Riot Resolves Rhodium Legal Battle With $185M Asset Acquisition – Stock Rallies But Retail Remains Unconvinced
According to Cantor Fitzgerald, Riot Platforms' settlement of its legal dispute with Rhodium is financially positive for the company on many fronts.
FollowRiot Platforms (RIOT) shares climbed nearly 8% in midday trading Monday after the company announced a term sheet for acquiring certain assets from Rhodium Encore.
The deal, valued at $185 million, will be executed through the Bitcoin (BTC) miner’s subsidiary, Whinstone U.S., at its Rockdale facility.
Under the agreement, Whinstone will provide Rhodium with $129.9 million in cash, return a $6.1 million power security deposit, and issue $49 million in Riot shares.
In exchange, Rhodium will transfer ownership of all tangible assets at the Rockdale site, including ASIC miners.
Whinstone and Rhodium have agreed to dismiss all ongoing litigation as part of the deal.
Riot’s stock rally coincided with Bitcoin’s surge to $87,000 during U.S. trading hours, a 3% gain in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
Riot is the third largest corporate holder of Bitcoin with 18,692 BTC in its treasury, valued at around $1.6 billion, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.
Other crypto-related stocks also moved higher – Robinhood Markets (HOOD) and MicroStrategy (MSTR) jumped more than 7%, Coinbase Global (COIN) added 3%, and Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK) climbed over 8%.
Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its ‘Overweight’ rating on Riot Platforms stock with a $21 price target, citing multiple financial benefits from the settlement, according to a report by Investing.com.
The brokerage estimates Riot will save over $90 million by terminating a six-year contract that would have cost $15 million in 2024 alone.
It highlighted that the agreement also frees up 125 megawatts (MW) of power at the Rockdale site, which Riot could use to expand its Bitcoin mining operations or develop AI-HPC capabilities.
Alternatively, if directed toward self-mining, the company’s Bitcoin mining capacity could increase by over five exahashes per second.
According to the brokerage, resolving the legal dispute is also expected to cut Riot’s legal expenses, which had been running at $5 million per quarter, and remove a long-standing overhang on the stock.
Riot Platforms retail sentiment and message volume on March 24 as of 12:20 p.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Riot’s stock improved but remained in ‘bearish’ territory.
Most users reacted positively to the development.
The dispute between Whinstone and Rhodium revolved around unpaid fees under a December 2020 hosting agreement for Bitcoin mining operations.
Whinstone claimed Rhodium failed to meet its payment obligations, demanding over $10 million in May 2022, later revising it to $13.5 million by April 2023. Whinstone sued Rhodium in May 2023, seeking damages and legal clarity on the contracts.
Arbitration began in September 2023, but its progress remained contested. In November 2023, Whinstone terminated the agreements and cut off Rhodium’s power, leading to a legal battle.
A court ruling in December 2023 required Whinstone to restore power and uphold prior contractual terms.
Riot’s shares remain down 26% over the past 12 months and have shed 18% in 2025.
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