price of $1.60 and $1.66, respectively, and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 5,602,409 shares of Class A Common Stock, at an initial exercise price of $1.75 per share (subject to certain adjustments) (the “September 2022 Private Placement”). Subject to certain ownership limitations, such warrants are exercisable upon issuance and will be exercisable for five and a half years commencing upon the date of issuance. Armistice also purchased pre-funded warrants to purchase 2,725,650 shares of Class A Common Stock (the “September 2022 Warrants”) at a purchase price of $1.60 per September 2022 Warrant. The September 2022 Warrants have an exercise price of $0.0001 per warrant share. The transaction closed on September 19, 2022. The gross proceeds, before deducting offering expenses, from the sale of such securities was approximately $9.0 million. The Company intends to use the proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, which may include acquisition of Bitcoin miners.

Pursuant to the Armistice Purchase Agreements, we entered into a registration rights agreement with Armistice (the “Armistice Registration Rights Agreement”), filed a registration statement covering the resale of all Registrable Securities (as defined in the Armistice Registration Rights Agreement), and agreed to use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the registration statement to become effective within the timeframes specified in the Armistice Registration Rights Agreement; failure to do so will result in certain liquidated damages as set forth in the Armistice Registration Rights Agreement.

Subject to certain exceptions, until 30 days after the effective date of the registration statement (the “Armistice Registration Effective Date”), we will be prohibited from issuing, entering into any agreement to issue or announcing the issuance or proposed issuance of any shares of Class A Common Stock or securities convertible or exercisable into Class A Common Stock, or filing, amending or supplementing certain other registration statements. Until six months after the Armistice Registration Effective Date, we will also be prohibited from effecting or entering into an agreement to effect any issuance involving a variable rate transaction.

On March 28, 2022, Equipment LLC and WhiteHawk Finance LLC (“WhiteHawk”) amended the WhiteHawk Financing Agreement (as defined below) for a second time (the “Second WhiteHawk Amendment”) to exchange the collateral under the equipment financing agreement dated June 30, 2021, by and between Stronghold LLC and WhiteHawk (the “WhiteHawk Financing Agreement”). Pursuant to the Second WhiteHawk Amendment, (i) the

On August 16, 2022, we entered into a commitment letter (the “Commitment Letter”) with WhiteHawk to provide for committed financing to refinance the WhiteHawk Financing Agreement and provide up to $20 million in additional commitments for an aggregate loan not to exceed $60.0 million.

On October 27, 2022, we entered into a secured credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with WhiteHawk to refinance the WhiteHawk Financing Agreement, effectively terminating the WhiteHawk Financing Agreement. The Credit Agreement consists of $35.1 million in term loans and $23.0 million in additional commitments (such additional commitments, the “Delayed Draw Facility”). Such loans under the Delayed Draw Facility were drawn on the closing date of the Credit Agreement. The Credit Agreement and Delayed Draw Facility together reduce monthly principal payments and added approximately $21 million of cash to the Company’s balance sheet following the Company’s draw down on the full amount of the Delayed Draw Facility. The full amount of the WhiteHawk Financing Agreement has been drawn as of the date hereof.

The financing pursuant to the Credit Agreement (such financing, the “WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement”) was entered into by Stronghold LLC as Borrower (the “Borrower”) and is secured by substantially all of the assets of the Company and its subsidiaries and is guaranteed by the Company and each of its material subsidiaries. The WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement requires equal monthly amortization payments resulting in full amortization at maturity. The WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement has customary representations, warranties and covenants including restrictions on indebtedness, liens, restricted payments and dividends, investments, asset sales and similar covenants and contains customary events of default. The WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement also contains covenants requiring the Borrower and its subsidiaries to maintain a minimum (x) of $7.5 million of liquidity at all times, (y) a minimum liquidity of $10 million of average daily liquidity for each calendar month (rising to $20 million beginning July 1, 2023) and (z) a maximum total leverage ratio covenant of (i) 7.5:1.0 for the quarter ending December 31, 2022, (ii) 5.0:1.0 for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, (iii) 4.0:1.0 for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 and (iv) 4.0:1.0 for each quarter ending thereafter.

The borrowings under the WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement mature on October 26, 2025 and bear interest at a rate of either (i) the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) plus 10% or (ii) a reference rate equal to the greater of (x) 3%, (y) the federal funds rate plus 0.50% and (y) the Term SOFR rate plus 1%, plus 9%. The loan under the Delayed Draw Facility was issued with 3% closing fee on the drawn amount, paid when such amount was drawn. Amounts drawn on the WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement are subject to a prepayment premium such that the lenders thereunder achieve a 20% return on invested capital. The Company also issued a stock purchase warrant to WhiteHawk in conjunction with the closing of the WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement, which provides for the purchase of an additional 4,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.01 per share.

On August 16, 2022, the Company, Stronghold LLC, Stronghold Digital Mining LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“SD Mining”) and Stronghold Digital Mining BT, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“SD Mining BT”, and together with SD Mining, the “APA Sellers” and, together with the Company and Stronghold LLC, the “APA Seller Parties”), entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”) with NYDIG ABL LLC, a Delaware limited liability company formerly known as Arctos Credit, LLC (“NYDIG”), and The Provident Bank, a Massachusetts savings bank (“BankProv”).

On September 30, 2022, the APA Seller Parties completed the sale, in two separate settlements, of six tranches of APA Collateral to BankProv and NYDIG in exchange for the extinguishment of an aggregate of $65.3 million of principal under the NYDIG Debt and related interest. On October 26, 2022, the APA Seller Parties completed the transfer of the seventh and final tranche of the APA Collateral to NYDIG pursuant to the Asset Purchase Agreement in exchange for the extinguishment of $2.1 million of principal under the NYDIG Debt and related interest (the “Final Settlement”). Following the Final Settlement, the aggregate amount of principal under the NYDIG Debt extinguished is $67.4 million, the entire amount of the NYDIG Debt, and it will therefore no longer be reflected on our balance sheet. The NYDIG Agreements were terminated concurrently with the Final Settlement.

