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In 2018, Bitmain announced it’s going to be opening a massive cryptomining facility in Texas. It was supposed to go live in early 2019 but due to the crypto winter that hit Bitcoin in late 2018, the endeavor grounded to a halt.
But thanks to the recent recovery that Bitcoin did – clawing its way up from its former $3,000 valuation to its $8,000 price today – Bitmain has finally opened the enormous mining farm. The structure is sitting on a 33,000-acre land and can currently handle 50MW of energy capacity.
However, Bitmain said that it’s looking to expand that capacity to 300MW, which will turn it into the largest cryptomining facility in the world. Lead project manager Clinton Brown expressed his enthusiasm for the completion of the facility and said that this is a step towards Bitmain’s goal of becoming a global cryptomining frontrunner.
Bitmain’s influence growing stronger
“We are excited to launch this facility, which is significant to Bitmain’s global expansion plans. The stable and efficient energy resources in Texas are fundamental to the inevitable scale of growth for the cryptocurrency mining industry,” Brown said.
Bitmain is slated to provide support to the local economy of Rockdale Texas ranging from job creation and blockchain education to working with suppliers for the project’s expansion, Cointelegraph reported. But while there are those who are excited about this development, others are worried about how this could affect things moving forward.
There have been growing concerns over the years that Bitmain is inching ever closer to the 51 percent hash rate. Bitcoin’s greatest strength lies on the fact that it’s decentralized. If Bitmain controls 51 percent of it, then the decentralized idea will be completely defeated.
Bitmain looking to stay ahead of China
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been one of the most vocal critics of Bitmain and has time and again voiced his concern about the growing influence of the company on Bitcoin. In theory, Bitmain can manipulate Bitcoin if it controls over 50 percent of the cryptocurrency and Garlinghouse believes that the company might do just that.
Meanwhile, Bitmain’s new Texas facility is speculated to be the net that will catch the company should China finally place a ban on Bitcoin in the country. China’s apprehension regarding Bitcoin stems from its underlying technology that is consuming a lot of energy to power its operation. And while the country has yet to impose an all-encompassing ban on the leading cryptocurrency in the world, it appears that Bitmain isn’t taking any chances and are already setting up a failsafe should the ban finally drops.
