Bitfarms Adds Board Director in Response to Riot Stand-Off

Canadian bitcoin mining firm Bitfarms has appointed a new director to its board in its latest move to deter a takeover bid by U.S. rival Riot Platforms.

On Thursday, Bitfarms announced that its board had unanimously approved the appointment of Fanny Philip as the fifth director, effective immediately. With Philip’s appointment, Bitfarms said it now has four independent directors.

This move comes just days after Riot called for a special meeting of Bitfarms’ shareholders to vote on Riot’s nomination of three independent directors. Riot became a beneficial owner of Bitfarms with a 14.9% stake as of Monday.

On Monday, Riot also called for shareholders to vote on the removal of Bitfarms’ chairman and interim CEO, Nicolas Bonta, existing independent director Andrés Finkielsztain, and any new appointee to fill the vacancy left by Bitfarms’ co-founder Emiliano Grodzki, who was recently voted off the board.

Following Riot’s requisition, Bitfarms has 21 days to set a date for the special meeting, during which shareholders will vote on Bitfarms’ board member composition, which may also concern Philip.

According to the release, Philip was a former chief operating officer of rival bitcoin mining firm SATO Technologies, which is also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Since April, Riot has invested over $132 million to accumulate a 14.9% stake in Bitfarms at an average cost of $2.29 per share. Bitfarms’ share price closed at $2.61 on Thursday.