Noted Tampa investment banker, lawyer joins bitcoin company’s board

Longtime Tampa area lawyer and investment banking executive Marty Traber has joined the board of Tampa-based bitcoin mining company LM Funding America.

Traber, who was previously on the board from 2015-2021, replaces Todd Zhang, who is retiring from the board, according to a statement. 

“We are pleased to have Marty Traber rejoin the LM Funding Board of Directors and welcome the return of an investment banking viewpoint to our board,” LM Funding CEO Bruce Rodgers says in the statement. “Marty works as an investment banker in the capital markets every day and we believe that current market insight will help inform our decisions as we seek to grow our Bitcoin mining operations and continue to hold Bitcoin on our balance sheet. Additionally, we would like to express our appreciation to Todd Zhang for his significant contributions during the ramp up of our Bitcoin mining operations and wish him success in his future pursuits.”

Traber, with more than 40 years of experience in securities law and corporate finance, is currently the chairman of Skyway Capital Markets Group, an investment and M&A advisory firm that works with private business owners seeking to exit, transition or accelerate the growth of their business. Other stops on Traber’s career include: 

• Former partner of the international law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP in Tampa, where he served in the firm’s transactional & securities and private equity & venture capital practices and was a member of its technology industry team. 
• Co-founder of HCI Group Inc., a publicly traded holding company with entities in homeowners’ insurance, reinsurance, real estate and IT. 
• Co-founder of NorthStar Banking Corp. in Tampa, where he served as a member of the board of the bank holding company from 2007 to 2011.
• Served on the advisory board of Platinum Bank in Tampa from 2010 to 2016.

LM Funding was founded in 2008, when it mostly worked in the niche of homeowners association financing. In 2021 the company, while keeping a bit of its legacy business, switched strategies to bitcoin mining — an expensive and complicated but potentially lucrative business of using bitcoin-specific computing machines toi hash out, or guess, the right solution to add to the bitcoin blockchain. It posted $6.18 million in revenue in 2023, against a loss of $18.81 million.