In August and September of 2022, the Company undertook several steps aimed to improve its liquidity and flexibility to deploy capital opportunistically through cycles in the Bitcoin and power markets. Largely driven by depressed Bitcoin mining economics, the Company’s ability to sell power to the PJM grid, and the value of miner collateral per terahash under the Company’s non-recourse financing agreements, on August 16, 2022, the Company entered into (i) the Asset Purchase Agreement, (ii) an amendment to the Purchase Agreement (the “May 2022 Private Placement Amendment”), and (iii) the WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement. The Company also entered into the Settlement Agreement.

Collectively, the Asset Purchase Agreement, May 2022 Private Placement Amendment and WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement (i) reduced the Company’s principal amount of debt outstanding by approximately $79 million (approximately 55% of total principal amount outstanding as of June 30, 2022), (ii) reduced cash interest and principal payments through year-end 2023 by approximately $113 million, and (iii) improved the Company's forecasted cash flow through year-end 2023 through a reduction in interest and principal payments and monetization of the power capacity formerly dedicated to miners. The Company believes the Asset Purchase Agreement, May 2022 Private Placement Amendment, WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement and Settlement Agreement provide the Company with increased operational control to opportunistically take advantage of the distressed Bitcoin miner market at attractive prices while preserving liquidity. For context on the Bitcoin miner market, pursuant to the Asset Purchase Agreement, the Company transferred approximately 26,000 miners, to NYDIG and The Provident Bank, in exchange for the extinguishment of approximately $67 million of debt. Based on recent publicly disclosed Bitcoin miner purchases as well as offerings provided to the Company by third-party brokers of Bitcoin miners, the Company estimates that the current market value of these miners is between $30 million and $35 million, primarily due to the decrease in the market value of Bitcoin miners generally from the dates we acquired them to now. Since executing the Asset Purchase Agreement, the Company has received over 6,300 miners for an existing fleet of 21,900 miners, and expects to receive an additional approximately 4,000 miners, bringing the total number of miners operated by the Company to over 25,900 upon receipt. Of the current Bitcoin miners, approximately 19,000 are wholly owned with hash rate capacity of approximately 1.7 EH/s. We host the remaining approximately 2,900 Bitcoin miners.

On December 30, 2022, the Company and the Noteholders entered into the Exchange Agreement. Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, at the Closing the Company will issue an aggregate of 23,102 shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock in exchange for the cancellation of an aggregate $17,893,750.00 of principal and accrued interest representing all of the amounts owed to the Noteholders under the terms of the Notes. Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, no principal or interest on the Notes shall become due or payable from the date of the Exchange Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or the termination of the Exchange Agreement. The rights and preferences of the Series C Preferred Stock will be designated in the Certificate of Designation, and the Company has agreed to provide certain registration rights to the Noteholders with respect to the Class A Common

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Future events and their effects cannot be determined with absolute certainty. Therefore, the determination of estimates requires the exercise of judgment. Actual results inevitably will differ from those estimates, and such differences may be material to the financial statements. The most significant accounting estimates inherent in the preparation of our financial statements include estimates associated with revenue recognition, investments, intangible assets, stock-based compensation, and business combinations. Our financial position, results of operations and cash flows are impacted by the accounting policies we have adopted. In order to get a full understanding of our financial statements, one must have a clear understanding of the accounting policies employed.

We measure at fair value certain of our financial and non-financial assets and liabilities by using a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date, essentially an exit price, based on the highest and best use of the asset or liability. The levels of the fair value hierarchy are:

A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

Management has assessed the basis of depreciation of our cryptocurrency machines used to verify digital currency transactions and generate digital currencies and believes they should be depreciated over a three-year period. The rate at which we generate digital assets and, therefore, consume the economic benefits of our Bitcoin miners is influenced by a number of factors including the following:

We operate in an emerging industry for which limited data is available to make estimates of the useful economic lives of specialized equipment. Management has determined that three years best reflects the current expected useful life of Bitcoin miners. This assessment takes into consideration the availability of historical data and management’s expectations regarding the direction of the industry including potential changes in technology. Management will review this estimate annually and will revise it as and when data becomes available.

To the extent that any of the assumptions underlying management’s estimate of useful life of its Bitcoin miners are subject to revision in a future reporting period, either as a result of changes in circumstances or through the

We recognize revenue under ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The core principle of this revenue standard is that a company should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The following five steps are applied to achieve that core principle:

In order to identify the performance obligations in a contract with a customer, a company must assess the promised goods or services in the contract and identify each promised good or service that is distinct. A performance obligation meets the definition of a “distinct” good or service (or bundle of goods or services) per ASC 606 if both of the following criteria are met: the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available to the customer (i.e., the good or service is capable of being distinct), and the entity’s promise to transfer the good or service to the customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract (i.e., the promise to transfer the good or service is distinct within the context of the contract).

If a good or service is not distinct, the good or service is combined with other promised goods or services until a bundle of goods or services is identified that is distinct.

The transaction price is the amount of consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services to a customer. The consideration promised in a contract with a customer may include fixed amounts, variable amounts, or both.

Variable consideration is included in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty associated with the variable consideration is subsequently resolved. The transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation on a relative standalone selling price basis. The transaction price allocated to each performance obligation is recognized when that performance obligation is satisfied, at a point in time or over time as appropriate. There were no revenue streams with variable consideration during the nine months ended September 30, 2022, and 2021.

There is currently no specific definitive guidance under GAAP or alternative accounting framework for the accounting for cryptocurrencies recognized as revenue or held, and management has exercised significant judgment in determining the appropriate accounting treatment. In the event authoritative guidance is enacted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”), we may be required to change our policies, which could have an effect on our consolidated financial position and results from operations.

