Peter Wall steps down as CEO of struggling BTC miner Argo Blockchain

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Peter Wall has stepped down as the CEO and chairman of Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ: ARBK), the struggling BTC block reward miner that almost went bankrupt towards the end of 2022.

Wall has been at the helm of the London Stock Exchange-listed company for the past three years and is leaving the company “to pursue other opportunities,” as per a February 9 filing with the LSE.

I have stepped down as CEO at @Argoblockchain. It's been a great honour to lead the company for 3 years.

Seif, Seb + the team: wish you all the best. You got this!

ARB shareholders: thanks for everything. It's been quite the journey.

Onwards and Upwards! 🚀 https://t.co/k60Do8Eigt

— Peter Wall (@PeterGWall) February 9, 2023

In his farewell speech, Wall said he was proud of the progress the company has made since he came onboard five years ago. His proudest moment was when the company cross-listed on Nasdaq and raised a sizeable amount of money, “which we then used to build an incredible facility in Helios, Texas.”

As CoinGeek reported, the company sold the Helios facility to Galaxy Digital, the Mike Novogratz-led company, for $65 million. The sale saved the miner, which just weeks earlier had seemed destined for bankruptcy filing and been temporarily delisted from the LSE.

COO Seif El-Bakly will take over the reins at Argo on an interim basis, with Wall staying on as an advisor over the next three months to assist the company in the transition.

Argo also lost Sarah Gow, a non-executive director who joined the company’s board in 2021. Wall revealed in his speech that she is stepping down because of her health.

Just a week ago, the company revealed that its CFO, Alex Appleton, had stepped down as well to pursue other opportunities. Argo claimed at the time that COO El-Bakly would take up the CFO duties as it worked on recruiting a new CFO.

In the past year, block reward miners faced their toughest test yet. Some, like Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZW) and Compute North, collapsed and filed for bankruptcy, while others, like Argo, had to sell off their assets to stay afloat. Hut 8 (TSE: HUT) and USBTC are among those merging to consolidate resources as the “mine and hodl” model comes under intense pressure.

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