Company: CIFRW
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001819989-25-000005
Chunk: 179

Company: Cipher Mining Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 179
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 that the contributors to the protocol are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing the protocol.

The Bitcoin network operates based on an open-source protocol, not represented by an official organization or authority. Instead it is maintained by a small group of core contributors, largely on the Bitcoin Core project on GitHub.com. These individuals can propose refinements or improvements to the Bitcoin network’s source code through one or more software upgrades that alter the protocols and software that govern the Bitcoin network and the properties of bitcoin, including the irreversibility of transactions and limitations on the mining of new bitcoin. Proposals for upgrades and discussions relating thereto take place on online forums. 

As the Bitcoin network protocol is not sold and its use does not generate revenues for contributors, contributors are generally not compensated for maintaining and updating the Bitcoin network protocol. Although the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative provides funding for individuals who perform leadership roles in the bitcoin community (known as “lead maintainers”), this type of financial incentive is not typical. The lack of guaranteed financial incentive for contributors to maintain or develop the Bitcoin network and the lack of guaranteed resources to adequately address emerging issues with the Bitcoin network may reduce incentives to address the issues adequately or in a timely manner. 

There can be no guarantee that developer support will continue or be sufficient in the future. Additionally, some development and developers are funded by companies whose interests may be at odds with other participants in the network or with investors’ interests. To the extent that material issues arise with the Bitcoin network protocol and the core developers and open-source contributors are unable or unwilling to address the issues adequately or in a timely manner, the Bitcoin network and consequently our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected. 

Significant contributors to a network for any particular digital asset, such as bitcoin, could propose amendments to the respective network’s protocols and software that, if accepted and authorized by such network, could adversely affect our business.

If a developer or group of developers proposes a modification to the Bitcoin network that is not accepted by a majority of miners and users, but that is nonetheless accepted by a substantial plurality of miners and users, two or more competing and incompatible blockchain implementations could result, with one running the pre-modification software program and the other running the modified version (i.e., a second “Bitcoin network”). 

This is known as a “hard fork.” Such a hard fork in the blockchain typically would be addressed by community-led efforts to reunite the forked blockchains, and several prior forks have been resolved successfully.