The Company has determined that the Bitcoin awarded through its Bitcoin mining operations are a current asset and should be accounted for as cash flow from operating activities due to the fact that it has been selling cryptocurrency on a regular basis in order to fund its operations. As such, any changes in the balance of the current

Fair value of the digital asset award received is determined using the quoted price of the related cryptocurrency at the time of receipt.

We operate as a market participant through PJM Interconnection, an RTO that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity. We sell energy in the wholesale generation market in the PJM RTO. Energy revenues are delivered as a series of distinct units that are substantially the same and that have the same pattern of transfer to the customer over time and, therefore, are accounted for as a distinct performance obligation. The transaction price is based on pricing published in the day ahead market which constitutes the stand-alone selling price.

Energy revenue is recognized over time as energy volumes are generated and delivered to the RTO (which is contemporaneous with generation), using the output method for measuring progress of satisfaction of the performance obligation. We apply the invoice practical expedient in recognizing energy revenue. Under the invoice practical expedient, energy revenue is recognized based on the invoiced amount which is considered equal to the value provided to the customer for the performance obligation completed to date.

Reactive energy power is provided to maintain a continuous voltage level. Revenue from reactive power is recognized ratably over time as we stand ready to provide it if called upon by the PJM RTO.

We provide capacity to a customer through participation in capacity auctions held by the PJM RTO. Capacity revenues are a series of distinct performance obligations that are substantially the same and that have the same pattern of transfer to the customer over time and, therefore, are accounted for as a distinct performance obligation. The transaction price for capacity is market-based and constitutes the stand-alone selling price. As capacity represents our stand-ready obligation, capacity revenue is recognized as the performance obligation is satisfied ratably over time, on a monthly basis, since we stand ready equally throughout the period to deliver power to the PJM RTO if called upon. We apply the invoice practical expedient in recognizing capacity revenue. Under the invoice practical expedient, capacity revenue is recognized based on the invoiced amount which is considered equal to the value provided to the customer for the performance obligation completed to date. Penalties may be assessed by the PJM RTO against generation facilities if the facility is not available during the capacity period. The penalties assessed by the PJM RTO, if any, are recorded as a reduction to capacity revenue when incurred.

We have entered into customer hosting contracts whereby we provide electrical power to cryptocurrency mining customers, and the customers pay a stated amount per MWh (“Contract Capacity”). This amount is paid monthly in advance. Amounts used in excess of the Contract Capacity are billed based upon calculated formulas as contained in the contracts. If any shortfalls occur due to outages, make-whole payment provisions contained in the contracts are used to offset the billings to the customer which prevent them from cryptocurrency mining. Advanced payments and customer deposits are reflected as contract liabilities.

We have entered into digital asset mining pools by executing contracts, as amended from time to time, with the mining pool operators to provide computing power to the mining pool. The contracts are terminable at any time by either party, and our enforceable right to compensation only begins when we provide computing power to the mining pool operator. In exchange for providing computing power, we are entitled to a fractional share of the fixed cryptocurrency award the mining pool operator receives (less digital asset transaction fees to the mining pool operator which are recorded as reduction to cryptocurrency mining revenues) for successfully adding a block to the blockchain. The terms of the agreement provide that neither party can dispute settlement terms after thirty-five days following settlement. Our fractional share is based on the proportion of computing power we contributed to the mining pool operator to the total computing power contributed by all mining pool participants in solving the current algorithm.

Fair value of the cryptocurrency award received is determined using the quoted price of the related cryptocurrency at the time of receipt. There is currently no specific definitive guidance under GAAP or alternative accounting framework for the accounting for cryptocurrencies recognized as revenue or held, and management has exercised significant judgment in determining the appropriate accounting treatment. In the event authoritative guidance is enacted by the FASB, we may be required to change our policies, which could have an effect on our consolidated financial position and results from operations.

Asset retirement obligations, including those conditioned on future events, are recorded at fair value in the period in which they are incurred, if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the related long-lived asset in the same period. In each subsequent period, the liability is accreted to its present value and the capitalized cost is depreciated over the estimated useful life of the long-lived asset. If the asset retirement obligation is settled for other than the carrying amount of the liability, we recognize a gain or loss on settlement. Our asset retirement obligation represents the cost we would incur to perform environmental clean-up or dismantle certain portions of the facilities.

We review long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. A long-lived asset (group) that is held and used must be reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the long-lived asset (group) might not be recoverable (i.e., information indicates that an impairment might exist). We are responsible for routinely assessing whether impairment indicators are present and ensuring systems or processes are in place to assist in the identification of potential impairment indicators.

We are not required to perform an impairment analysis (i.e., test the asset (group) for recoverability and potentially measure an impairment loss) if indicators of impairment are not present. We assess the need for an impairment write-down only if an indicator of impairment (e.g., a significant decrease in the market value of a long-lived asset (group)) is present. The Company performed an impairment test on its long-lived assets and $11.6 million and $16.6 million was recognized as expenses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively. No impairment indicators existed as of September 30, 2021, that required impairment testing of our long-lived assets in the prior year.

In accordance with guidance on accounting for derivative instruments and hedging activities all derivatives should be recognized at fair value. Derivatives or any portion thereof, that are not designated as, and effective as, hedges must be adjusted to fair value through earnings. Derivative contracts are classified as either assets or liabilities on the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. Certain contracts that require physical delivery may qualify for, and be designated as, normal purchases/normal sales. Such contracts are accounted for on an accrual basis.

We use derivative instruments to mitigate our exposure to various energy commodity market risks. We do not enter into any derivative contracts or similar arrangements for speculative or trading purposes. We will, at times, sell our forward unhedged electricity capacity to stabilize our future operating margins.

