DMG Starts Operating 60MW Bitcoin Mine in British Columbia

DMG Blockchain Solutions has announced that it has started consuming up to 60 megawatts (MW) of electricity at an 85MW substation in western Canada. It will use the substation to power its flagship cryptocurrency mining facility, which is one of the largest such sites in the country by power output.

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DMG Partially Powers New Mining Facility

The Vancouver-based company has started operations at its 27,000-square-foot cryptocurrency mine, which sits on a 34-acre site in British Columbia. The electricity used by the mine is estimated to be enough to power 50,000 homes.

The facility is believed to be the second-biggest mining operation in Canada. The site is powered by clean hydroelectric power and will not have an impact on the electricity distributed to the local community.

“DMG now proudly owns one of the largest, most cost-efficient, bitcoin mining facilities in North America,” said Dan Reitzik, chief executive officer of DMG. “It was an audacious undertaking, but DMG’s executive team has been in the mining space for years, and we have the know-how and connections with the utilities and government agencies to pull it off.”

The site will provide low-cost energy to DMG, as well as third-party customers via its mining-as-a-service operation. The construction of the crypto mine took approximately one year. As part of the announcement, DMG also said that Simon Padgett has stepped down from his role as the director of the company.

Hut8 and Bitfury Still Operate Largest Mine in Canada

DMG’s new facility is expected to hold the distinction of being the most powerful cryptocurrency mine in Canada once it is fully powered. However, at the moment it still falls shy of a 63MW site that Hut8 and Bitfury are jointly operating in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Unlike DMG’s facility, the operation in Medicine Hat is powered by the local grid, which uses natural gas to generate electricity.

“I’m in the business of making electricity and selling it to industrial users,” Ted Clugston, the mayor of Medicine Hat, recently stated. He also described the cryptocurrency mining industry as comprising “mining for ones and zeros” by converting “gas into electricity, which is being turned into Bitcoins.”

Do you think crypto mining poses a challenge to the environment, or is it a form of electricity arbitrage across the global market? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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