Riot Platforms, Inc., which owns the most shares in Bitfarms Ltd., has written an open message to the company’s shareholders asking for more changes to be made to the board of directors.
The next meeting of owners is set for October 29. Riot will push for changes at this meeting that will improve control and value for all shareholders.
Bitfarms is a publicly traded company with its main office in Canada. It works in the cryptocurrency business, mainly with Bitcoin mining.
What Riot wants and what it does
Riot has a 19.9% stake in the Bitcoin mining company and has admitted that the board has changed recently, with co-founders Emiliano Grodzki and Nicolas Bonta stepping down.
Riot says in the open letter that these changes are not enough and are only a response to public pressure. He also suggests that Amy Freedman and John Delaney be elected as two independent directors.
The two new independent directors would replace Bitfarm’s board members Andres Finkielsztain and Fanny Philip.
Warning to Bitfarms
Riot also tells Bitfarms in its letter not to do anything else that could make the current board stronger before the meeting on October 29.
Riot said it “sincerely” hopes Bitfarms will make sure shareholders “have their say” and not “seek to take any steps” that could “mislead investors” or give them a “unfair advantage in the director election.”
“…Bitfarms Board should not enter into any financing transaction prior to the completion of the Special Meeting. Riot is deeply concerned that any transaction the current Bitfarms Board will pursue will be punitively dilutive to all Bitfarms’ shareholders when there are other more attractive financing options available.”
The company warned that the current directors would be held “personally accountable” if the Bitfarms Board kept on taking “any such action to further entrench itself at the expense of shareholders.”
Changes to the Bitfarm Board
After Riot Platforms tried to take over Bitfarms on August 13, the company revealed that CEO Ben Gagnon would be joining the board as a new member.
At the start of May, Bonta took over as Bitfarms’ temporary president and CEO. When Gagnon joined the board, Bonta “decided to step down.”
At the time, a Bitfarms representative told Cointelegraph that adding a CEO to a board was “unique to public companies.”
