Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Bitmain will build a $500 million blockchain data center and mining facility in Texas as part of its expansion into the U.S. market, the company revealed in a press release August 6. Bitmain, which is valued at around $12 billion after its early July funding round, is also reportedly looking to plan an overseas Initial Public Offering (IPO) in a market with U.S. denominated shares. Bitmain’s new data center will take over the former Alcoa smelter in Rockdale, Texas, with the estimation that the construction and set-up will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018 …

Canaan Creative, the world’s second largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining hardware manufacturer, has launched what it claims is the “first ever” BTC mining television set, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported August 2. Dubbed “AvalonMiner Inside,” the appliance has a processing power of 2.8 trillion hashes per second, and is reportedly powered by artificial intelligence (AI) as well as being capable of taking voice commands. In contrast, Canaan’s most powerful mining rig can process 11 trillion hashes per second, SCMP notes. The device also calculates the fluctuating rate of Bitcoin mining profitability in real time, SCMP writes, and allows users …

Jihan Wu, the co-CEO of crypto mining hardware giant Bitmain, is reportedly planning to conduct an overseas initial private offering (IPO), Fortune’s crypto-focused section The Ledger reports July 30. Bloomberg had reported in June that Wu was “open” to holding an IPO in a market with U.S. dollar denominated shares — like Hong Kong — as it would allow early backers to cash in funds. Fortune writes today that their daily newsletter “Term Sheet” acquired an email from an unnamed source close to Bitmain detailing the firm’s recent financials before the IPO, which will be filed for “very soon” in …

Chinese mining hardware giant Bitmain, one of the leading Bitcoin (BTC) mining firms worldwide, announced its policies for mining practices, according to an official blogpost July 25. The recent list of policies intend to show Bitmain’s commitment to providing a “fair and transparent cryptocurrency ecosystem” in terms of policies for mining hardware shipping as well as those of mining practices. Regarding shipping, Bitmain proposed four major measures including order quantity restriction, establishment of a “first-paid-first-ship” order of fulfillment, combatting “hoarding” practices, as well as publishing monthly reports on shipping updates. Every 30 days, the company will disclose data advising the …

For the first time, Fortune has created a crypto-focused version of its prestigious “40 under 40” honor roll for the most impressive young disruptors in the finance and technology industry, published July 23. Dubbed “The Ledger 40 under 40,” the list is dedicated to innovators at the helm of the “financial revolution” ushered in by cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and other distributed ledger technologies. Last week, five crypto industry representatives had already clinched four spots on Fortune’s existing “40 under 40” — all of whom reappear in the inaugural Ledger list. These include the CEO of major U.S. crypto exchange and wallet …

Toronto-based Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 has announced the completion of its second mining facility in Canada on July 16, claiming to have become the world’s “largest publicly-traded” operator by capacity. In a press release, Hut 8 revealed its Medicine Hat farm had been completed ahead of its September deadline, joining its existing operation in the city of Drumheller. Launched through a partnership with BitFury, which provided the company access to mining hardware and other necessities, Hut 8 has mined around 1,900 Bitcoin (BTC) since its original launch in December last year, the press release notes. BitFury and Hut 8’s …

EOS developer Block.one has secured investments from billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and crypto mining hardware billionaire Jihan Wu of Bitmain, according to an official announcement today, July 16. Block.one is the creator of the EOSIO software, a blockchain protocol that aims to support decentralized apps (dApps) on an industrial scale. The protocol’s native cryptocurrency EOS is currently ranked fifth in the world with a market capitalization of $7.1 bln. Other notable co-investors of Block.one’s latest funding round –– of which the exact total is yet to be revealed –– include two major hedge fund billionaires, Moore Capital’s Louis Bacon …

The price of specialized graphics processing units (GPUs) has been declining along with sinking prices in digital currency markets, Computerworld reported July 10. While at the end of 2017 and beginning of 2018 cryptocurrency mining caused a sharp rise in the price of high-end gaming cards, the tendency seems to have reversed as crypto markets continue on a downward slope. Add-in board (AIB) prices are reportedly falling and supplies increasing amid a severe drop in cryptocurrency prices. Manager of digital media at Jon Peddie Research C. Robert Dow told Computerworld that they predicted the drop, adding that “the cost to …

One of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies globally, Bitmain, is now valued at $12 billion following a Series B round of funding, Chinese news outlet Caixin reports July 6. According to Caixin, Bitmain raised between $300 million to $400 million from Sequoia Capital subsidiary Sequoia China, U.S. hedge fund Coatue, and Singapore-based governmental investment fund EDBI. In September 2017, Beijing-based Bitmain received $50 million in a Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital. In early June, the company’s CEO Jihan Wu said he is “open” to plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong …

Sources say that the recent slump in the crypto markets is leading to graphics card suppliers lowering their prices, tech outlet DigiTimes reported June 29. Unnamed sources from the “upstream supply chain” told DigiTimes that the sale of ASIC crypto mining hardware have been negatively impacted, with a predicted price drop of 20 percent in July. Among the affected companies are the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, as well as its integrated circuit (IC) design service partners like Global Unichip. DigiTimes notes that the global graphic card market inventory is currently around several million units. The US-based Nvidia, another graphic card …

The CEO of crypto mining hardware giant Bitmain, Jihan Wu, has confirmed he is “open” to conducting an overseas initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg reports today, June 7. Speaking in an interview in Hong Kong, Wu, who claims to own up to 28 percent of China-headquartered Bitmain, said an IPO in the region – or any market which U.S. dollar-denominated shares – would be suitable as a means of allowing early backers to cash in funds. The potential move would mimic Canaan, one of the company’s main competitors, which announced its intention to launch an IPO last month. Canaan occupies …

Due to the recent crypto crackdown in China, Chinese ASIC chip manufacturer Bitmain is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) as an alternate revenue source, Bloomberg reports today, May 17. China’s crypto regulations have included an initial coin offering (ICO) ban in the fall of last year, this January’s ban on “exchange-like services,” and the February ban on foreign crypto exchanges. Bitmain manufactures the processing chips and miners that mine for a variety of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and altcoin Monero; although the release of the Monero-mining Antminer at the end of March led Monero to upgrade in order …