Poolin Files Chapter 11 in U.S., Seeks Sale of Two West Texas Bitcoin Mines with $52 Million in Stalking‑Horse Bids

Poolin, once one of the world’s largest bitcoin mining pools, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States and is seeking to sell two West Texas mining sites through the court process. The proposed sales carry a combined $52 million in stalking-horse bids, according to court filings and case summaries.

That $52 million is not a final sale price. It is the opening bid in a court-supervised bankruptcy sale, setting a floor for any auction and remaining subject to higher offers and court approval.

The filings, made July 22 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, cover Poolin Technology PTE. LTD., a Singapore company, and two U.S. affiliates, Lonestar Dream Inc. and Lonestar Taproot LLC. The cases are being jointly administered, according to the court docket and case summaries.

The bankruptcy is notable because Poolin was a major name in crypto mining, and the filing pushes a long-running financial crisis into a formal U.S. liquidation process. Court materials indicate the debtors are pursuing a liquidating Chapter 11, rather than a reorganization aimed at restarting mining operations.

The sale effort centers on two bitcoin-mining properties in West Texas. One asset purchase agreement values the Pyote site in Ward County at $15 million. A second values the Tarbush site in Pecos County at $37 million. The buyer named in both agreements is Thor CALAP LLC.

Those bids total $52 million, but they are stalking-horse bids — a bankruptcy term for an initial offer meant to establish a minimum price before competing bids are solicited. The proposed transactions can still draw higher offers, and any final sale would require court approval.

Bankruptcy materials tie the company’s distress in part to the 2022 freeze on withdrawals from Poolin Wallet. Case summaries based on the filings say the debtors have about $163.7 million in unsecured “Wallet Holder IOUs” tied to that episode, and roughly $173 million in total prepetition liabilities, subject to reconciliation. Petition materials summarized by case trackers place liabilities more broadly in the $100 million to $500 million range.

The gap between the $52 million opening bid for the Texas assets and the much larger reported wallet-related exposure helps explain why the case matters to creditors and crypto industry watchers. Even if the properties ultimately sell for more than the stalking-horse bids, the amounts described in the filings suggest asset-sale proceeds alone would fall well short of the unsecured claims tied to wallet users.

Poolin was founded in 2017 and grew into one of the world’s major crypto mining pools. Like other miners, it was forced to adapt after China’s 2021 crackdown on crypto mining pushed companies to move operations abroad, including to Texas. Then, in September 2022, Poolin Wallet suspended withdrawals and later issued IOUs to affected users, obligations that now make up the bulk of the unsecured claims described in the bankruptcy materials.

By July 10, 2026, Lonestar Dream had substantially wound down mining and hosting operations, according to filings and case summaries, keeping only limited staff in place to secure assets and support the sale process. The restructuring is being led by Michael DuFrayne of DuFrayne LLC, identified in the filings as chief restructuring officer and investment banker.

A hearing was scheduled for July 27. Proposed bidding procedures cited in case summaries include a Sept. 8 bid deadline, though those procedures had not yet been finalized at the time of the summaries.