Swan Bitcoin has filed suit against a group of former employees and consultants, alleging they “hatched and executed a ‘rain and hellfire’ plan” to"steal" its lucrative bitcoin mining business with the help of Tether, Swan Bitcoin’s one-time ally and fundraising partner.
The stablecoin giant had previously funded Swan’s bitcoin mining operation in Tasmania, Australia in 2023 and, by February, had entered into talks with Swan for another funding round. According to the suit, an advisor for Tether – Zach Lyons of Marlin Capital Partners – told Swan that Tether would lead Swan’s series C fundraising round with a $25 million investment, valuing Swan’s business at a whopping $1 billion.
In a July 11 meeting, Lyons allegedly told Zagary and former Swan Investment Director Santhiran Naidoo that Klippsten “has to realize can take away tomorrow.” The next day, Friday, Aug. 9, Tether’s counsel served Swan with the “legal cover” it had allegedly promised the defendants – according to the lawsuit , this came in the form of a “Notice of Event of Default” claiming that Swan had breached their funding agreement, 2040 Energy, with Tether because it was unable to “maintain the personnel necessary” to conduct business properly.
Ashley Ebersole, general counsel for 0x and a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorney, told CoinDesk that Swan's complaint"seems to indicate that Tether is a potential bad actor here, but there are no legal claims made against it."