A new order issued by a federal court in Kansas City on Thursday has effectively extended a temporary restraining order set down earlier this month, leaving Bitcoin mining rig builder Butterfly Labs (BFL) under the control of a court-appointed receiver. The order does allow for "limited operations" by the company, however.

For the last 15 months, Ars has followed BFL as it has gone from being a curious hardware startup in a nascent industry to becoming the target of a federal investigation brought by the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC believes the three named members of the company’s board of directors—Jody Drake (aka Darla Drake), Nasser Ghoseiri, and Sonny Vleisides—spent millions of dollars of corporate revenue on non-corporate expenses like saunas and guns while leaving many customer orders either wholly unfulfilled or significantly delayed.

Last Saturday, the FTC alleged for the first time that not only did BFL engage in deceptive sales practices, it specifically used customer-ordered machines to mine its own bitcoins before shipping the machines out. (BFL has specifically denied mining for its own benefit.) The FTC also claims that BFL had its employees mine for personal gain using machines that had been refused by their purchasers or that had been returned after having arrived too late to be worthwhile.

The new interim order forbids any new sales, new lines of credit, and other restrictions by the defendants, and it requires that any foreign assets be repatriated. The receiver, a court-appointed lawyer, will manage the company and any "limited operations" as he sees fit.

In its order, the court specifically noted that CTO Nasser Ghoseiri, an Iranian who lives in France, has not yet made a formal appearance in the case—either by showing up or sending a lawyer on his behalf.

"Yes, we are pleased with the terms of the stipulated interim order, which meets the FTC’s goal of ensuring that Butterfly Labs cannot defraud any more consumers as this case continues," Jay Mayfield, an FTC spokesman, told Ars late Thursday. "All corporate and personal assets remain frozen, and the order does not allow for business as usual, or anything close to it. The receiver, not the defendants, remain in full control of the business."

BFL's newly hired spokesman, Charles Zinkowski, sent Ars a statement on Thursday but did not make anyone available from the company to answer questions.

"Although Butterfly Labs is still disturbed with the Federal Trade Commission’s rush to judgment and labeling of the company as bogus and scammers, Butterfly Labs is pleased by the Court’s entry of a Stipulated Interim Order, which allows the company to reopen its doors for limited operations," he wrote.

"While the Order does not allow Butterfly Labs to fully serve our customers as desired, it is a step in the right direction and will allow for limited order fulfillment. During the period of the Court’s Order, Butterfly Labs will continue to cooperate closely with the Court-appointed Temporary Receiver."

Zinkowski’s statement also said that the FTC’s claims around "burn-in testing" and the inappropriate mining of bitcoins were "false" but did not provide any additional information.

"Butterfly Labs views the Order as a promising sign for the future of our company, our customers, and our employees," Zinkowski concluded. "This lawsuit has severely damaged our reputation and it is up to Butterfly Labs to attempt to repair that damage."

The court's next scheduled hearing is set for Friday morning.