Compass Mining severed its ties with the Russian hosting provider Bit River and did not return Bitcoin mining gear to its customers. The company cited an inapplicable fine issued by the United States of America as the reason for its actions. Bit River was the Russian hosting provider. Directly as a result of this, customers are filing lawsuits against Compass Mining for over 2 million dollars, alleging that the company took part in fraudulent operations and defrauding them of their money.
According to a document that was submitted to the court on January 17, it is stated that Compass Mining informed Bit River in April 2022 that it had terminated its “relationships and transactions with Bit River” as a direct result of the penalties that were imposed as a direct result of Executive Order 14024. These penalties were imposed as a direct result of the fact that Compass Mining informed Bit River that it had terminated its “relationships and transactions with Bit River.” This information was included in the document that was presented to the court as part of the filing process.
Compass “did not offer” to refund or even retrieve the assets that its customers entrusted the business with, which were stored at Bit River’s facilities in Russia, according to the allegations that have been made against the company. These allegations come from the lawsuits that have been filed against the company. The assets at issue were located in Russia at the time of the investigation.
On the other hand, it has been asserted that the claim that returning the mining equipment would be a violation of Executive Order 14024, which prohibits doing business with sanctioned organisations, is “wrong.” In other words, returning the mining equipment would not be a violation of Executive Order 14024. This is due to the fact that Executive Order 14024 prohibits doing business with organisations that are under punishment.
According to the legally binding agreement that was signed by all parties, Compass has “both the right and responsibility to effectuate the recovery of its customers’ mines.” This provision is included in the agreement.
The management of Compass provided an aggressive reaction to the concerns that were raised by clients by declaring that the company is “unable to execute or even facilitate” any business transactions with Bit River.
Source: https://blockchain.news/news/us.-sanctions-customers-suing-compass-mining