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Investing.com — Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) jumped 22% on Monday after the bitcoin mining company announced a new CEO, Jason Les.
In addition, Hannah Cho was named an independent director on the company’s board.
In a statement the company said Les has been deeply involved with Bitcoin since 2013, “with significant experience in both mining and as an engineer studying protocol development and contributing to open-source projects.” He has been an independent director since 2017, and he will remain on the board.
“As CEO, he will be the driving force behind the Company’s strategic focus on Bitcoin mining, and its mission to become one of the most relevant and significant companies supporting the Bitcoin network and greater bitcoin ecosystem,” the statement said.
Earlier on Monday, electric car maker Tesla said it bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, pushing the price of the cryptocurrency to a record over $41,700. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) said it would begin accepting Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles in the near future.
