Compass Mining CEO and CFO Resign Amid 'Setbacks and Disappointments'

CEO Whit Gibbs and Chief Financial Officer Jodie Fisher have resigned, effective immediately, from bitcoin mining hosting and brokerage services firm Compass Mining (CMP), the company said in an emailed statement.

The board appointed Chief Technology Officer Paul Gosker and Chief Mining Officer Thomas Heller as interim co-presidents and CEOs while a search is conducted for permanent replacements.

"Compass Mining was created to make mining easy and accessible," said the statement. "The company recognizes that there have been multiple setbacks and disappointments that have detracted from that objective. Through this restructuring, the company is wholly focused on regaining the goodwill of the company’s stakeholders and the community, as well as delivering on the company’s mission of providing best-in-class service for miners of all sizes."

Hosting firm Dynamics Mining took to Twitter last week to claim it terminated its contract with Compass Mining because the latter owed them over $600,000 in bills. Dynamics also accused Compass Mining employees of attempting to break into its facility in Maine to steal back the machines. CoinDesk has been unable to verify these claims and Compass Mining hasn't formally commented on the allegations.

On June 24, the firm closed its Discord channel with a day's notice, with some customers taking to Twitter to say the move was intended to hinder their ability to share information and complaints. CEO Gibbs (also a co-founder with Gosker) told CoinDesk at that time that the firm has had issues communicating with its clientele, and the Discord move was about improving the workflow of customer service.

"Lots of things are very poorly managed and executed on, which gives people the perception that they’re shady," one former Compass Mining employee told CoinDesk. The employee didn't want to be identified for fear of litigation.

Over the past year, customers have complained about buildout delays in South Carolina, Nebraska and Ontario.

Compass Mining is a bitcoin ASICs broker that hosts and operates mines around the world for retail customers. The firm earlier this year lost access to about $30 million of equipment after the Biden administration imposed sanctions on Russian miner BitRiver.

Read more: BitRiver Calls OFAC Sanctions ‘Unfair’ Anti-Competitive Move to Benefit US Miners

UPDATE (JUNE 28, 9:30p.m. UTC): Adds more details about "setbacks and disappointments."