Vancouver’s Hut 8 Mining Corp has announced plans to create “North America’s largest bitcoin mining datacenters”. The ambitious scheme will see the Canadian firm partner with mining specialists Bitfury, who will provide the hardware, software, and maintenance. Subject to necessary funding being raised, the deal is expected to be completed in 2018.
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America’s Biggest Mining Operation Gets Underway
In a statement released December 4, Hut 8 revealed details of a multi-stage process to dominate the American cryptocurrency mining industry. The project will commence with the acquisition of 22 datacenters which will furnish the British Columbia firm with over 24 MW of hashing power. For the second phase of the deal, which will see an additional 35 datacenters packing 38.5 MW snapped up, Hut 8 is dependent on a public listing on the Canadian stock exchange. In a statement, CEO Sean Clark said:
Bitfury’s market share, unmatched computing power, and ability to scale, in combination with a Board of Directors that former hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz and renowned venture capitalist Bill Tai have both agreed to serve on, offers Hut 8 an extreme advantage in a competitive marketplace.
The High Price of Mining Digital Gold
The deal that Hut 8 has struck with Bitfury gives the Canadian mining company the option to purchase datacenters – i.e. mining farms – exclusively from Bitfury. As it stands, Hut 8 evidently lacks the funds to bring the project to completion. As a consequence, it’s offering 13.2 million shares via GMP Securities LP, which have been valued at U.S. $26 million.
Subject to the protracted deal being completed, which should occur sometime in 2018, Hut 8 will be able to lay claim to operating the largest mining operation in North America, with a total output of over 60 MW. Aside from successfully live testing bitcoin transactions on the Lightning Network, Bitfury is best known for its mining rigs. The company, which mined the first 1MB+ segwit block, is responsible for Blockbox, a mobile bitcoin mining unit. It also specializes in data center construction and semiconductors.
The news illustrates just how far cryptocurrency mining has come from the days when it was accessible to hobbyists and small-scale mining pools. Geographically the Bitfury and Hut 8 represents a shift in power. With sprawling new farms poised to spring up in Russia, Northern Europe, and North America, China’s grip on the mining game may be slipping.
Do you think it’s a good if China looses it’s grip on mining or are you worried events like these increases the centralisation regarding hardware manufacturing? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Bitfury.
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