SBI Holdings and GMO Internet are set to start mining bitcoin at the world’s largest crypto mine in Texas

By Dorothy On Jan 8, 2020

SBI Holdings and GMO Internet are about to start mining Bitcoin at the world’s largest cryptocurrency mine, located in a new hotspot industry: Rockdale, Texas, recently built by Whinstone Inc. The two companies have in principle had an agreement with subsidiary Whinstone Inc. of North Bitcoin AG to process cryptocurrency transactions on the premises of the German company within the next few months, the report adds that the companies involved will not comment when asked.

In November, when the facility is operational, it will likely be the largest bitcoin mine in the world, starting at 300 megawatts and expanding to 1 gigawatt by the end of 2020.

That puts the rival mine being built by Bitmain – also in Rockdale and called the largest in the world – in the shade. It is planned to start with a capacity of 25-50 MW and can expand to 300 MW.

Internet giant GMO is also believed to have been involved in setting up the Rockdale facility. In November, Whinstone estimated the data center would cost $ 150 million to build and fit. The initial 300 MW capacity is expected to be operational in the first quarter, with 1 GW expected to be achieved by the end of this year.

After Whinstone broke into its Texas project, the company was acquired by Bitcoin North of Germany, which ran a bitcoin mine in Norway to exploit renewable energy. Similarly, Texas may have been chosen as the site for this major venture in part due to the availability of cheap wind power.

Whinstone US and Northern Bitcoin AG have merged to set up the “largest bitcoin mining facility worldwide” in Texas

Whinstone US Inc., a high-speed data center developer, based in Louisiana and Northern Bitcoin AG, a German-based bitcoin mining company, has merged to open a large bitcoin mining farm. 100 acres in the US state of Texas.

Whinstone and Northern Bitcoin said the farm will be the largest bitcoin mining facility in the world with a capacity of one gigawatt. One gigawatt is equivalent to 1,000 megawatts.

Whinstone currently operates its own mining facilities in the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, while Northern Bitcoin operates its facilities in Norway.

SBI and GMO’s new initiative

The new initiative of SBI and GMO, is built on local motivation and shows a high level of interest from institutional investors. While Bitmain’s farm is spread over a much larger plot of land, the expected capacity of the Northern AG Bitcoin farm may exceed that of Bitmain.

The two farms are not the only mining-related initiative in the US state. The investment fund backed by Digital Currency Group (DCG), Layer 1, secured $ 50 million in October 2019 to build mining chips and operate its own electricity substations in Texas.

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