Genesis Digital Assets Announces Appointment of Joseph Di Virgilio as Head of ESG

Genesis Digital Assets, one of the largest industrial-scale Bitcoin mining companies in the world, today announced the appointment of Joseph Di Virgilio as Head of ESG. 

Mr. Divirgilio's appointment comes during a period of rapid growth for Genesis Digital Assets. To support the company's mission to bring 1.4 GW of new data centers online by 2023,  they have raised over $550 million in funding this year. The most recent round was led by Paradigm with participation from NYDIG, Stoneridge, Alameda Research, Ribbit, Electric Capital, Skybridge, and Kingsway Capital.

"We are pleased to welcome Joseph to our team," said Marco Streng, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Genesis Digital Assets. "As the global leader in industrial-scale bitcoin mining, ESG is incredibly important to us and we are thrilled to have such an experienced professional on board to lead our efforts."

Mr. Di Virgilio is a 25-year Wall Street professional credited with establishing the very first sustainability-focused hedge fund in New York City back in 2004. Most recently, he was Director of ESG sector research at Sustainalytics (a Morningstar Co.). Prior to this, he was chief equity strategist for RAM, a Wall Street-based hedge fund advisor focusing on ESG and thematic mandates investing in segments impacted by the exponential growth of the Earth's population. In 2004 he co-founded JME Capital Partners, the very first alternative investment manager with an environmental focus. Between 1999 and 2004 he was a member of the asset allocation team at PGIM, and Vice President of Deutsche Bank's global power & utility investment banking group.

"The cryptocurrency space has clearly established itself as an asset class increasingly used as a diversifier in all types of investment allocations. Major exchanges as well as prominent investment banks have validated this by introducing a range of products allowing the public to partake in the growth our sector has provided. More importantly, our business model works and has been backed by some of the most sophisticated investors, who have entrusted us in providing shareholder value. These are the reasons why I'm excited to be part of such a dynamic and innovative team. In early 2022, we will be releasing our first CSR (Corporate Sustainability Report) on which we will outline our ESG strategy moving forward. In 2021 we were able to make meaningful advances across GDA's environmental, social, and governance strategy," said Joseph Di Virgilio, Head of ESG at Genesis Digital Assets.  

"Our CSR Report will reflect how our business is evolving to meet the ever-growing demand for ESG compliance set by regulators and investors alike. We will continue to evolve as we aim in building a more inclusive and sustainable ecosystem in pursuit of our purpose of economic empowerment. In 2021, we kept our focus on strengthening four key priorities: Environmental, Social, Culture and Corporate Governance. Among our key commitments are plans to be net zero carbon for operations sooner rather than later as we accelerate the adoption of renewable energy in bitcoin mining. In addition, we continued to advance our R&D in partnership with Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) and Lulea Technical University, on capturing heat from our data centers for greenhouse use. Within the last month we made substantial progress, and early next year the first vegetables will be ready for harvest. Furthermore, to show how committed we are to our ESG strategy, we are pursuing coverage from accredited ESG Rating institutions," he continued.

As of October 2021, Genesis Digital Assets data center capacity is at over 170 megawatts, translating into a total hashrate exceeding 3.8 Exahashes (EH/s), which is more than 2.4% of the global bitcoin mining hashrate. Another 9.4 Exahashes (EH/s) will go online during the next 12 months, and by the end of 2023, Genesis Digital Assets expects to reach a capacity of over 1.5 gigawatts. In the month of September alone, the company mined 662 Bitcoin. 

About Genesis Digital Assets

Genesis Digital Assets is one of the world's largest and most experienced Bitcoin mining companies. Since 2013, founders of the company have built over 20 industrial-scale mining farms, brought over 300,000 miners online, and mined over $1 billion in Bitcoin.

The company was founded by five founders, Marco Streng and Marco Krohn from Genesis Mining and three former mining industry executives, Abdumalik Mirakhmedov, Andrey Kim, and Rashit Makhat. For more information, visit genesisdigitalassets.com.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward-looking, including, but not limited to, statements regarding plans of becoming operationally net zero carbon, hiring goals and investment pledges and commitments.

Risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to GDA Ltd. (the Company) listed or described from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). All forward-looking statements are based on information and estimates available to the Company at the time of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update any of the statements in this press release.