Jihan Wu’s Bitdeer completes mining facility in Bhutan, gets new rigs to boost capacity
Quick Take
- Bitdeer said as of the end of July, about 23,000 newly-purchased mining rigs had arrived at its Bhutan facility, but they are yet to be energized.
- The mining firm continued to curtail its power usage in Texas amid the local heat.
Singapore-headquartered bitcoin mining firm Bitdeer Technologies founded by Jihan Wu has completed the construction of a mining facility in Bhutan with power-on testing underway, the company said Tuesday.
Linghui Kong, chief executive officer of Bitdeer said in a statement that around 15,000 additional mining machines arrived at its Gedu data center in Bhutan in July, and “as of today, we already have around 11,000 miners running stably.”
Bitdeer said that as of the end of July, about 23,000 newly-purchased mining rigs had arrived at the Gedu facility, but some are yet to be energized. “When all are energized, these new machines will provide a hash rate of approximately 2.5 EH/s,” the company added.
Kong added that Bitdeer continued to curtail power usage in its Texas facility amid the local heat.
In July, Bitdeer mined 220 bitcoin through its self-mining business, up 41% year-on-year, according to the statement.
The company’s proprietary hash rate increased to 7.9 EH/s at the end of July, from 6.2 EH/s at the end of June, primarily due to the arrival of new mining machines in Bhutan, the company said.
Betting big in Bhutan
Bitdeer, a spinoff from Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain cofounded by Jihan Wu, has been expanding its presence in the Himalayan kingdom to tap the country’s abundant energy resources.
In May, Bitdeer announced a partnership with Bhutan’s state-owned investment company Druk Holding and Investments to raise up to $500 million for a crypto mining fund.
Last month, Bitdeer confirmed with The Block that it had launched a closed-end fund, Bitdeer Green Bitcoin Fund, dedicated to mining bitcoin in Bhutan. With a duration of six years, the fund plans to raise $80 million for its first-phase construction project with a minimum investment threshold of $5 million for investors. With the fund, the company aims to build mining projects in Bhutan with total hash rate amounting to nearly 20 EH/s.
Bitdeer went public on Nasdaq in April via a special purpose acquisition company merger, with a valuation of $1.18 billion. Its stock price closed 3.71% higher on Monday.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
