Bitfarms Hints at HPC Expansion with Team Changes

Canadian-headquartered Bitfarms has announced changes to its bitcoin mining operations team, hinting at an expansion toward high-performance computing (HPC) and AI operations.

Bitfarms said on Tuesday that it appointed Alex Brammer as senior vice president of global mining operations and promoted Benoit Gobeil, currently executive vice president of operations and infrastructure, to chief infrastructure officer.

These changes restructure Bitfarms’ mining operations into two distinct divisions: Mining Operations, led by Brammer, and Infrastructure, headed by Gobeil.

According to the release, the Mining Operations division will focus on miner performance, upgrades, and hashrate maintenance, while the Infrastructure team will oversee construction and expansion.

“The Mining Operations and Infrastructure divisions will deliver greater scalability and accountability in data center construction, maintenance and operations and lay the foundation for the establishment of HPC/AI operations,” Bitfarms said in the release.

Brammer previously served as a senior director of digital strategy and asset optimization at Talen Energy, a power producer that partnered with Terawulf to mine bitcoin in Pennsylvania using nuclear energy. Before that, he was vice president of business development at Luxor. Gobeil joined Bitfarms in 2018 to execute the company’s growth plan with his industrial, electrical, and operational expertise.

Bitfarms’ team changes coincide with a broader industry trend, where bitcoin mining companies are seeking alternative revenue streams like HPC hosting due to declining bitcoin mining profitability post-halving.

Several companies, including Core Scientific, HIVE, Bit Digital, Iris Energy, Terawulf, and Bitdeer, have already reported revenues from HPC hosting or are actively pursuing such contracts. Marathon, the largest bitcoin mining hodler, has also indicated its interest in exploring HPC opportunities.

Meanwhile, Bitfarms continues to navigate a hostile takeover bid by its U.S. rival Riot Platforms. The company has postponed a special shareholder meeting to Nov. 6th.