Alex Liegl, CEO of Layer1 Technologies, a U.S.-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining company that recently announced plans to repatriate 30% of the hashing power of Bitcoin by 2022, described Texas as offering miners the “cheapest power in the world, to scale. “
Less than two weeks ago, Layer1 began mining operations at its West Texas facility, bringing several 2.5-megawatt container platforms online.
Texas is the largest producer of wind power in the United States, surpassing the second, third and fourth producers combined. If Texas were an independent country, it would be the fifth largest producer of wind energy in the world.
Despite cheap electricity, many miners avoided the Lone Star state because of its heat – with temperatures regularly exceeding 90 degrees for half of each year. To combat the heat, the Layer1 mining device includes 20 by 8 shipping containers filled with miners that are suspended in a non-conductive liquid.
“If they were air-cooled, the processors would burn,” Liegl told Forbes.
Layer1 plans to suspend mining over the summer
In October 2019, Layer1 raised $ 50 million for its venture capitalists, led by Peter Thiel alongside the Digital Currency Group and Shasta Ventures.
The cash injection funded Layer1’s acquisition of an electrical substation capable of generating 100 megawatts located on 30 acres in West Texas and increased the value of the business to $ 200 million.
Layer1 also plans to take advantage of soaring electricity prices in the summer and sell its electricity to the grid, with Liegl declaring: “We can stabilize the grid by selling reduction capacity at the touch of a button.”
Northern Bitcoin AG to Build “World’s Largest Bitcoin Mining Facility” in Texas
In January, Whinstone, a subsidiary of Frankfurt-based mining company Northern Bitcoin, announced that it has partnered with Japanese internet provider GMO and financial services company SBI to process transactions at its next facility in Rockdale. , in Texas.
The Whinstone facility is expected to be launched with a capacity of 300 megawatts, with the company expected to expand to 1 gigawatt before 2021.
Once built, the Whinstone facility will have three times the capacity of the Bitmain mine site in Rockdale – which is currently expected to include the largest mining operation in the world.
