Digital currency mining has made some serious noise the past few weeks, with a power facility in New York setting up its own Bitcoin mining rigs. Through the electricity the plant can generate, it can mine $50,000 worth of Bitcoins on an industrial scale per day, Bloomberg reported.
Greenidge Generation, a natural gas power facility near Dresden in the Finger Lakes area, disclosed it had successfully built its mining operations. Comprised of more than 7,000 mining equipment running on electricity generated on-site, the cryptocurrency facility can mine 5.5 Bitcoins on average per day, approximately $50,000, CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index showed.
Since the value of a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin soared at $20,000 during the bull market run in 2017 and became the best performing digital asset in the last 10 years, everyone has wanted a share of it. It is not a surprise though, especially when since its value has soared 9 million percent since it came to existence.
Greenidge takes advantage of its behind-the-meter power, the electricity it uses itself at the fundamental cost of production. In a statement, Kevin Zhang, who is in charge of the power plant's blockchain systems, said that the project would provide potential capitalists with a unique exposure to both the virtual currency and energy markets.
Private equity company Atlas Holding LLC will spearhead the digital mining operation, with around 7,000 mining rigs installed at the Greenidge facility. The power plant itself has had an interesting backstory: Having been established in 1973 as a coal facility, it was later converted into a $65 million natural gas plant and has since become a Bitcoin mining center. Because the equipment functions behind-the-meter, the cost can be very low and precisely monitored.
After the power facility's conversion to natural gas, with both state and government approval in 2017, Greenidge Chief Executive Dale Irwin said the electronic currency mining operation would benefit the power plant's "unique commitment to environmental stewardship."
Out of the 115 megawatts of power that the plant generates, the Bitcoin mining server consumes just 12 percent of this. At first, the facility was only operating during times of high energy demand, especially in the summer or winter, but now it operates 365 days a year.
Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin stabilized above the $8,800 mark, which was a major element to the rally that took place past the $9,000 critical mark late Thursday. The consolidation at this level was crucial to the bullish turnaround that hit the $9,177 weekly peak. However, the bulls' strategy was put to the test with the Bitcoin/US dollar forced below $9,100 where the price rubbed elbows with $9,000 again.
