Company: CIFRW
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001819989-25-000005
Chunk: 176

Company: Cipher Mining Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 176
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 cryptocurrencies, are stored in a so-called “digital wallet”, which may be accessed to exchange a holder’s digital assets, and is controllable by the processor of both the public key and the private key relating to this digital wallet in which the digital assets are held, both of which are unique. The blockchain publishes the public key relating to digital wallets in use when transactions are made on the network, but users need to safeguard the private keys relating to such digital wallets. If one or more of our private keys are lost, destroyed, or otherwise compromised, we may be unable to access our bitcoin held in the related digital wallet which will essentially be lost. If the private key is acquired by a third party, then this third party may be able to gain access to our bitcoin. Any loss of private keys relating to digital wallets used to store our bitcoin, whether by us or digital asset exchanges where we hold our bitcoin, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. 

We may temporarily store our bitcoin on digital asset trading platforms which could subject our bitcoin to the risk of loss or access, especially in light of previous failures of major market participants. Such failures may also result in a reduction in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and can adversely affect an investment in us.

In connection with our treasury management processes, in preparing to sell bitcoin, we may temporarily store all or a portion of our bitcoin on various digital asset trading platforms which requires us to rely on the security protocols of these trading platforms to safeguard our bitcoin. No security system is perfect and trading platforms have been subject to hacks resulting in the loss of businesses’ and customers’ digital assets in the past. Such trading platforms may not be well capitalized and may not have adequate insurance necessary to cover any loss or may not compensate for loss where permitted under the laws of the relevant jurisdiction. In addition, malicious actors may be able to intercept our bitcoin when we transact in or otherwise transfer our bitcoin or while we are in the process of selling our bitcoin via such trading platforms. Digital asset trading platforms have been a target for malicious actors in the past, and given the growth in their size and their relatively unregulated nature, we believe these trading platforms may continue to be targets for malicious actors. An actual or perceived security breach or data security incident at the digital asset trading platforms with which we 

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have accounts could harm our ability to operate, result in loss of our assets, damage