We also use derivative instruments to mitigate the risks of Bitcoin market pricing volatility. We entered into a variable prepaid forward sale contract that mitigates Bitcoin market pricing volatility risks between a low and high collar of Bitcoin market prices during the contract term. This contract settled in September 2022. The contract meets

For equity-classified awards, compensation expense is recognized over the requisite service period based on the computed fair value on the grant date of the award. Equity-classified awards include the issuance of stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”).

We record notes payable net of any discounts or premiums. Discounts and premiums are amortized as interest expense or income over the life of the note in such a way to result in a constant rate of interest when applied to the amount outstanding at the beginning of any given period.

We record warrant liabilities at their fair value as of the balance sheet date and recognize changes in the balances, over the comparative periods of either the issuance date or the last reporting date, as part of changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities expense. At the issuance date, each series of warrants was convertible and redeemable to preferred stock.

Basic net (loss) income per share (“EPS”) of Common Stock is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding or shares subject to exercise for a nominal value during the period. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue Common Stock were exercised or converted into Common Stock or resulted in the issuance of Common Stock that then shared in the earnings of the entity.

The amount of income taxes we record requires interpretations of complex rules and regulations of federal, state and local tax jurisdictions. We use the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes, under which deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial statement carrying values and the tax bases of existing assets and liabilities, and for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are based on enacted tax rates applicable to the future period when those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized in earnings in the period the rate change is enacted. A valuation allowance is provided for deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not the deferred tax assets will not be realized after considering all positive and negative evidence available concerning the realizability of our deferred tax assets.

As of September 30, 2022, and December 31, 2021, we maintained a valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets. The valuation allowance remains in place based on the uncertainty of future events, including the Company’s ability to generate future taxable income in light of its recent losses, and management considered this and other factors in evaluating the realizability of our deferred tax assets. Any changes in the positive or negative evidence evaluated when determining if our deferred tax assets will be realized could result in a material change to our consolidated financial statements.

The accruals for deferred tax assets and liabilities are often based on assumptions that are subject to a significant amount of judgment by management. These assumptions and judgments are reviewed and adjusted as facts and circumstances change. Material changes to our income tax accruals may occur in the future based on the potential for income tax audits, changes in legislation or resolution of pending matters.

Stronghold LLC is and has been organized as a pass-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is therefore not subject to entity-level U.S. federal income taxes. Stronghold Inc. was incorporated as a Delaware corporation on March 19, 2021 and therefore is subject to U.S. federal income taxes and state and local taxes at the

In addition, we have incurred, and expect to continue to incur incremental, non-recurring costs related to our transition to a publicly traded corporation, including the costs of the IPO and the costs associated with the initial implementation of our internal control reviews and testing pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). We have also incurred, and expect to continue to incur additional significant and recurring expenses as a publicly traded corporation, including costs associated with compliance under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”), annual and quarterly reports to common stockholders, registrar and transfer agent fees, national stock exchange fees, audit fees, incremental director and officer liability insurance costs and director and officer compensation. Our financial statements following the IPO will continue to reflect the impact of these expenses.

Our historical financial results discussed below may not be comparable to our future financial results for the reasons described below.

Stronghold Inc. is subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes as a corporation. Our accounting predecessor was treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as such, was generally not subject to U.S. federal income tax at the entity level. Rather, the tax liability with respect to its taxable income was passed through to its members. Accordingly, the financial data attributable to our predecessor contains no provision for U.S. federal income taxes or income taxes in any state or locality. Due to cumulative and current losses as well as an evaluation of other sources of income as outlined in ASC 740, management has determined that the utilization of our deferred tax assets is not more likely than not, and therefore we have recorded a valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets. Management continues to evaluate the likelihood of the Company utilizing its deferred taxes, and while the valuation allowance remains in place, we expect to record no deferred income tax expense or benefit. Should the valuation allowance no longer be required, the 21% statutory federal income tax rate as well as state and local income taxes at their respective rates will apply to income allocated to Stronghold Inc.

As we further implement controls, processes and infrastructure applicable to companies with publicly traded equity securities, it is likely that we will incur additional selling, general and administrative expenses relative to historical periods. Our future results will depend on our ability to efficiently manage our consolidated operations and execute our business strategy.

As we continue to acquire miners and utilize our power generating assets to power such miners, we anticipate that a greater proportion of our revenue and expenses will relate to crypto asset mining.

As previously discussed in the Critical Accounting Policies section, the preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Future events and their effects cannot be determined with absolute certainty. Therefore, the determination of estimates requires the exercise of judgment. Actual results inevitably will differ from those estimates, and such differences may be material to the financial statements. The most significant accounting estimates inherent in the preparation of our financial statements include estimates associated with revenue

Highlights of our consolidated results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 include:

Revenue increased $18.7 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to a $10.2 million increase in cryptocurrency mining revenue from deploying additional miners, and a $9.1 million increase in energy revenue driven by higher prevailing power prices per MW and higher MW generation as a result of the November 2021 Panther Creek Acquisition. Cryptocurrency hosting revenue decreased by $0.2 million due to the strategic termination of several agreements of generated power sales to crypto asset mining customers for which we were providing hosting services.

Revenue increased $68.7 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to a $46.8 million increase in cryptocurrency mining revenue from deploying additional miners, and a $21.1 million increase in energy revenue driven by higher prevailing market rates per MW and higher MW generation as a result of the November 2021 Panther Creek Acquisition. Capacity revenue also increased $2.2 million due to the Panther Creek Acquisition.

Total operating expenses increased $54.0 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily driven by (1) a $16.7 million increase in operations and maintenance expense as a result of the November 2021 Panther Creek Acquisition, higher labor and maintenance costs related to the previously disclosed planned fall outage, and the ramp up of cryptocurrency mining operations, (2) a $11.1 million increase in depreciation and amortization primarily from deploying additional miners and transformers, (3) a $7.9 million increase in general and administrative expenses due to legal and professional fees, insurance costs, and compensation as we continue to organize and scale operations, and (4) a $6.1 million increase in fuel expenses driven by higher MW generation, primarily due to the November 2021 Panther Creek Acquisition, and increased fuel delivery costs from higher diesel prices.

