Bitcoin (BTC) miner CleanSpark is expanding its operations in the state of Georgia, increasing its mining capacity despite the ongoing bear market.
Groundbreaking for a new 50-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility in Washington, Georgia is underway, with completion expected in late spring, CleanSpark revealed Jan. 19. The nearly $16 million expansion is expected to increase the company’s hash rate by 2.2 exahashes per second, with the total hashrate reaching 8.7 EH/s.
The expanded facility will house up to 16,000 miners, including the recently added Antminer S19j Pro and Antminer S19 XP models.
Expansion Alert: $CLSK has started the construction of phase 2 of our #WashingtonGA #bitcoin mining site! It will contain up to 16,000 miners.
With the projected completion of the 50 MW in late spring, we expect our #hash rate to reach as high as 8.7 EH/s.
More: https://t.co/q03mUT4S2n pic.twitter.com/sTAylY3SKN
— CleanSpark Inc. (@CleanSpark_Inc) January 19, 2023
“This second phase more than doubles the size of the existing operations,” said CEO Zach Bradford.
CleanSpark purchased its Georgia site in August before acquiring local mining facility Mawson Infrastructure Group the following month for $33 million. At the time, the company said it planned to support a mining fleet of up to 70,000 units by 2023.
CleanSpark received approval for a public listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange in early 2020. The following year, the company raised $200 million in equity through an equity offering.
With the price of Bitcoin falling more than 76% from top to bottom, miners have been forced to rethink their trading strategies in order to survive for the long term. One of the biggest players in the industry, Core Scientific, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December. Meanwhile, the Greenridge mining outfit was given a $74 million lifeline just to stay afloat.
Related: Crypto miner explains how Bitcoin mining stabilizes networks
Some miners prospered during the bear market by cutting energy costs and avoiding excessive leverage. In October, CleanSpark CEO Matthew Shultz told Cointelegraph that “Bitcoin mining is a potential solution to create more opportunities for energy development.”
