Bitmain chooses Texas for new blockchain datacentre

Chinese mining hardware giant, Bitmain, is building a blockchain datacentre and cryptocurrency mining facility in the city of Rockdale, Milam County, Texas.

This represents an investment of more than $500 million over an initial period of seven years into the local, county and statewide economies, the company says. The facility is a key part of Bitmain’s strategic investment and expansion plans within North America.

It will be located within a section of the former Alcoa Rockdale Operations site. Construction and set-up is underway, with this phase set to finish in the fourth quarter of 2018, and datacentre initiation pencilled in for early 2019.

The new facility will bring in around 400 jobs to the local economy over the first two years. Bitmain also plans to partner with schools and educational institutions to provide professional and technical training programmes that would prepare members of the community for careers with the datacentre.

It is currently recruiting for positions ranging from senior management, sales and finance to research associates, engineers, technicians and other roles. Click here for further details.

“We are truly honoured to announce this news and are excited to work with local partners, government and stakeholders in realising this vision, throughout the initial set-up phase, operations and beyond,” says Jeff Stearns, Executive VP and Director of Operations for Bitmain, North America.

IPO

It recently emerged that Bitmain was prepping an initial public offering which would give early investors, including Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital, an opportunity to cash out.

Fortune obtained an email from a source close to the company, showing that it is raising further cash in addition to a $400 million round reported in early June. This would value Bitmain at approximately $14 billion.

“The email cites a KPMG audit of the business and reports that Bitmain produced $1.2 billion in net profit and an approximately 50% net margin in 2017,” notes a Fortune article.

“Bitmain reportedly brought in $1.1 billion in net profit just in the first quarter of 2018. According to the email, a conservative estimate of what the company could earn in net profit for the full year hovers at approximately $2 to $3 billion.”