Total operating expenses increased $168.6 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily driven by (1) a $41.4 million increase in operations and maintenance expense driven by major maintenance costs and labor at the Scrubgrass Plant associated with increasing plant uptime, higher costs as a result of the November 2021 Panther Creek Acquisition, and the ramp up of cryptocurrency mining operations including higher lease expenses for our hosting services agreement, (2) a $34.8 million increase in depreciation and amortization primarily from deploying additional miners and transformers, (3) a $26.5 million increase in general and administrative expenses due to legal and professional fees, insurance costs, and compensation as we continue to organize and scale operations, (4) a $20.0 million increase in fuel expenses driven by higher MW generation and increased fuel delivery costs from higher diesel prices, and (5) a $12.2 million impairment on equipment deposits for MinerVa miners discussed in Note 4 – Equipment Deposits and Miner Sales and Note 8 – Contingencies and Commitments in the notes to the Q322 Financials. Impairments on digital currencies of $8.2 million were primarily attributed to the June decline in the price of Bitcoin. In March 2022, the Company evaluated the MinerVa equipment deposits for impairment and determined an impairment charge of $12.2 million based on lack of miner delivery per agreement. In June 2022, the Company evaluated miner assets and determined an impairment charge of $16.6 million for certain miners attributable to the decline in the price of Bitcoin.

Total other income (expense) decreased $33.7 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily driven by (1) the strategic decision to sell approximately 26 thousand

Total other income (expense) decreased $38.1 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily driven by (1) the strategic decision to sell approximately 26 thousand miners under an Asset Purchase Agreement that resulted in a $15.3 million loss on debt extinguishment and a $4.2 million impairment on assets held for sale discussed in Note 6 – Long-Term Debt and Note 33 – Subsequent Events in the notes to the Q322 Financials, (2) a $13.4 million loss on the revaluation of warrant liabilities related to the September 2022 PIPE, (3) a $8.2 million increase in interest expense on additional financing agreements used to fund the growth of cryptocurrency operations, (4) a $8.0 million realized loss on the sale of miner assets that occurred in the second quarter of 2022, (5) a $3.4 million increase from a change in value of the forward sale derivative, and (6) a $2.2 million decrease in the fair value of the convertible note discussed in Note 32 – Private Placements in the notes to the Q322 Financials. See Note 6 – Long-Term Debt and Note 14 – Stock Issued Under Master Financing Agreements and Warrants in the notes to the Q322 Financials for further information on financing agreements.

The below presents summarized results for our operations for the two reporting segments: Energy Operations and Cryptocurrency Operations.

Total operating revenue increased $8.9 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to a $9.1 million increase in energy revenue driven by higher prevailing market rates per MW and higher MW generation. Capacity revenue decreased $0.2 million. Effective June 1, 2022 through May 31, 2024, both plants strategically reduced their exposure to the capacity markets, and the resulting cost-capping and operational requirements in the day ahead market by PJM. The Company chose to be an energy resource after achieving its RegA certification, which will reduce monthly capacity revenue and the frequency with which the plants will be mandated to sell power at non-market rates, in exchange for the opportunity to sell power to the grid at prevailing market rates, which management expects will more than make up for lost capacity revenue. This also gives our plants the ability to provide fast response energy to the grid in the real time market when needed without having to comply with day ahead power commitments. Over the course of 2022, the PJM grid has seen stronger around the clock prices, and stronger daily “peak” prices suggesting tight supply and demand grid conditions. When high power prices call for more electricity to be supplied by our plants, and those prices are in excess of Bitcoin-equivalent power prices, the Company may shut off its data center Bitcoin mining load in order to sell power to the grid. The Company believes that this integration should allow it to optimize for both Revenue as well as grid support over time.

Total operating revenue increased $23.4 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to a $21.1 million increase in energy revenue driven by higher prevailing market rates per MW and higher MW generation. Capacity revenue increased $2.2 million resulting from the November 2021 Panther Creek Acquisition.

Total operating expenses increased $18.3 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to the incremental expenses associated with operating the Panther Creek Plant after its November 2021 acquisition. Operations and maintenance expense increased $13.3 million primarily driven by higher labor, plant maintenance and one-time upgrades. Fuel expenses increased $4.5 million primarily due to higher MW generation resulting from the November 2021 Panther Creek Acquisition and increased fuel delivery costs from higher diesel prices, partially offset by higher costs being allocated to the Cryptocurrency Segment due to higher electric consumption for bitcoin mining operations, and greater REC sales. REC sales of $2.3 million and $1.0 million were recognized as contra-expense to offset fuel expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2022, and 2021, respectively. Depreciation and amortization expense increased $1.1 million primarily due to the Panther Creek Acquisition.

Corporate overhead increased $4.6 million primarily due to higher legal and professional fees, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, and payroll expenses, which have been allocated to the two segments using a “fair-share” of revenues approach, where the revenue for the segment is divided by the total combined revenues of the segments and is then multiplied by the shared general and administrative costs for the combined segments.

Total operating expenses increased $47.7 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to the incremental operations and maintenance and fuel expenses associated with operating the Panther Creek Plant after its November 2021 acquisition. Operations and maintenance increased $31.7 million primarily driven by payroll, major maintenance and upgrade expenditures. Fuel expenses increased $12.5 million primarily due to higher MW generation resulting from the November 2021 Panther Creek Acquisition and increased fuel delivery costs from higher diesel prices, partially offset by higher costs being allocated to the Cryptocurrency Segment due to higher electric consumption for bitcoin mining operations, and greater REC sales. REC sales of $4.9 million and $1.7 million were recognized as contra-expense to offset fuel expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, and 2021, respectively. Depreciation and amortization expense increased $3.4 million primarily due to the Panther Creek Acquisition.

