Riot Blockchain Announces New Advisory Board Member

CEO of Blockware Solutions Joins Riot as Member of its Industry-Leading Advisory Board

Castle Rock, CO, Jan. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) ("Riot”, “Riot Blockchain” or the “Company"), announced that Mason Jappa, CEO of Blockware Solutions LLC (“Blockware”) is joining Riot’s Advisory Board. Mason joins Pierre Rochard, Yan Pritzker, and Cory Klippsten, the founding members of the Riot Advisory Board in 2019.

Mr. Jappa brings to Riot’s Advisory Board a vast amount of experience in cryptocurrency mining. He is the co-founder of Blockware, which was created in 2017 and delivers Blockchain and bitcoin mining related services to its clients which includes some of the world’s most innovative mining farms and blockchain companies. Blockware has placed over 45MW for hosted clients, sold over 200,000 ASIC’s, operates validator nodes for Skale, Dfinity, Ethereum, and has created one of the largest U.S.-based bitcoin mining pools - Blockwarepool. Additionally, he is a managing partner of Blockware Mining, LLC, a colocation facility and a self-mining operation with over 300 Ph/s based in Kentucky, offering turnkey buy and host solutions to prospective clients.

Mr. Jappa commented, "I am very excited to be joining Riot Blockchain's Advisory Board, I firmly believe there are many synergies that exist between my background and expertise, Riot, and its current Advisory Board. My focus as a Riot Advisory Board member will be assisting the Company in its evaluation of growth opportunities, by sharing my expertise in optimizing operations, enhancing marketing strategies, and pushing forward our shared goal of decentralizing Bitcoin mining hashrate by increasing the American footprint in the space."

Riot Advisory Board

In 2019, Riot established its Advisory Board comprised of well-recognized creative leaders with a wealth of operational and strategic experience from across the blockchain space including: bitcoin software development, node projects, bitcoin education, start-up advisory, and venture capital/angel investing. The Advisory Board was established to assist the Company in evaluating and defining its strategic mission and enhance shareholder value through the advisors' industry-leading insights and vast network of innovators and pacesetters. Profiles of the Advisory Board's existing members include:

Pierre Rochard

Pierre is the lead bitcoin strategist at Kraken, one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges. Pierre has been involved with bitcoin as a researcher, investor, and software developer since February 2013. He co-founded the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute to curate the best primary source literature on bitcoin and cryptography. In addition to developing bitcoin software, Pierre is an outspoken advocate for bitcoin's decentralized governance. In 2017 he began co-hosting the Noded Bitcoin Podcast. His successful open-source software projects include BitcoinACKs.com and the Node Launcher. In 2019 he founded Lightning Power Users, which operates one of the largest Lightning Network routing nodes.

Yan Pritzker

Yan is the co-founder and CTO of Swan Bitcoin, a bitcoin on-ramp for recurring purchases of bitcoin, and the author of Inventing Bitcoin, a book on the inner workings of bitcoin. Formerly, he was co-founding CTO of Reverb.com, a music instrument marketplace that he helped grow to half a billion dollars in annual sales volume. Yan also invests into bitcoin startups through Bitcoiner Ventures and advises Bitcoin companies.

Cory Klippsten

Cory is the founder of Swan Bitcoin.  He also serves as an advisor to Unchained Capital and is a partner in Bitcoiner Ventures.  As an advisor, he has supported more than $250M of fundraising since 2016, and as an angel has funded 20+ early stage startups. Before focusing primarily on startups, Klippsten worked for Google, McKinsey, Microsoft and Morgan Stanley, and earned an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago.   

“We are very fortunate to have such a breadth of expertise within our Advisory Board to help refine our strategic positioning as we continue to focus on bitcoin mining,” said Jeff McGonegal, CEO of Riot. “We are focused on continuing our expansion and optimistic for the future of bitcoin and correspondingly for Riot.”

Additional information on the Advisory Board can be found on Riot's web site on the Advisory Board page.

About Riot Blockchain

Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ: RIOT) focuses on cryptocurrency mining of bitcoin. The Company is expanding and upgrading its mining operations by securing the most energy efficient miners currently available. Riot also holds certain non-controlling investments in blockchain technology companies. Riot is headquartered in Castle Rock, Colorado, and the Company’s primary mining facility operates out of upstate New York, under a co-location hosting agreement with Coinmint. For more information, visit www.RiotBlockchain.com.

Safe Harbor

The information provided in this press release may include forward-looking statements relating to future events or the future financial performance of the Company. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipates," “believes,” "plans," "expects," "intends," "will," "potential," "hope" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations of the Company and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties. Detailed information regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by statements in this press release relating to the Company may be found in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the factors described in the sections entitled "Risk Factors," copies of which may be obtained from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this press release.