Bitcoin Miner Bitfarms’ CEO Exits; COO Will Replace

Emiliano Grodzki, the co-founder and CEO of Canadian bitcoin miner Bitfarms (BITF), has resigned, effective immediately, according to company statement. The company’s President and COO Geoffrey Morphy has been promoted as his replacement.

The co-founder the company in 2017 with Nicolas Bonta, Grodzki will remain as a director. Bonta will move from executive chairman to chairman of the board.

«In a little over two years, Geoff helped transform Bitfarms from a purely Canadian company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange with five farms in Quebec to an international powerhouse traded on both the Nasdaq and TSX with ten operating farms in four countries driving over 4.4 exahash/second (EH/s) today,» said Bonta in the statement.

The valuations of the bitcoin miners have suffered major blows from the brutal crypto winter that saw high energy costs and stubbornly lower bitcoin prices. The sentiment in the space was further shaken by the high profile bankruptcy of Compute North and Core Scientific (CORZ) and the looming possibility of more companies filing for Chapter 11 protection like Greenidge Generation (GREE). Bitfarms hasn’t been spared, with its stock down 92% this year and its market cap now sitting at $85 million.

The company has been trying to reduce its debt burden through the bear market to stay afloat. Most recently, it paid down $27 million in an effort to improve its balance sheet.

Bitfarms, which mostly uses hydro-electric energy to mine bitcoin, has ten mining facilities located in Canada, U.S., Paraguay and Argentina. Shares are up 3.5% in premarket trading on Thursday.

Read more: Bitfarms Looks to Boost Liquidity With Sale of 1,500 Bitcoin, New Loan

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