Corporate overhead increased $9.7 million primarily due to higher legal and professional fees, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, and payroll expenses, which have been allocated to the two segments using a “fair-share” of revenues approach, where the revenue for the segment is divided by the total combined revenues of the segments and is then multiplied by the shared general and administrative costs for the combined segments.

Total operating revenues increased by $9.8 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to increased cryptocurrency mining revenue as a result of purchasing and deploying additional miners throughout 2021 and the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022. The increased quantity of miners increased total hash rates and Bitcoin awards. Cryptocurrency hosting revenue decreased by $0.4 million due to the strategic termination of several agreements of generated power sales to crypto asset mining customers for which we were providing hosting services.

Total operating revenues increased by $45.4 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to increased cryptocurrency mining revenue as a result of purchasing and deploying additional miners throughout 2021 and the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022. The increased quantity of miners increased total hash rates and Bitcoin awards. Cryptocurrency hosting revenue decreased by $1.5 million due to the strategic termination of several agreements of generated power sales to crypto asset mining customers for which we were providing hosting services.

Total operating expenses increased by $26.7 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to (1) an $11.6 million impairment on miner assets attributable to lower projected cash flows from mining operations due to prolonged declines in Bitcoin prices and growth of the Bitcoin global network hash rate, (2) a $9.9 million increase in depreciation and amortization resulting from the deployment of miners and infrastructure assets, (3) a $3.4 million increase in operations and maintenance primarily due to the $1.9 million net settlement expense from terminating the Northern Data hosting agreement discussed in Note 28 – Hosting Services Agreement in the notes to the Q322 Financials and higher labor costs, and (4) a $1.6 million increase of intercompany electric charges related to the ramp up of cryptocurrency mining operations.

Corporate overhead increased by $4.4 million primarily due to higher legal and professional fees, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, and payroll expenses, which have been allocated to the two segments using a “fair-share” of revenues approach, where the revenue for the segment is divided by the total combined revenues of the segments and is then multiplied by the shared general and administrative costs for the combined segments.

Total operating expenses increased by $94.6 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to (1) a $31.3 million increase in depreciation and amortization resulting from the deployment of miners and infrastructure assets, (2) a $16.6 million impairment on miner assets, (3) a $12.2 million impairment on equipment deposits for MinerVa miners, (4) a $9.7 million increase in Operations and maintenance due to $4.5 million of lease expense and settlement expenses from the Northern Data Hosting Agreement discussed in Note 28 – Hosting Services Agreement in the notes to the Q322 Financials, increased purchases of power supplies and power cables, and higher labor costs, (5) a $8.0 million Realized loss on sale of miner assets as discussed in Note 4 – Equipment Deposits and Miner Sales in the notes to the Q322 Financials, (6) a $7.7 million increase in Impairments on digital currencies primarily related to the June 2022 decrease in Bitcoin pricing, and (7) a $7.5 million increase of intercompany electric charges related to the ramp up of cryptocurrency mining operations.

Impairments on digital currencies of $0.5 million and $8.2 million were recognized for the three and nine-months ended September 30, 2022, respectively, as a result of the negative impacts from the crypto coin spot market declines. As of September 30, 2022, the Company held approximately 113 Bitcoin on its balance sheet at carrying value. The spot market price of Bitcoin was $19,424 as of September 30, 2022, per Coinbase Global Inc.

Interest expense increased $0.9 million and $8.2 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021, primarily due to the borrowings from our WhiteHawk promissory notes, draws against the Arctos/NYDIG Financing Agreement discussed in Note 14 – Stock Issued Under Master Financing Agreements and Warrants in the notes to the Q322 Financials, and accrued interest from the Notes discussed in Note 32 – Private Placements in the notes to the Q322 Financials.

Highlights of our consolidated results of operations for twelve months ended December 31, 2021 compared to the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 include the effect of the Panther Creek Acquisition (refer to Note 25

Including $3.8 million from the Panther Creek Plant, total revenue from all segments increased by $26.8 million, or 650.7%, to approximately $30.9 million primarily driven by large increases in both the energy and crypto asset mining revenues. Energy generation and the continued ramp up to full MW capacity contributed to approximately $11.4 million or 2189.9%. Additionally, total crypto asset revenue growth of approximately $14.2 million included approximately $2.0 million from hosting and an increase of $12.2 million from mining. The growth in the crypto asset mining revenue is the result of the significant ramp up of miner and transformer installations during the second half of 2021.

Including $5.8 million from the Panther Creek Plant, total operating expenses increased by $46.6 million or 714.2%; The increase in total operating expenses was partially attributable to increases of $12.8 million in fuel for the Scrubgrass Plant to produce higher MW capacity to provide power to the energy operations and cryptocurrency operations segments. The Scrubgrass Plant was relatively dormant for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. Additionally, we experienced an increase of $12.2 million in operations and maintenance expenses related to the energy ramp-up requiring labor, vehicles, and major upgrades so the Scrubgrass Plant can be fully operational at the required higher capacities. Further, we had an increase of $12.7 million in general and administrative expenses due to legal and professional fees, consulting fees, stock compensation expenses, increased insurance costs, and compensation as we continue to organize and scale to a larger legal structure. Impairment costs of $1.9 million were attributed to the declines in the Bitcoin market pricing, primarily during the August 2021 to December 2021 timeframes. We also recorded $7.6 million in depreciation, an increase of approximately $7.0 million over the comparable period in 2020, due to the ramp-up of capital expenditures required for miners and transformers to grow the cryptocurrency hosting and mining infrastructures that produce increased hash rates.

