Riot Stock Rebounds Strongly, Shrugging Off Short Seller’s Report

On June 5, Kerrisdale Capital launched a war on Bitcoin miners, labeling them an industry of snake oil salesmen.Riot shares experienced a recovery on June 5 following a report from short seller Kerrisdale Capital.The paper, released just before the Nasdaq opened, accused Riot of mismanagement and predicted the firm’s impending collapse, stating that Bitcoin miners are selling “snake oil.”Kerrisdale ‘Declares War’ on Bitcoin MinersKerrisdale’s June 5 report said that RIOT was more proficient in “playing energy arbitrage games and issuing stock” than generating value for shareholders through crypto mining. The firm emphasized this point in an accompanying post on X, declaring a “war against bitcoin miners,” who they likened to “snake oil salesmen,” accusing them of burning through investor capital and contributing to environmental degradation.Valuation CollapseThe aggressive stance continued on X, where Kerrisdale detailed their strategy and shared two letters addressed to Texas state officials. They also labeled Bitcoin mining as a capital-intensive, competitive, and regulatory-challenged industry, arguing against investing in such companies as BTC proxies.Kerrisdale highlighted RIOT’s struggle to compete globally in cost-effective mining, its poor financial performance, and reliance on incentives and tax credits under scrutiny. They concluded by warning of an impending valuation collapse for RIOT and peers amid increasing regulatory pressure and business model skepticism.