The Bitfarms Bitcoin megafarm located in Argentina is now online and already contributing to the global hashrate of the Bitcoin network.
This after the farm, which began its construction in October 2021, was announced and began to function last September 16. The facility, in its first phase, is currently generating 10 megawatts (MW) of mining power.
The Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company said it will gradually increase operation of the facility until it reaches full capacity next year, when it is estimated to contribute about 50 megawatts (MW) and achieve the company’s 2023 mining targets.
Image: iGaming.org
The most modern and largest mining operation
Although the Argentina-based megafarm is limited to only 10MW of mining power, that’s already enough to house mining rigs that Bitfarms hopes to scale up when the power provided to the facility grows five times over your current capacity.
Upon reaching 50 MW of power output, it will contribute a whopping 2.5 exahash per second (EH/s) to the current mining power the global company is contributing to the Bitcoin network.
Initially, the facilities were to be completed this September. Due to various delays, the deadline for completion was adjusted to the middle of 2023. Bitfarms, however, is not losing sleep over this setback, considering that this will be its largest and most modern mining operation.
In fact, in previous talks about the megafarm, the company said it will feature Antminer S19 Pro Hydro miners. These units are equipped with water cooling for better efficiency and performance.
Challenges and rocky start
Although the Bitcoin mining facility is expected to be completed next year, its start was not without drama and challenges.
To begin with, with Argentina suffering an energy crisis last year, the project received negative feedback. Argentine regulators became suspicious of the construction of the megafarm and began to question its nature and the energy that will be used to operate it.
Speaking of energy, Bitfarms was able to get a sweet deal, and was able to negotiate a private deal with a supplier that promised a very competitive rate of just $0.02.2 per kilowatt hour.
However, despite this huge advantage they gained, the global mining company remains concerned about the recent drop in Bitcoin prices. At the time of writing, the leading cryptocurrency is trading at $18,475, losing 15% of its value in the past seven days, according to data from CoinGecko.
BTC total market cap at $352 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com Featured image from Infobae, Chart: TradingView.com
