Northern Data AG and Whinstone US are on the verge of launching the first stage of an enormous Bitcoin mining farm in Texas. And now we know the first business partner that will make use of some of that extensive capacity.

SBI Crypto, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings (part of the SBI Group), today announced a strategic alliance with the two companies, with plans to be one of the first companies housed at the Texas facility.

Additionally, SBI Crypto will collaborate with Northern Data on other blockchain infrastructure and software development initiatives, and per a release, is “positioned for potential equity participation in Northern Data.”

"We are very pleased to have SBI as a great partner, and one of the leading international financial and technology holding companies by our side," said Northern Data AG CEO Aroosh Thillainathan, in a release. "With its activities to date, SBI Holdings has impressively demonstrated its leadership in the emerging crypto and blockchain industry. This partnership gives us the potential to grow even faster by joining forces."

SBI Crypto is focused on crypto mining initiatives, and the company is part of a broader “Fintech 2.0” campaign kicked off by parent SBI Holdings in 2016. SBI Holdings recently announced that it will offer shareholder dividends in Ripple XRP tokens, following a similar move by MorningStar Japan (which SBI Group owns 48% of) last fall.

Announced in November, the Northern Data and Whinstone US Bitcoin mining facility is planned to have a total energy capacity of 1GW (gigawatt) when complete and span 100 acres, with construction set to span three phases.

The first phase is set to begin construction this quarter, with an initial expected capacity of more than 300MW (megawatts). The companies have said the planned mining firm will be “the largest data center in North America and the largest Bitcoin mining facility in the world” once fully completed.