Atlas expands crypto mining operations in U.S. with Compute North

Singapore-based Atlas Mining today announced that it is expanding its cryptocurrency mining operations in the United States in a multi-year hosting service agreement with Compute North, a U.S.-based cryptocurrency mining infrastructure provider.

Fast facts

• The deal will see Compute North providing over 100 megawatts colocation capacity — enough to power a small city — for Atlas’ mining operations in the United States. Currently 100 megawatts works out to approximately 31,000 mining machines mining about 620 Bitcoins per month.

• In a statement, Atlas Chairman Raymond Yuan said that green mining and global operations are two key trends in the ASIC-mining industry.

• Chris Haag, chief operating officer at Atlas Mining, told Forkast.News in an interview the deal with Compute North will enable Atlas to diversify and place its miners in multiple states. “The U.S. government is very open, especially in certain states,” said Haag, adding that states such as Texas and New York offered some of the cheapest power rates in the entire world. “A lot of renewable energy is available here — solar, wind, hydro, we have an abundance of that here.” The growth of crypto miners using renewable energy sources would also help expand the renewable sector in the U.S., Haag added.

• “We’re proud that Compute North’s focus on sustainable mining solutions factored into Atlas Mining’s decision to partner with us for its upcoming U.S. deployment,” said Dave Perrill, Compute North CEO, in a statement.

• Atlas’ long-term goal is to be 100% carbon-free and the company intends to expand into Northern Europe, South America and Africa to capitalize on the availability of renewable energy, the company said. Atlas, which has purchased more than 200,000 units of advanced mining rigs, has contracted more than 400 megawatts infrastructure capacity with local partners in different regions and plans to add 1 gigawatt capacity in the following 18 months.

• North America has emerged as a hotspot for crypto mining, following China’s clampdown on the sector. In September, crypto mining rig giant Bitmain and ISW Holdings, a Nevada-based crypto mining and hosting provider, signed a deal to host 56,000 Bitmain mining rigs paired with 200 megawatts of power at ISW’s facility in Georgia. According to the latest data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index compiled by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), the U.S. has overtaken China to become the global leader in crypto mining. As of the end of August, the U.S. accounted for 35.4% of the global hashrate share, a significant increase from 16.8% at the end of April.