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, other income (expense) amounted to $(5.1) million of expense compared to $2.3 million of income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. Interest expense increased in 2021 to $4.6 million compared to $205.5 thousand in December 31, 2020. The increase in interest expense was driven by $(1.1) million from changes in fair value of warrant liabilities, and $(116.5) thousand from changes in fair value of forward sale derivatives. We did not have outstanding warrants for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 as the equity offerings occurred as part of the reorganization on April 1, 2021, and the subsequent private placement funding. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, we significantly improved our liquidity and capability to expand our power and mining assets through borrowings and master equipment financing agreements. As a result, the $(4.4) million increase in interest expenses, from this required financing, was realized so we could purchase miners and transformers to support the acceleration of the crypto asset ramp ups. Negative impacts of these increases are partially offset by the gains from the extinguishment of the $638.8 thousand PPP loan in January 2021. The prior comparable period, the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, benefited from the $1.2 million gains from closing out all derivatives (i.e. hedging positions), and $1.1 million in waste coal credits discussed above.

The below presents summarized results for our operations for the two reporting segments: Energy Operations and Cryptocurrency Operations.

Total operating revenues increased by $12.6 million, or 357.2%, to $16.1 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, from $3.5 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.

Including $3.1 million from the Panther Creek Plant, revenue from the generation of energy increased by $11.4 million, or 2,189.9%, to approximately $11.9 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from $518.4 thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The increase was the result of the plant energy production no longer remaining relatively dormant as was the case during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. Full plant power utilization is optimal for our revenue growth as it also drives a higher volume of RECs, waste coal tax credits, and beneficial use ash sales, as well as the increased power bandwidths for the crypto asset operations.

Including $681.7 thousand from the Panther Creek Plant, revenue generated from capacity increased by $1.4 million, or 50.5%, to approximately $4.2 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from $2.8 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily the result of the successful ramp up of MW capacity in 2021; coupled with higher pricing per kilowatt hour (“kWh”) on the higher capacity usages.

Operating expenses increased by $27.1 million, or 453.4%, to approximately $33.1 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from $6.0 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.

Including $2.6 million from Panther Creek, fuel expense, after $(2.5) million in subsidized power costs from the crypto operations segment, increased by $10.4 million, or 3,278.4%, to approximately $10.7 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from $316.0 thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The subsidized power costs are for providing power to the crypto hosting and mining assets at a market price of $0.027 per kWh. The $10.4 million increase in fuel expenses compared to the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 was attributable to the continued expansions of energy production and the required coal, ash and limestone fuel purchases to generate energy to support the expansions. The fuel purchases for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 were very minimal as the Scrubgrass Plant was just starting to ramp up capacity, and both the crypto hosting and mining assets were relatively non-existent and did not purchase power from the Scrubgrass Plant.

Including $1.7 million from the Panther Creek Plant, operations and maintenance expenses increased by $11.1 million, or 336.8%, to approximately $14.4 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from $3.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The increases result from the required costs to properly support and maintain the Scrubgrass Plant versus the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. These costs include payroll, plant-related treatment, major maintenance and upgrade expenditures to get the Scrubgrass Plant to full capacity, and vehicles. Including approximately $1.8 million in major repairs and upgrades that were considered out of the ordinary. The relative amount of these costs, particularly payroll and major maintenance and upgrade expenditures, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, were comparatively small as the Scrubgrass Plant was just beginning to increase MW production after being dormant.

General and administrative expenses include legal and professional fees, consulting costs, executive and support payroll, stock compensation expense, property taxes, insurance premiums related to coverages and rates, and management fees. The majority of general and administrative costs are allocated between the two segments using a “fair-share” of revenues approach, where the revenue for the segment is divided by the total combined revenues of the segments and is then multiplied by the shared general and administrative costs for the combined segments. Panther Creek G&A was $115.4 thousand.

The majority of the depreciation and amortization expense that marginally increased by $746.8 thousand, or 133.7%, to approximately $1.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, from $558.6 thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 was due to $732.1 thousand from Panther Creek.

Interest expense decreased by $124.6 thousand, or (60.6)%, to $(80.9) thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from $(205.5)��thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 as loans were either paid off or later in their terms with lower interest portions of their payments. Panther Creek had marginal impacts to Interest Expense.

Total operating revenues increased by $14.2 million, or 2,399.2%, to $14.8 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, from $591.9 thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.

Revenue generated from crypto asset hosting increased by $2.0 million to $2.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021. This increase was due to the continued expansion of generated power sales to crypto asset mining customers for which we are providing hosting services.

Revenue generated from crypto asset mining increased by $12.2 million, or 3,580.8%, to approximately $12.49 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from $339.5 thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily the result of the significant purchases of miners and transformers, with the expansions that started during the fourth quarter of 2020 through the end of 2021. The deployments of these miners and transformers are significantly increasing total hash rates and Bitcoin awards.

Operating expenses increased to $19.7 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from $542.9 thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. There were minimal hosting customers and a very insignificant hash rate output due to a small number of miners for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, resulting in very small costs to operate. Of the $19.7 million in operating expenses, approximately 32.0% are attributed to depreciation and amortization relative to the ramping up of our cryptocurrency miner assets that have two year useful lives; whereas 40.4% of the $19.7 million operating expenses are general and administrative expenses that includes stock compensation expenses, and startup costs related to legal and consulting.

The cryptocurrency operations segment purchases power from the Scrubgrass Plant at $0.027 per kWh to provide power to both the hosted customer and Bitcoin mining equipment. The $2.4 million increase compared to the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 was attributable to the continued expansions of these assets and customer strategy, as discussed previously, starting in the fourth quarter of 2020 with significant ramp up starting in the second half of 2021.

Operations and maintenance expenses increased by $1.1 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from zero for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The increase includes technicians now required to support multiple data centers and maintenance, as well as repairs and operating parts to maintain a larger base of miners.

