Compute North, Foundry Digital Partner To Bring More Bitcoin Mining To North America
Through the partnership, Foundry will supply 14,000 new Whatsminer M30S mining rigs from MicroBT to be hosted at Compute North’s North American colocation facilities. Compute North will commit 47 megawatts of power to these rigs beginning in the first quarter of this year. The goal is to provide an avenue for Bitcoin mining investment for more North American businesses.
“After the first batch of procured devices comes online, most of the devices will be available for purchase,” per a press release shared with Bitcoin Magazine. “Investors can either purchase the operating devices directly from Compute North or finance them through Foundry with a down payment at a fraction of the device cost, and get the mining machines running at Compute North’s enterprise-class facilities almost instantly after purchase.”
As the price of bitcoin continues to reach all-time highs, there is pressure on ASIC foundries and equipment manufacturers to try and meet the demand from both newly-interested customers and older mining companies that need to upgrade to remain competitive. Estimated wait times for new mining equipment are at least six months, with leading manufacturers like Bitmain sold out until August 2021.
This partnership could help interested parties realize gains from bitcoin mining more quickly.
“Investors from publicly-traded companies to family offices and more are perking up and realizing that there is money to be made in digital currencies,” Dave Perrill, the CEO of Compute North, told Bitcoin Magazine. “It has been a smaller asset class but continues to build momentum as they see the opportunity to diversify a slice of their assets in this alternative investment strategy.”
The New Face Of Mining In North America
The partnership between Compute North and Foundry is part of a growing trend in Bitcoin mining, particularly in North America.
Financial and advisory companies like Foundry, BitOoda and Galaxy Digital are becoming main players in helping institutions with their financing, staking and operating new mining sites.
Mining is also coming into the purview of bigger institutions as institutional investors also become main players in larger and more sophisticated mining operations.
“Another driver for diversification with cryptocurrency is a result of the recent economic challenges and election results,” noted Perrill. “With Biden winning the election and his economic team assembled, the Federal Reserve will continue to print even more money to stimulate the economy and keep his campaign promise. Increased inflation will continue the acceleration of the dollar decline, encouraging smart money to move to digital currencies.”
Foundry And MicroBT
In September 2020, Foundry negotiated a partnership with equipment manufacturer MicroBT in order to gain priority access for North American institutional buyers to new M30Ss as they came off the production line. (MicroBT is gaining ground as a leading ASIC manufacturer, although Beijing-based Bitmain is still the number-one manufacturer of mining equipment. According to CoinDesk, MicroBT sold 600,000 Whatsminer units, worth more than $500 million in 2019.)
As part of its partnership with Foundry, MicroBT set up shop in a country in Southeast Asia to act as a supplier and avoid the U.S. tariff of 25 percent on equipment imported from China. Bitmain also avoids U.S. tariffs by using a production facility in Malaysia.
