Once Bitcoin's Top Pool, Poolin Files Chapter 11 With $173M Debt and 11,700 Frozen Wallet Holders

Poolin Technology Pte. Ltd. and two U.S. affiliates, Lonestar Dream Inc. and Lonestar Taproot LLC, filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions on July 22, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. Court documents list estimated liabilities of $100 million to $500 million against assets of $1 million to $10 million. The Singapore-based Bitcoin mining pool operator, founded in Beijing in 2017 by Zhibiao "Kevin" Pan, Fa Zhu and Tianzhao Li, all veterans of mining-hardware maker Bitmain, was once the world's largest mining pool by September 2019, when it commanded nearly a fifth of global $BTC hashrate. Poolin now ranks as the 17th largest mining pool with a 0.2% market share, according to Hashrate Index.

The largest single liability in the case stems from Poolin's wallet product. About 11,700 wallet holders are owed $163.7 million in frozen balances, according to a court declaration from Chief Restructuring Officer Michael DuFrayne. Poolin halted withdrawals for Poolin Wallet and Pool Account users in September 2022, citing liquidity issues tied to withdrawal demand during that year's broader crypto crash, and issued IOU tokens in place of real Bitcoin that never got repaid. Poolin's court filing lists 10,001 to 25,000 creditors.

Poolin and its affiliates are seeking court approval to sell two West Texas mining sites to Thor CALAP LLC under a proposed $52 million stalking-horse bid. The bid includes $37 million for the Tarbush assets, including assumed liabilities, and $15 million for the Pyote site, including power rights, equipment and all other assets. The proposed sale is subject to a court-supervised auction with a bid deadline of Sept. 8 under the proposed bidding procedures. The Texas units had accumulated roughly $45.9 million in losses since opening, plus another $8.9 million from selling equipment at discounted prices between fiscal 2023 and 2025, and the company does not intend to resume operations at the sites, which shut down July 10.

Mining operations run through Lonestar Dream selected the Pyote and Tarbush sites after China's 2021 mining ban, expecting up to 600 MW of power capacity. The pool's Texas mining and hosting operations are now part of the bankruptcy estate. Recovery for the 11,700 IOU holders depends largely on what the Texas auction brings in, more than three years after withdrawals were first frozen.

Other miners have pursued restructuring or pivots to AI infrastructure amid rising electricity costs. NFN8 Group and two affiliates filed for Chapter 11 in the Western District of Texas in February. Bitfarms initiated a complete wind-down of its Bitcoin mining operations in November 2025 to pivot to AI and high-performance computing data centers. On Monday, Hut 8 announced a 15-year, $9.8 billion lease for its AI data center campus and IREN disclosed $2.8 billion in cloud services contracts with AI developers. Earlier in July, MARA Holdings announced plans to acquire a Texas site with up to 2 gigawatts of capacity to expand its AI and digital infrastructure business. Wealth management company Bernstein said deals with third-party providers, such as Bitcoin miners, will be necessary for AI companies seeking to address the computing power limits of AI data centers.