Tether is planning a large-scale expansion into bitcoin (btc) mining, according to Paolo Ardoino, who is expected to soon take the helm of the company.
The stablecoin firm may spend around $500 million in the next six months on building mining facilities and investing in other miners, Ardoino. btc-wants-to-become-a-major-bitcoin-miner?srnd=cryptocurrencies-v2″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>said Bloomberg in an interview. The company will build mining facilities in Uruguay, Paraguay and El Salvador as it increases its computing power to 1% of the btc mining network. The new facilities would have a capacity of between 40 and 70 MW, he continued.
We are pretty close to adding another extremely powerful piece of the puzzle to @Tether_to ecosystem.
Total of 5 amazing projects (and counting) by 2024.
A couple of these could eliminate some popular centralized services from Web2 forever.Pure real-world ecosystem, also known as “Things…
—Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) November 12, 2023
The mining investment includes part of the $610 million debt financing facility provided to German miner Northern Data Group that Tether announced earlier this month. The loan was in line with a pattern of increasing loans granted by Tether (USDT) this year. Tether had already made a strategic investment in Northern Data Group in September to support artificial intelligence initiatives.
Related: Institutional bitcoin inflows to surpass $1 billion in 2023 amid shrinking btc supply
Ardoino further said that Tether expected to expand its direct mining operations to 120 MW by the end of the year and reach up to 450 MW by the end of 2025. The company is also considering a 300 MW facility and is setting up its facilities within. containers that can be moved when electricity prices change. Ardoino said in the interview:
“Mining for us is something that we have to learn and grow over time. “We are in no hurry to become the largest mining company in the world.”
Ardoino will become CEO of Tether in December and will retain his role as CTO of parent company Bitfinex, according to plans announced in October.
Tether did not respond to an inquiry from Cointelegraph at the time of publication.
Magazine: The truth behind the bitcoin revolution in Cuba: A report from the field
