Tether Takes Swan Bitcoin to Court Over $2 Billion Mining Venture
Tether has filed a lawsuit against Swan Bitcoin in the High Court of England and Wales, alleging significant breaches of contract in the companies’ joint Bitcoin mining venture, 2040 Energy. The action, brought alongside co-claimant 2040 Energy, opens a legal front in a dispute over a partnership that was meant to combine Tether’s capital with Swan’s operating expertise.
The suit, filed in January 2025, claims Swan engaged in “significant breaches” of their agreements. Tether also accuses Swan of recklessness that led to substantial contractual failures, saying the conduct left it no choice but to protect its investment through the courts.
How the Partnership Was Built
The venture dates to 2022, when Tether and Swan set up 2040 Energy. The division of labour was straightforward: Tether provided the funding, and Swan managed the mining operations. For Tether, the arrangement was a way to put its stablecoin reserves to work in Bitcoin production. For Swan, a Bitcoin financial services firm, it offered a route into mining at scale without carrying the full capital burden alone.
The structure held for roughly two years before the relationship broke down. The split became public through a separate dispute inside Swan’s own mining division, and the two conflicts are now entangled in the same courtroom.
The Trade Secrets Fight Behind the Suit
Swan Bitcoin accuses former employees of its mining division of stealing proprietary information to form a rival company, Proton Management. Swan describes the alleged scheme as “rain and hellfire,” aimed at undermining its position in the joint venture.
Court documents indicate that Proton persuaded Tether to sever ties with Swan and align with Proton instead. Swan claims Proton misused confidential trade secrets to compete directly against it, damaging its standing in the market.
The turning point came in August 2024, when Swan CEO Cory Klippsten was removed from his position at 2040 Energy. Proton then assumed control of the mining operations. From Swan’s perspective, that sequence is the heart of the case: a partner’s capital was redirected to a business built by people it says took its secrets with them.
What Each Side Says
The two sides tell the story from opposite ends. Tether and 2040 Energy frame the lawsuit as a response to Swan’s own failures, pointing to recklessness and substantial breaches that justified legal action. Swan frames the case as the downstream damage of a trade secrets theft, with Proton as the beneficiary of confidential information it had no right to use.
Both narratives now sit before the same court, and the outcome will turn on the contractual record between Tether and Swan, not on the merits of the Proton dispute alone.
Why England and Wales
The choice of forum matters. The High Court of England and Wales is a common venue for cross-border commercial disputes, and its judgments are enforceable in many jurisdictions. For a venture with a Kazakh-adjacent readership watching crypto capital flows, the practical point is that this fight will be decided under English contract law, with the venture’s agreements as the central evidence.
The sums at stake are large by any measure. The venture is valued at $2 billion, and the dispute now pits one of the crypto industry’s most cash-rich companies against a Bitcoin services firm that built its reputation on disciplined, low-leverage mining.
What Comes Next
The case is now in the hands of the High Court, with court proceedings to follow and a settlement possible at any stage. For readers tracking mining economics, the dispute is a reminder that the sector’s capital is increasingly entangled with crypto balance sheets, and that when those partnerships sour, the fallout lands in commercial courts rather than on the mining floor.
Tether’s position is that Swan’s conduct forced the litigation. The court will decide which version the contracts support.
Sources
- Wyatt Earp
- Tether Initiates Legal Action Against Swan Bitcoin in Mining Venture Conflict | CoinMarketCap
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