Riot Platforms has trimmed down its position in Bitfarms, selling 6.5 million shares worth $5.67 million in the second liquidation round of its competitor’s stock.
Per an SEC filing, Riot made the sales between June 9 and June 20 for an average price of $0.87 per share. The company first began shedding its stake in Bitfarms in May, selling 8.86 million shares worth $8.59 million at an average price of $0.97 per share between May 27 and June 6.
Riot filed to have the ability to sell all of its Bitfarms shares on May 27. In total, Riot has sold 15.36 million shares of Bitfarms at an average price of $0.93 per share for $14.25 million. This is a 59% haircut from Riot’s average entry price of $2.26 per share when it gobbled up 90.11 million Bitfarms shares for $203.65 million in 2024.
At the peak of its buying spree, Riot owned 19.9% of Bitfarms’ outstanding shares. After the two rounds of sales, Riot now owns 13.4% of its rival, but its portion of shares with voting power only stands at 9.9%.
Riot made the purchases last year in what some called a takeover attempt. The company made an initial bid to acquire Bitfarms for $950 million in April of 2024, but Bitfarms quickly rejected the offer. Following this, Riot began amassing Bitfarms shares.
In response, Bitfarms threatened to implement a poison pill plan aimed at limiting Riot’s influence by diluting its ownership if it surpassed 20%.
The conflict concluded in September 2024, with a resolution that capped Riot’s ownership at 20% unless approved by Bitfarms’ board. In return, Bitfarms agreed to appoint one of Riot’s nominated directors to its board.
Blockspace reached out to Riot for comment. Check back for updates.
