A Swiss cryptocurrency mining company announced it would begin operations in Texas before expanding nationwide.
White Rock Management said on Tuesday that it would be working with Natural Gas Onsite Neutralization (NGON) to power its Bitcoin mining activities, which transforms natural gas into energy without burning it.
NGON’s facility in the Brazos Valley will be the base of operations for White Rock, which will mine Bitcoin following “environmentally responsible” practices.
According to White Rock CEO Andy Long, the company plans to expand its Bitcoin mining operations to locations that can supply energy from natural gas beyond their state’s power system. The company’s entry into Texas was the first step in this process.
White Rock announced that its operations in the United States would initially have a capacity of 3 megawatts of electricity, aiming for its overall hashrate to reach more than 1.6 exahash (1.6 quintillion hashes) per second. The company started mining cryptocurrency at data centers in Sweden in November 2021.
The recent market collapse, which has seen the price of Bitcoin drop by more than 28% over the last 30 days, might be affecting the earnings of cryptocurrency miners. The “raw” cost of mining in North America, according to a June 10 Cointelegraph article, was over $22,000 per Bitcoin, with extra expenditures pushing the total to above $30,000.
Amid the bear market, several Bitcoin mining companies, including Canada-based Bitfarms, have acknowledged selling part of their Bitcoin holdings.
Uncertainty exists regarding how the recent volatility may impact White Rock’s activities in Texas.
Long informed Cointelegraph that the company’s use of the most recent rig generation was in part what allowed it to “mine profitably in bear and bull markets.”
“Our U.S. facility perfectly complements our Swedish 100% hydroelectric powered sites, and we see a great deal of opportunity in the current turbulent market conditions,” Long noted. “In particular, we expect there to be attractive opportunities for [mergers and acquisitions] and consolidation between public and privately held miners.”
Nearly a year after first breaking ground, Argo Blockchain, a leading cryptocurrency miner, announced its intention to begin operations in Dickens County, Texas. The 200-megawatt data center began mining in May.
In April, the City of Fort Worth also started a pilot program to mine Bitcoin with three rigs inside City Hall, The Dallas Express reported.