The trick: Circular Money
A former Bitcoin miner nearly doubled its valuation to 10.5 billion dollars in four months.
One of the investors is Nvidia, which two months before writing the check signed the company to an agreement covering Nvidia hardware purchases.
Firmus, the Australian AI-factory startup, raised $2 billion at a post-money valuation above $10.5 billion, announced August 6, nearly double its $5.5 billion April mark (post-money, so the $2 billion just raised sits inside the doubling; the step-up for existing holders is nearer 55 percent), with backing from Nvidia, Coatue, Blackstone funds and Jane Street, to accelerate Project Southgate across Australia and Asia-Pacific.
Before you read on. Your call?
TRUE, BUT
Circle mark
three things the milestone coverage compresses. First, the circle: in June, Firmus and Nvidia signed an agreement covering Nvidia infrastructure purchases and Nvidia-based cloud services, so the vendor invested in a customer contractually committed to spending the proceeds on the vendor. Second, the base: Firmus is a former Bitcoin miner repositioning power assets, and none of the announcement coverage reports any revenue figure against more than $3 billion of equity raised in a year. Third, the pattern: Nvidia denied vendor financing in a November 2025 memo to analysts while Chanos and Burry said the Lucent comparison holds weight, and the argument was still running the week Firmus announced, with Nvidia fielding circularity questions on CNBC five days later.
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The trick has a name
We call it Circular Money: the customer is funded by the vendor. You'll see it again. Learn to spot it →
Receipts
- Supports techstartups.com:
Firmus Technologies has raised $2 billion in fresh equity at a valuation above $10.5 billion, nearly doubling the Australian AI infrastructure startup's valuation in just four months
- Supports techstartups.com:
Firmus and Nvidia deepened their relationship in June through an agreement covering Nvidia infrastructure purchases and Nvidia-based cloud services.
- Supports crypto.news:
Blackstone, Nvidia, Coatue and Jane Street participated in the funding round to support the company's AI infrastructure expansion.
- Context crypto.news:
Former Bitcoin miner Firmus has raised $2 billion in fresh equity, lifting its valuation above $10.5 billion.
- Context cnbc.com:
CEO Jensen Huang immediately got out in front of the question of whether Monday's MOUs constitute more circular financing – agreements by which companies effectively pay themselves by investing in their own customers and one of the main criticisms of the AI buildout so far.
- Context finance.yahoo.com:
Chanos, who is famous for predicting the fall of Enron, thinks the comparison between Nvidia and Lucent bears weight.
Open the Receipts Pack → What each source proves, every figure traced, and what would change our verdict.