Adam Back has long enjoyed near-legend status in crypto, with his work cited by Satoshi Nakamoto and years of whispers that he might be Satoshi himself. He has denied that, writing "I'm not Satoshi" on X in April. With President Donald Trump back in the White House and openly endorsing crypto companies, businesses tied to Back have felt pressure. Bitcoin's recent bounce has helped, but the price still sits roughly one third below the record it set last year. Multiple requests for comment to Back went unanswered.
in computer science at the University of Exeter; in 2014, he helped launch Blockstream to develop Bitcoin infrastructure and make digital-asset trading easier. Several years later, the company launched a mining arm, and it was spun out as a separate entity roughly two years ago. President Michael Minkevich said the separation let Blockstream focus on infrastructure technology, calling mining "capital intense" and "not a good fit" with the rest of the business. Back is the public face of Blockstream and also promoted a separate effort to build a $4 billion Bitcoin Treasury at BSTR Holdings.
Blockstream launched the Liquid Network in 2018, and weeks after a separate deal fell through, Liquid was hit by a major exploit that drained about 4,000 Bitcoin, or roughly $320 million. Around the same time, the plan for BSTR Holdings to amass $4 billion in Bitcoin through a merger with a blank-check firm tied to Cantor Fitzgerald unraveled. In late August, Cantor said the agreement was being shut down and BSTR owed the SPAC $15 million. Cantor declined to comment, and BSTR didn't respond.
The spun-off mining business, Blockstream Mining, partnered with Exacore, a firm run by Chris Cook, a longtime associate of Back's. Exacore says it operates 13 Bitcoin mining sites. Over the past year, Exacore cut staff and got pulled into disputes over unpaid bills after roughly $2 billion was raised from investors and via notes tied to the mining unit's expected Bitcoin production, according to court filings, corporate disclosures, and people with direct knowledge. Blockstream says it "does not have any operational involvement or affiliation with Exacore, nor has it ever had any interest, nor contractual relationship." Requests for comment to Exacore went unanswered.
Months after Trump's July 2024 appearance at a Nashville Bitcoin conference, Blockstream announced it had raised $210 million in a round led by Bitcoin-focused Fulgur Ventures to fund its technologies, purchase Bitcoin, and grow mining. In April 2025, Blockstream reported that the mining business had secured more than $350 million via a combination of debt and equity. Issued in 2021, the first Blockstream Mining Note paid out over 1,200 Bitcoin at maturity, delivering sizable gains to investors as prices rose.
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A second program, Blockstream Mining Note 2 (BMN2), followed in 2024 and was managed by Luxembourg-based SICOS Securities, which initially targeted $200 million. After several increases, SICOS boosted the capacity to $2 billion in October 2025, saying demand was strong and that the program's terms allowed additional series to be issued under its framework.
While Back isn't an Exacore executive, disclosures and an internal document indicate he has held a minority stake in Blockstream Mining. Blockstream said he previously served as a technical adviser to the mining company and that the role has ended. A 2025 document reviewed by Bloomberg lists Back as a director of BM OpCo, the special-purpose borrower for BMN2; a Blockstream spokesperson, however, said he does not own any stake in BM OpCo. Back has also talked up BMN2 in public; during a September 2024 podcast, he said it could perform on par with the original BMN, which he called "quite an attractive return." It's unclear how Exacore's business outlook could affect the notes, but a March 2025 report by digital-asset rating firm Particula said BMN2's ability to pay investors partly depends on proceeds from the underlying mining assets.
Exacore's legal slate has been growing. Giga Energy sued in February, alleging Exacore failed to comply with a purchase agreement for mining equipment, a claim the company disputes. Contractor BLS Electrical sued for alleged breach of contract and close to $1 million in unpaid work and equipment, and power provider Xcel Energy sued for $1.1 million in unpaid electricity. People familiar with the matter say a hosted client is also seeking the return of a $1 million deposit after getting its machines back.
Cook has drawn separate scrutiny. An anonymous Substack highlighted his past criminal case, and court records show he was sentenced in 2008 to 41 months after a mail-fraud conviction; the Federal Bureau of Prisons says he served about three years. He was also sued in Florida over missed payments on a Boeing 767 he agreed to buy last year; in a court filing, Cook says he is current.
Requests for comment went unanswered by Cook. Cook was among industry figures pushing Trump to support crypto in the 2024 campaign, attending a June meeting about Bitcoin mining and helping host the then-Republican nominee at a July 2024 Bitcoin conference in Nashville, where Trump pledged to make the U.S. "the crypto capital of the planet and Bitcoin superpower of the world." That morning, a text Cook sent to a friend said he was heading to meet Trump, a message Bloomberg reviewed.
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