The lawsuit claims that Crusoe's technology infringes on Upstream Data founder Stephen Barbour's patent, and that Crusoe developed that technology in full knowledge of this. The Canadian miner is suing for damages and is asking the court to order Crusoe to stop the alleged intellectual property violation.

Crusoe is aware of the complaint and plans to "vigorously defend itself," a company spokesperson said. The firm "remains confident" in its own "intellectual property, which includes five issued patents," the spokesperson added.

Barbour applied for a natural gas bitcoin mining patent in February 2017, the same year when he founded his company, according to the lawsuit. Barbour's patent was accepted on Feb. 7, 2023.

"Crusoe is a follower rather than a pioneer," read the Upstream Data complaint, claiming Crusoe developed its products years after Barbour.

Crypto miners like these two work on oil and natural gas wells where excess gas is released, or flared into the atmosphere, adding carbon dioxide equivalents, particularly methane. The miners instead set up power generators that burn that excess gas, extracting energy and using it to power bitcoin mining rigs.

Crusoe energy systems Natural gas Mining Bitcoin Mining

Eliza Gkritsi

Eliza Gkritsi is a CoinDesk contributor focused on the intersection of crypto and AI, having previously covered mining for two years. She previously worked at TechNode in Shanghai and has graduated from the London School of Economics, Fudan University, and the University of York. She owns 25 WLD. She tweets as @egreechee.