Prominent Bitcoin (BTC) miner Bitfarms generated 233 BTC worth $13.9 million last month, with its holdings increasing to 1,103 BTC. It happened because Bitfarm’s operational hashrate surged 2% month over month to 11.3 EH/s.

A Notable August Performance for Bitfarms

However, Bitfarms recorded a decline in Bitcoin generation in August, even though its hashrate increased. The company stated that its total of 253 BTC in July had decreased by 8%.

It attributed this decrease to higher-than-average network difficulty during the month. Moreover, Bitfarms’ August output decreased by 39% when compared to the same period the previous year.

This decline coincides with the difficulties miners have encountered since the April halving event, which had a substantial effect on their earnings. With regard to managing its treasury, the BTC miner sold 147 BTC out of the mined ones for $8.8 million.

Its Bitcoin treasury now holds 1,103 BTC, valued at roughly $65.1 million, after adding the remaining 86 BTC, worth $5.1 million.

Bitfarms and its Strategic Acquisition

Last month, the Bitcoin miner agreed to pay $175 million to acquire Stronghold Digital, a competitor in the cryptocurrency mining space. It is anticipated that this deal, which combines debt and equity financing, will strengthen Bitfarms’ energy portfolio.

Ben Gagnon, CEO of Bitfarms, stressed the significance of this acquisition in readjusting their energy strategy to satisfy future needs. Interestingly, Riot Platforms made an earlier attempt in April to pay roughly $950 million to acquire Bitfarms.

Riot, however, retracted its initial offer of $2.30 per share after encountering difficulties in communicating with Bitfarms’ board. Riot persisted in acquiring Bitfarms’ stock in spite of this setback, growing to become the company’s largest shareholder with a 19.9% ownership position.

Concerns over Bitfarms’ Governance Issues

Furthermore, Riot Platforms has voiced concerns about recent Bitfarms governance changes. In an open letter to Bitfarms shareholders, Riot’s CEO, Jason Les, and Executive Chairman Benjamin Yi expressed their concerns over the prevailing issues.

They contended that the firm’s recent leadership changes were only “reactive” and insufficient to address the fundamental governance problems within the company. Nicolas Bonta and Emiliano Grodzki, two of Bitfarms’ co-founders, recently left their positions on the board.

Following their exits, Fanny Philip was named Grodzki’s replacement, and Ben Gagnon assumed Bonta’s position on the board and became the new CEO. Riot was particularly troubled by Bitfarms’ use of a “poison pill” tactic.

It is a defensive mechanism that involves issuing new shares if an entity acquires more than 15% of another company and is often used to discourage hostile takeovers.

Upcoming Shareholders Meeting

Meanwhile, Riot has lowered the number of independent directors on the board to two — John Delaney and Amy Freedman. While Delaney has a wealth of knowledge in politics and public affairs, Freedman contributes knowledge in corporate governance and capital markets.

Riot believes that these appointments will improve Bitfarms’ strategy alignment with shareholder interests. Riot’s executives stressed how important it is for the mining firm to give its shareholders a significant voice in the company’s future.

They highlighted Finkielsztain’s part in the company’s previous difficulties, such as the CEO succession plan that resulted in five CEO changes for the BTC mining firm in a short period.

Bitcoin’s September Challenges

Historically, September has always been a difficult month for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency’s price has typically dropped by 4% during this month since 2009.

Since September has been bearish for six of the previous seven years for the leading digital asset, many investors proceed cautiously during this time. Surprisingly, Bitfinex traders are betting on a different outcome for Bitcoin this September.

The platform’s total Bitcoin margin longs have increased by 3,000 BTC since August 28 to about 64,350 BTC. In less than ten hours, the annualized interest rate on these borrowed funds has also increased, surpassing 20%. 

This unanticipated increase followed a customary “red” month-opening period, during which prices first declined. With October approaching, optimism about a market turnaround is high. In the past, October has proven to be a prosperous month for Bitcoin, averaging a gain of 22.9% over the previous nine years.

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