BitFarms Adds Board Member to Protect Riot Platforms Control

In the middle of the ongoing cold war between the two main Bitcoin mining companies, Riot Platforms and Bitfarms, the latter has appointed a new board member to thwart attempts at “hostile control”.

On June 24, Riot Platform, which owns a 14.9% stake in Bitfarms, announced its intention to replace three members of Bitfarms' board of directors with independent directors. This decision comes after the current board members blocked Ryot's attempt to increase its ownership beyond 15%.

At the same time, Riot backed off its original plan to acquire all BitFarms common shares for US$2.30 per share, saying:

“[It] It is clear that it will not be possible to participate in an integrated merger with the existing Bitfarms board.

On June 27, Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) miner Bitfarms announced the appointment of Fanny Philippe as an independent board member.

Following Philip's appointment, four of the five board members are independent. Conversely, Riot intends to replace the original board members with three people who are “completely independent of Riot and BitFarms” – John Delaney, Amy Friedman and Ralph Goehring.

Philippe is a member of the Mining Committee of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium and President of the Quebec Chapter.

Riot Platforms did not respond to Cointelegraph's request for comment.

Related: Bitcoin Mining Riot Platforms Reports $211M Q1 Net Income

With artificial intelligence (AI) and Bitcoin's growing demand for widespread adoption, investors are placing big bets on Bitcoin miners as demand for computing power increases.

As a result of this demand, Bitcoin miner Hut 8 received a $150 million investment on June 24 from Coatue Management, owned by billionaire Philippe Lafont.

Speaking of an investment of 150 million dollars, Laffont Hut 8 is “well placed” to accelerate the new accounting capacity and to “capitalize” on any opportunities that come from it.

“We are committed to supporting the innovators who advance AI and believe that computing power is critical to the ecosystem's significant growth.”

A completed transaction is expected on or before July 11 this year. On June 21, Hut 8 filed its investment agreement with Coatue with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Hat8 is one of the largest public mining companies in terms of computing power. Its current market capitalization is estimated at $1.1 billion.

Magazine: As Ethereum Mining Intensifies, Drains Move to Tons and Bitcoin