Bitcoin Mining Company Bitfarms Kickstarts Megafarm Operations In Argentina
Bitfarms’ megafarm Bitcoin facility situated in Argentina is now online and already contributing to the overall hashrate of the Bitcoin network.
This after the farm, which started its construction on October 2021, was finally unveiled and started operating last September 16. Currently, the facility, in its first phase, is generating 10 megawatts (MW) of mining power.
The Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company said they will gradually scale up the facility’s operation until it reaches full capacity next year when it is estimated to contribute around 50 megawatts (MW) and achieve the company’s mining goals in 2023.
Image: iGaming.org Most Modern And Largest Mining OperationWhile the Argentina-based megafarm is just limited to 10 MW of mining power, it is already enough to host mining equipment which Bitfarms expects to increase in number when the facility’s provided power grow five times than its current capacity.
Upon reaching the 50 MW power production, it will contribute a whopping 2.5 exahash per second (EH/s) to the current mining power that is being given by the global company to the Bitcoin network.
Originally, the facility was supposed to be completed this September. Because of several delays, the timeline for completion was adjusted until the middle part of 2023. Bitfarms, however, isn’t losing sleep over such setback, considering that this will be its largest and most modern mining operation.
In fact, in previous talks about the mega farm, the company said it will have Antminer S19 Pro Hydro miners. These units are equipped with water cooling intended for better efficiency and performance.
Challenges And Rocky StartWhile the Bitcoin mining facility is expected to be completed next year, its beginning was not without drama and challenges.
For starters, with Argentina suffering an energy crisis last year, the project was met with negative comments. Argentine regulators became wary of the construction of the megafarm and started to question its very nature as well as the energy that will be used for its operation.
Speaking of energy, Bitfarms was able to land itself a sweet deal, being able to negotiate for a private agreement with a provider that promised a very competitive rate of just $0.02.2 per kilowatt hour.
However, despite this huge advantage that they got, the global mining company remains worried about the recent drop in Bitcoin prices. As of this writing, the leading cryptocurrency is trading at $18,475, losing 15% of its value in the last seven days, according to data from CoinGecko.
BTC total market cap at $352 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com Featured image from Infobae, Chart: TradingView.comOhNoCryptocurrency via https://www.ohnocrypto.com/ @Jet Encila, @Khareem Sudlow