River Financial filed a lawsuit on September 11 against Blockstream Services Canada ULC in the Northern District of California, seeking approximately $6.7 million over a terminated contract. The complaint alleges breach of a termination agreement that included $3.55 million in prepaid refunds and a $3.15 million early-termination payment.
Initial reports on social media identified the defendant simply as "Blockstream," prompting the parent company to issue a clarification. Blockstream Corp stated on September 26 that Blockstream Services USA and Blockstream Services Canada have not been under its ownership, control, or management since mid-2024. According to the statement, the services businesses were spun out as part of Blockstream Mining and now operate as separate companies with no shared equity ownership or management with Blockstream Corp.
Following the separation, the services units retained the Blockstream name under a brand licensing agreement. The public announcement of Blockstream Mining as an independent entity occurred in April 2025, with former mining president Chris Cook assuming the role of CEO.
The lawsuit and subsequent clarification raised questions in the community about the licensing arrangement. Some observers questioned the timing of the disclosure, noting the significant gap between the mid-2024 separation and the public announcement. Others noted confusion about whether counterparties continued conducting business under the Blockstream name after the separation occurred.
The development comes days after Blockstream published a technical assessment of the September 6 Liquid Network incident, which resulted in the loss of nearly 4,000 BTC. The report outlined corrective measures including stricter remediation standards, regular code reviews, adversarial testing, and an expanded bug bounty program.
