Riot Platforms Increases Stake in Bitfarms Ltd. to 18.9%, Continues Push for Board Changes

Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT), the third biggest Bitcoin (BTC) miner on Wall Street, has increased its ownership stake in rival Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) to 18.9%

Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT), the third-largest Bitcoin (BTC) miner on Wall Street, has increased its ownership stake in rival Bitfarms (NASDAQ:BITF) to 18.9%, continuing its efforts to reshape the Canadian miner's board of directors.

According to a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Riot disclosed the acquisition of an additional 1 million Bitfarms common shares through open market purchases. The transaction, valued at approximately $2.28 million, brings Riot's total holdings to 85.3 million shares, up from 84.3 million previously.

The move comes amid ongoing tensions between the two cryptocurrency mining firms. In April, Riot made an unsolicited $950 million offer to acquire Bitfarms, which was promptly rejected as undervaluing the company. Bitfarms subsequently adopted a "poison pill" defense to ward off potential hostile takeover attempts.

While Riot withdrew its initial acquisition proposal, the company has maintained pressure on Bitfarms' leadership. In June, Riot requisitioned a special shareholder meeting, seeking to remove certain Bitfarms directors and replace them with independent candidates.

The boardroom battle appears to be yielding results. Earlier on Tuesday, Bitfarm announced the immediate departure of co-founder and chair Nicolas Bonta, one of the three board members Riot had targeted for replacement.

In the meantime, the company appointed Liam Wilson as Chief Operating Officer, and early last month promoted Ben Gagnon to the position of President. Previously, he held various roles including Chief Mining Officer and Director of Business Development.

“Founding Bitfarms and overseeing the Company’s growth has been the highlight of my professional career. Now is the right time for me to step down and for Ben to join the Board,” Bonta remarked.

Riot certainly has a market advantage here, being one of the three largest cryptocurrency miners on Wall Street. Its market capitalization exceeds 2 billion dollars, more than double that of Bitfarms.

Riot indicated it would continue to review its investment in Bitfarms and may consider further actions, including adjusting its position or proposing additional changes to the board composition.