The publicly listed Bitcoin (BTC) miner from Wall Avenue (NYSE: ARBK) and London (LSE: ARB) Argo Blockchain plc introduced immediately (Tuesday) that Chief Govt Officer Thomas Chippas will step down from his place and board directorship, efficient February 28, 2025.
Chief Monetary Officer Jim MacCallum will function interim CEO whereas the corporate conducts an govt search
The CEO joined Argo Blockchain in late 2023, throughout a difficult interval for the cryptocurrency market and the mining trade. Throughout his tenure, Chippas led vital monetary enhancements on the dual-listed crypto miner, notably orchestrating the early reimbursement of the corporate’s Galaxy mortgage and strengthening its steadiness sheet place.
Matthew Shaw, Chairman of the Board at Argo Blockchain
“Thomas has made vital contributions to Argo together with the reimbursement of the Galaxy mortgage forward of schedule and bettering the steadiness sheet,” mentioned Matthew Shaw, Chairman of the Board. “On behalf of the Board and everybody at Argo, I wish to thank Thomas for his many achievements and want him each success sooner or later.”
The corporate, which operates a mining facility in Quebec and maintains places of work throughout the US, Canada, and the UK, mentioned it plans to interact an govt search agency to determine a everlasting successor.
Earlier than becoming a member of the cryptocurrency mining firm, Chippas held the function of Managing Director at Citi’s New York department. His longest tenure, nonetheless, was with Cboe Digital, the place he served as CEO and a member of the Board of Administrators. He additionally continues to serve on the board of TS Think about, an organization offering SaaS platforms for built-in digital front-office buying and selling.
Argo Nonetheless Faces Challenges
Though Chippas is leaving Argo Blockchain in a extra secure situation, vital challenges persist. In line with the Q3 2024 monetary report, the cryptocurrency mining firm reported a internet lack of $6.3 million for the quarter, reflecting ongoing market difficulties and shrinking mining margins.
Income fell to $7.5 million in Q3, a 28% decline from $10.4 million in the identical interval final yr. In the course of the quarter, the corporate mined 123 Bitcoin, averaging 1.3 BTC per day. Mining margins noticed a pointy drop to eight% in comparison with 58% a yr earlier when the corporate benefited from energy credit because of financial curtailments. Adjusted EBITDA swung to unfavourable $2.1 million, a big downturn from optimistic $2.4 million within the prior yr.
In December, Finance Magnates reported that Argo Blockchain raised £4.2 million ($5.3 million) via a share subscription. The corporate issued roughly 76.9 million new abnormal shares at 5.5 pence per share to an institutional investor. The funds intention to help strategic initiatives, together with the relocation or divestment of mining gear from its Helios facility in Texas and sustaining Bitcoin mining operations in Quebec. The corporate can also be seeking to broaden into high-performance computing (HPC).
The newest mining report from January signifies that Argo produced 39 BTC in December 2024, the identical as in November.
Our December operational replace is out:
🔸Mined 39 Bitcoin in December.
🔸Every day manufacturing was 1.3 Bitcoin per day in line with November.
🔸Mining income of $3.9 million, a rise from $3.4 million in November.
🔸We’re at present evaluating different web site choices to…
— Argo (@ArgoBlockchain) January 7, 2025
Nonetheless, manufacturing stays at a five-month low, underscoring the continuing challenges going through the corporate.
