Bitfarms increased its Bitcoin production by 21% month-on-month in June amid takeover attempts by Riot Platforms, a major competitor. The company mined 189 BTC and sold 134 for $8.8 million, retaining 905 BTC worth $57 million in its treasury. Despite a 51% drop from June 2023 due to a halving event, Bitfarms expanded its installed hashrate to 11.4 exahashes per second, with 10.4 EH/s operational, aiming for 21 EH/s by 2024’s end—a 96% year-on-year and 39% month-on-month rise.
Bitfarms has focused on upgrading its fleet in 2024, adding approximately 39,000 new miners while decommissioning 39,000 older, less efficient ones, according to Ben Gagnon, chief mining officer.
“This has significantly increased our hashrate and improved our energy efficiency and gross mining margins across our portfolio.”
Additionally, Bitfarms expanded operations in the United States with a new 120 megawatt site in Sharon, Pennsylvania, set to add an extra 8 EH/s once fully operational.
Mining activities at its Paso Pe facility in Paraguay were disrupted by severe weather in June. However, Bitfarms noted that this setback was partly mitigated by a 0.8% decrease in network difficulty compared to May.
Riot Blockchain’s takeover attempts
Riot Platforms’ attempted acquisition of Bitfarms with a $950 million buyout offer in mid-June ended in defeat, as the company later acknowledged.
“[It’s] clear that engaging with the incumbent Bitfarms Board on a potential combination is just not possible,” Riot stated in a June 24 announcement.
Riot successfully acquired a 14.9% stake in Bitfarms by June 24, but its attempts to reach a 15% or greater stake were blocked.
During the same period, Riot also sought to replace three members of Bitfarms’ board of directors, but these efforts were unsuccessful. In response, Bitfarms swiftly appointed an additional board member to thwart Riot’s takeover attempts.
