Crypto-mining hardware producer Bitmain are set to deploy 100,000 of their own ASIC miners to the Sichuan (also spelled Szechuan or Szechwan) province of China, a center of hydroelectric power production in the country, according to bilingual news outlet 8BTC.
Bitmain research, develop, and manufacture ASIC, or application specific integrated circuit miners, which are computers specially built to mine certain cryptocurrencies – like Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) – and nothing else.
It is now well known – and CryptoGlobe have covered several times – that the Sichuan province is home to the vast majority of cryptocurrency mining in China, due to the extremely cheap electricity available there. This cheap power is, in turn, due to significant investments into hydroelectric damming by the Chinese government.
CryptoGlobe reported recently that the region’s rainy season, anticipated to start in May, is already expected to prompt “a million” mining machines in Sichuan to reactivate, after being shut down during the dry season.
It seems Bitmain’s machines will join them, after former co-CEO Micree Zhan (or Zhan Ketuan, who left Bitmain along with Jihan Wu after punishing 2018 losses) apparently took his leave of the company to set up his own mining operation in Sichuan. But Zhan’s connection to Bitmain remains strong, as the new company that he leads is, according to 8BTC, 40% owned by Bitmain.
The company that Zhan now heads is reported to be called “Hainan Continental Ark Data Technology,” although no reliable industry data can presently be found confirming its existence.
Time will tell if this gambit will help Bitmain out of its doldrums. CrypoGlobe reported late last year on the technology company’s attempt to list an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange – and on the bleak prospects of its success, along with other ASIC-producing competitors.