General and administrative expenses include legal and professional fees, consulting fees, stock compensation expenses, executive and support payroll, property taxes, insurance premiums related to coverages and rates, and management fees. The majority of general and administrative costs are allocated between the two segments using a “fair-share” of revenues approach, where the revenue for the segment is divided by the total combined revenues of the segments and is then multiplied by the shared general and administrative costs for the combined segments.

As a result, general and administrative expenses were $8.0 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, compared to $469.2 thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The percentage of crypto asset segment revenues to the total segment revenues is increasing; thus a higher relative allocation of these shared costs. The majority of the $8.0 million was due to legal and professional fees, consulting startup costs, stock compensation expenses, as well as the execution of additional contracts to scale our legal structures and borrowing capabilities during this period. In addition, the payment of delinquent property taxes and the increases in insurance coverages and rates due to the purchase of a director and officer liability insurance policy, higher asset exposures, as well as higher rates in the risk markets.

The crypto spot market is volatile and can have a negative impact on the mark-to-market of our digital currencies as of the ending balance sheet reporting date. As a result, a $1.9 million impairment charge was recognized as a result of the negative impacts from the crypto coin spot market declines against the held crypto coin inventories not yet converted to cash. As of December 31, 2021, the Company held on its balance sheet approximately 182 Bitcoin and the spot market price of Bitcoin was $47,686.81 per Coinbase Global Inc.

Depreciation and amortization expense of $6.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from zero for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. The increase is the result of the continued purchase of infrastructure assets and miners for the crypto asset operations driving a higher depreciable base for 2021. This ramp up has significantly accelerated starting in the second half of 2021.

Interest expense of $(4.5) million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from zero for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and was attributed to the required increased financing to purchase and ramp up both the miners and transformers operating bases. We have executed on a large number of hardware purchase and master equipment financing agreements that has provided both liquidity and the capability to scale the transformer and miner installation bases that generate our cryptocurrency mining revenues.

Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, further adjusted by the removal of one-time transaction costs, periodic impairment of digital currencies, realized gains and losses on the sale of long-term assets, expenses related to stock-based compensation, gains or losses on derivative contracts, gain on extinguishment of debt, realized gain or loss on sale of digital currencies, waste coal credits, commission on sale of ash, or changes in fair value of warrant liabilities in the period presented.

Our Board and management team use Adjusted EBITDA to assess our financial performance because it allows them to compare our operating performance on a consistent basis across periods by removing the effects of our capital structure (such as varying levels of interest expense and income), asset base (such as depreciation, amortization, impairment, and realized gains and losses on sale of long-term assets) and other items (such as one-time transaction costs, expenses related to stock-based compensation, and unrealized gains and losses on derivative contracts) that impact the comparability of financial results from period to period. We present Adjusted EBITDA because we believe it provides useful information regarding the factors and trends affecting our business in addition to measures calculated under GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA is not a financial measure presented in accordance with GAAP. We believe that the presentation of this non-GAAP financial measure will provide useful information to investors and analysts in assessing our financial performance and results of operations across reporting periods by excluding items we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Net income (loss) is the GAAP measure most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA. Our non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered as an alternative to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. You are encouraged to evaluate each of these adjustments and the reasons we consider them appropriate for supplemental analysis. In evaluating Adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in such presentation. Our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. There can be no assurance that we will not modify the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA in the future, and any such modification may be material. Adjusted EBITDA has important limitations as an analytical tool and you should not consider Adjusted EBITDA in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Because Adjusted EBITDA may be defined differently by other companies in our industry, our definition of this non-GAAP financial measure may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, thereby diminishing its utility.

The following table presents a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the GAAP financial measure of net income (loss) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Stronghold Inc. is a holding company with no operations and is the sole managing member of Stronghold LLC. Our principal asset consists of units of Stronghold LLC. Our earnings and cash flows and ability to meet any debt obligations will depend on the cash flows resulting from the operations of our operating subsidiaries, and the payment of distributions to us by such subsidiaries.

Our cash needs are primarily for growth through acquisitions, capital expenditures, working capital to support equipment financing and the purchase of additional miners and general operating expenses. We have incurred and may continue to incur significant expenses in servicing and maintaining our power generation facilities. If we were to acquire additional facilities in the future, capital expenditures may include improvements, maintenance, and build out costs associated with equipping such facilities to house miners to mine Bitcoin.

We have historically relied on funds from equity issuances, equipment financings and other borrowings, and revenue from sales of Bitcoin and power generated at our power plants to provide for our liquidity needs. During 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, we received $63.2 million (net of loan fees and debt issuance costs) in proceeds from the financing agreements with WhiteHawk and NYDIG, net proceeds of $131.5 million from the IPO, net proceeds of $96.8 million from two private placements of convertible preferred securities, and an additional $25.0 million from WhiteHawk as a result of the Second WhiteHawk Amendment. Additionally, on May 15, 2022, we received $33.75 million (net of loan fees and debt issuance costs) pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, and on September 13, 2022, we received approximately $9.0 million pursuant to the September PIPE. Please see “—Recent Developments – WhiteHawk Refinancing Agreement” for more information regarding our Credit Agreement with WhiteHawk. Please see “—Debt Agreements – Equipment Financing Transactions” for more information regarding our financing arrangements. These cash sources provided additional short and long-term liquidity to support our operations in fiscal year 2021 and through the third quarter of 2022.

As of September 30, 2022 and November 7, 2022, we had approximately $18.9 million and $27.4 million, respectively, of cash, cash equivalents and Bitcoin on our balance sheet, which included 113 Bitcoin and 19 Bitcoin. As of September 30, 2022 and November 7, 2022, we had principal amount outstanding indebtedness of $102.2 million and $82.2 million. As of January 12, 2023, we had approximately $11.7 million of unrestricted cash on hand and approximately 11.3 Bitcoin.

If our cash flows from operations continue to fall short of uses of capital, we may need to seek additional sources of capital to fund our short-term and long-term capital needs. We may further sell assets or seek potential additional