Bitfarms co-founder Nicolas Bonta steps down from board

It's been a tumultuous year for Bitfarms' management team and the bitcoin miner has made another big change in the executive ranks.

CEO Ben Gagnon has been appointed to the Bitfarms board of directors as the company's co-founder and former chairman Nicolas Bonta steps down. The board appointed Lead Director Brian Howlett as its new independent chairman.

“Nicolas played a critical role in the foundation and development of this Company,” said Howlett. “He laid the groundwork for our success as a bitcoin miner and spearheaded our international expansion, particularly in Latin America. I have been proud to work alongside him for the past four years and am grateful for the wisdom and guidance he has provided."

Bonta has been at the center of a takeover battle between U.S.-based Riot Platforms and Bitfarms.

Riot Platforms attempted to acquire Bitfarms in April for about $950 million. In June, Riot said it was ready to engage with a reconstituted Bitfarms board about a potential acquisition but was withdrawing its previous offer to acquire the company "given the current board’s lack of meaningful engagement."

Riot has been buying stock in Bitfarms to become its largest shareholder and currently owns about 70 million shares.

In July, Riot nominated three independent directors to the Bitfarms board to replace Bonta, among others. Bitfarms had set Oct. 29 as the date for a special meeting of its shareholders to vote on reconstituting its board of directors following Riot Platforms’ requisition for the meeting on June 24.

Toronto-based Bitfarms fired CEO Geoffrey Morphy in May after he filed a lawsuit against the company claiming $27 million in damages for breach of contract. Gagnon, who had served as Bitfarm's chief mining officer, was promoted to CEO in July.

Last week, Bitfarms reported a net loss of $27 million or a 7-cent loss per basic and diluted share, which was better than the 11-cent per-share loss analysts expected. Revenue of $42 million was down 16% from the first quarter due to the decrease in block rewards following the Bitcoin halving event in April.