Japanese Tech Giant GMO Begins Mining Bitcoin in Europe
Japanese internet and technology conglomerate GMO Internet Co has kicked off its cryptocurrency mining venture in Northern Europe.
First revealed in September, Tokyo-based GMO Internet announced its intention to invest over $3 million toward a bitcoin mining operation in the first half of 2018. “We believe that cryptocurrencies will develop into ‘new universal currencies’”, the internet giant stated at the time, “available for use by anyone from any country or region to freely exchange “value’”. The multi-billion dollar conglomerate was already operating its bitcoin exchange at the time, launched a month after Japanese legislation recognized bitcoin as a legal method of payment in April.
Fast-tracking its goals, the publicly listed firm has now officially launched its cryptocurrency mining business through its legal entity in Europe. “The cryptocurrency mining business will use existing technology to mine from facilities (mining centers) in Northern Europe,” an announcement read. “GMO Internet will increase the size of the operation in phases, expanding the business.”
Keeping details of the location of its mining center under wraps, the firm confirmed that it was “utilizing plentiful renewable energy in Northern Europe.” What is known, as reported earlier, is a mining facility that with the production target of 500 petahashes per second (PH/s).
Optimistic in its foray into cryptocurrency mining, GMO also unveiled ongoing research and development with an unnamed ‘alliance partner who possesses semiconductor design technology’ for the ‘next-generation [of] mining boards’, equipped with mining chips based on 7-nanometer nodes.
‘After the company has gained a certain level of operational experience, it will work on initiatives including provision of a cloud mining service and selling next-generation mining boards equipped with mining chips,’ GMO added, revealing plans to sell production-ready mining boards.
True to its word of recognizing cryptocurrencies as the “new universal currencies”, GMO is among the earliest companies to process salaries to some 4,710 full-time employees, in bitcoin.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
