Israeli Crypto Miner Mulls Move to Toronto Stock Exchange

This article formerly read that Bitfarms was being delisted from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Following clarification from a Bitfarms spokesperson, the article has been amended to accurately reflect the developments.

Israeli cryptocurrency mining firm Bitfarms is currently seeking a listing with the Toronto Stock Exchange, a company spokesperson told Cointelegraph on April 2.

Local reports earlier this week suggested that the firm would be delisted from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) as a result of losses incurred in the crypto bear market. Bitfarms Director of Public Relations Bahador Zabihiyan explained that this is not the case.

Zabihiyan told Cointelegraph that Bitfarms has “a proposed arrangement with a newly created Canadian company which, if effected, would see Bitfarms migrate its Israel listing to Canada. It's subject to shareholder, court and regulatory approvals. If the proposed arrangement is not successful, Bitfarms will maintain its status as a TASE publicly traded company.”

In an announcement on March 31, the firm noted decreased profit margins last year, due in part to increased mining difficulty and falling prices in crypto markets.

In the statement, Bitfarms CFO John Rim said that “despite the challenges, through continuous reinvestment of cash flow generated from our operations, careful financial planning and disciplined execution, we were able to achieve many operational growth objectives in 2018.”

In mid-March, the firm received $20 million in strategic debt financing to fund the expansion of its operations.

In November of last year, cryptocurrency markets suffered a sharp drop off not seen in over a year, when Bitcoin slumped below the $5,600 price point for the first time in 2018.

Last December, Cointelegraph reported that cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain decided to close its development center in Israel and lay off local employees, as well as reduce its operations in the Netherlands in January. Gadi Glikberg, head of the Israeli branch and Bitmain vice president of international sales and marketing, linked the closure to the crypto market collapse:

“The crypto market has undergone a shake-up in the past few months, which has forced Bitmain to examine its various activities around the globe and to refocus its business in accordance with the current situation."