Crypto miner Sphere 3D said it could face approximately $2.2 million in supplemental US tariffs, before interest, on Bitcoin miners purchased in 2022 by a subsidiary it now owns.
The company said in an Aug. 24 filing that US Customs and Border Protection treated the equipment as Chinese-origin goods.
The filing stated seller-provided import documents included a certificate of origin and a certificate of manufacture certifying the miners were not of Chinese origin. It called CBP’s allegation meritless, said it plans to protest, and said the amount payable remains uncertain.
The filing does not disclose CBP’s origin analysis, the subsidiary or seller involved, the miner models or entries, the country Sphere 3D claims, the procedural trigger, or the certificates themselves. It also does not quantify statutory interest or say whether Sphere 3D has accrued, paid, or bonded any amount.
Why the possible $2.2 million charge matters
Sphere 3D’s June 30 balance sheet, its first after completing the Cathedra Bitcoin combination, showed over $2.8 million in cash, $0.2 million in working capital, and roughly $5.9 million in current liabilities. The company also held 20.5 BTC valued at nearly $1.2 million.
The possible $2.2 million charge before interest equaled about 77% of that cash balance and roughly 11 times the reported working capital. The company subsequently received $1.7 million of additional proceeds through its at-the-market equity program.
The June 30 filing also showed over $9 million in first-half operating cash use, nearly $5.3 million in proceeds from Bitcoin sales, and over $2.4 million in net financing proceeds. Management said recurring losses and negative operating cash flow created substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue without more funding.
A later ATM prospectus gave Sphere 3D capacity to sell up to $10.3 million of shares. The company was not required to use that capacity, and proceeds depend on actual share sales.
Sphere 3D said it plans to protest the tariff claim. Federal customs rules generally give importers 180 days after the relevant liquidation, reliquidation, or other protestable CBP decision. The public record does not show its specific deadline because the company did not disclose the notice or its procedural trigger.
A separate 2022 disclosure said 4,000 S19j Pro miners arrived in July and were held pending supplier documentation, with roughly 540 released in August. It named FuFu Technologies (BitFuFu) only in the purchase-agreement context.
No public evidence connects those shipments, that vendor, or those models to the 2026 dispute.
The company also remains Sphere 3D and continues to trade as ANY. Its approved name change to DarkHorse Technologies and proposed DRK ticker remain pending.
