Bitmain, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining rig manufacturer, is locked in a series of legal disputes with US hosting contractors.

The details in the lawsuits offer a rare glimpse into at least part of the company’s mining footprint across North America.

In late August, Bitmain asked a Texas bankruptcy court to release 2,700 Antminer machines - valued at more than $5.5 million - from Orb Energy’s Chapter 11 estate.

The machines were deployed at Orb’s Van Vleck facility under a hosting agreement that Bitmain says left ownership squarely with the manufacturer.

In its motion, Bitmain accused Orb of diverting more than 99 Bitcoin in rewards to wallets controlled by CEO Jamieson Zaniewski. Bitmain also accused Orb of obstructing site access, damaging hardware with unauthorized software, and even implying threats of deadly force.

Bitmain formally terminated its contract with Orb in July, but the company’s equipment was apparently listed in Orb’s bankruptcy schedule. Bitmain is seeking confirmation that both the rigs and any mined Bitcoin are excluded from the Chapter 11 filing.

In addition to the Orb court case, Bitmain is also involved in a legal battle in Tennessee, where hosting contractor Old Const is contesting Bitmain’s termination of a hosting deal covering 7,143 S21 rigs.

Meanwhile, Bitmain’s successful arbitration against MakerStar Capital in Mississippi saw the company awarded $4.5 million in damages for MakerStar’s early termination of its hosting contracts. In the process, court documents revealed Bitmain had 6,400 mining rigs on site.

And in Iowa, Energy Conversion Group has sued Bitmain over allegedly mis-selling 5,000 refurbished mining rigs, which didn’t meet their advertised levels of quality.

Together, all the legal disputes confirm Bitmain’s direct control of at least 16,000 miners with a mining capacity of around 4.2 Ehps across Texas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, alongside bulk sales of used machines.

Given that the 16,000 units are only what have surfaced in court records, the question remains open as to how much additional proprietary hashrate Bitmain may still operate under the radar.