Bitfarms Expands Computing Power With Stronghold Digital Mining Agreement

According to Cointelegraph, mining company Bitfarms has announced a hosting agreement with Stronghold Digital Mining to bring an additional 2.2 exahashes per second (EH/s) of computing power online by October 2024, two months ahead of schedule. This agreement will add 10,000 Bitmain T21 miners to Bitfarms' Panther Creek facility in Pennsylvania, commencing on October 1, 2024. Ben Gagnon, CEO of Bitfarms, highlighted the expansive potential of the company's sites in Pennsylvania, emphasizing their role in diversifying business operations. Gagnon noted that these sites provide access to energy trading opportunities, competitive power costs, and high-performance computing/artificial intelligence (HPC/AI). He expressed optimism about completing the acquisition of Stronghold and accelerating the strategy to diversify beyond Bitcoin mining to create greater long-term shareholder value. Under the agreement, Bitfarms will pay Stronghold a fee equivalent to 50% of the profits generated from the miner hosting agreement, which will renew annually unless either party decides not to renew the contract. Bitfarms' acquisition of Stronghold has faced criticism from Riot Platforms, the largest shareholder of Bitfarms. Riot Platforms issued an open letter to shareholders on September 3, calling for changes to Bitfarms' board of directors. Riot characterized Bitfarms' corporate governance as "broken" and proposed electing two independent candidates to the board. The letter also cautioned investors about the Stronghold acquisition, claiming it was designed to entrench the Bitfarms board and was dilutive to shareholder value. In response, Bitfarms rescheduled its special shareholders meeting from October 29, 2024, to November 6, 2024, to give the Bitfarms Special Committee adequate time to review and respond to Riot's demands. Bitfarms defended its acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining, stating that the deal was aimed at rebalancing its energy portfolio toward United States-based operations. The company also claimed that Riot's proposed board changes were intended to further Riot's own interests.