Chinese cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain announced that they have recently opened a new Bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas.. The project, which they proclaimed to be the largest of its kind in the world, had been completed in cooperation with the Rockdale Municipal Development District and Canadian DMG Blockchain Solutions.

The newly-opened facility aims to boost the local economy

Bitmain’s press release strongly emphasized the importance of cooperation with the local community and the effect, the opening will have on the economy of Rockdale, a small town with just over 5,000 inhabitants, located approximately 50 miles north-east of Austin. Company representatives committed to seeking local suppliers to support the ongoing construction work and to purchasing energy directly from the local electric grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Furthermore, the Chinese company will organize educational programs on blockchain technology and mining data centre operations in cooperation with the Rockdale school district.

The Bitcoin mining facility, which currently has a capacity of 25MW with another 50MW addition still under construction, is located in a former aluminium smelter. Reportedly, the 33,000-acre site is still owned by the Aluminum Company of America. Because of the abundance of space the bitcoin mining facility it possible could expand to a capacity of over 300MW in the future.

“The stable and efficient energy resources in Texas are fundamental to the inevitable scale of growth for the cryptocurrency mining industry.”

Bitmain’s plans for its Texas venture were firstly announced in August 2018. At that time the company expected to invest around $500 million over the period of first seven years, which would create around 400 new jobs in the first two years. However, rumours about the project being downsized due to unfavourable market conditions surfaced in January 2019.

Due to its light regulation and relatively cheap and reliable power, more and more companies are starting to look at Texas as a viable location for their mining facilities. Just one week before Bitmain announced that their facility is operational, Layer1 announced that they have raised $50 million to build a mining farm in Texas. Together, the Texas-based farms could represent a positive step in breaking up China’s bitcoin mining monopoly.

Photo by Aleksi Räisä on Unsplash