Bitfarms, a Canadian Bitcoin miner, has appointed Fanny Philip as an independent board member to prevent a “hostile takeover” by Riot Platforms, which owns a 14.9% stake in Bitfarms. Riot Platforms had announced its intention to replace three members of Bitfarms’ board of directors with independent directors after the current board members blocked Riot’s attempt to increase its ownership to more than 15%. However, Riot later backtracked on its initial plan to acquire all Bitfarms common shares at US$2.30 per share. Following Philip’s appointment, four of the five board members are independent. In contrast, Riot intended to replace the original board members with three people “completely independent of Riot and Bitfarms” — John Delaney, Amy Freedman and Ralph Goehring. Hut 8, one of the largest public mining companies in terms of computing power, recently landed a $150 million investment from Coatue Management, owned by billionaire Philippe Laffont, to accelerate new compute capacity and “capitalize” on any opportunities that come from it.
Bitfarms Appoints New Board Member to Thwart Potential Takeover by Riot Platforms