Bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain's CEO Peter Wall steps down

Peter Wall is stepping down as CEO and interim chairman of Argo Blockchain to "pursue other opportunities."  

He will hand over the reins to COO Seif El-Bakly in the interim, according to a company release. Wall has agreed to remain as an advisor to Argo over the next three months to support the transition. Matthew Shaw has been appointed chairman of the board.

The publicly listed miner will use an executive search firm to help find a long-term replacement for Wall. 

In addition to Wall's departure, non-executive director to the board Sarah Gow has resigned due to health reasons. She had been on the board since July 2021. 

These departures follow the exit of the company's CFO, Alex Appleton, who left at the beginning of February. Appleton also said he is leaving to "pursue other opportunities," a filing shows. 

In December, Argo panicked the market by accidentally publishing drafts of posts which said it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 

The troubled miner has been looking for extra capital to avoid that fate. It sold its Helios mining facility to Galaxy Digital for $65 million in December and took a $35 million loan from the company. It also ramped up its bitcoin mining in January.