Giga Energy Moves Bitcoin Mining to Argentina, Tackling Global Methane Emissions
Summary:
Giga Energy, a Texas-based Bitcoin miner, moves operations to Argentina to repurpose wasted energy from natural gas flaring in oil fields. Giga will convert the released methane into electricity to power their mining rigs. The operation, which began testing in December, has already mined Bitcoin worth between $200,000 and $250,000. Giga awaits further equipment imports before scaling the operation completely. The company anticipates the effort will also help reduce global methane emissions.
Giga Energy, a Bitcoin mining company hailing from Texas, has extended its operations into Argentina. This expansion seeks to exploit the wasted energy resulting from the "flaring" of natural gas in Argentine oil fields. On a LinkedIn post dated March 26, Brent Whitehead, Giga's co-founder, highlighted this move as a key step forward for the firm. The decision broadens not only Giga's operational reach but adheres to the company’s goal of globally abating gas flaring—a practice where natural gas, produced alongside oil extraction, is combusted. Giga taps into the methane released in this process, transforming it into electricity to sustain its Bitcoin mining hardware.
As part of this enlargement, Giga will situate a large shipping container, housing thousands of Bitcoin miners, atop an oil well. Surplus gas will be diverted into generators; the resultant energy will power the Bitcoin mining rigs. This information was reported by CNBC on March 26.
Giga’s mining site in Argentina—which is situated in the Mendoza province—has been undergoing tests since December and has already produced Bitcoin worth between $200,000 and $250,000, as indicated by Matt Lohstroh, Giga's second co-founder, in an interview with CNBC.
However, full-scale operation is yet to commence as Giga awaits the import of necessary equipment. Until then, the firm anticipates running at a loss. As per a recent academic paper by the University of Michigan, Argentina is home to the world's second-largest shale gas reserve.
Additionally, Whitehead emphasized to CNBC that the Bitcoin mining operation will help curtail methane emissions. Giga, through repurposing trapped natural gas to energize portable data centers built for energy-intensive computing, is taking active steps to cut global methane emissions.
Exa Tech, an IT services company, will assist Giga with on-site operations, while Phoenix Global Resources—an oil and gas company—will supply the gas necessary for powering the Bitcoin miners.
Giga unleashed its Bitcoin mining capabilities in 2019 and has installed containers—amounting to 150 megawatts—in its Texas and Shanghai facilities, CNBC reports.
This ambitious venture unfolds as Bitcoin mining companies gear up for the forthcoming Bitcoin halving event, expected around April 20. This event will halve the Bitcoin reward for miners from 6.25 BTC ($439,000) to 3.125 BTC ($219,500).
Surprisingly, this event might lead to a paradigm shift in global hashrate, primarily from the United States to countries offering cheaper electricity. According to Jaran Mellerud, founder and chief mining strategist at Hashlabs Mining, Argentina and Paraguay are the two South American countries with the most promising futures in Bitcoin mining.
Published At
3/27/2024 7:40:51 AM
Disclaimer: Algoine does not endorse any content or product on this page. Readers should conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the asset, company, or any information in this article and assume full responsibility for their decisions. This article should not be considered as investment advice. Our news is prepared with AI support.
Do you suspect this content may be misleading, incomplete, or inappropriate in any way, requiring modification or removal?
We appreciate your report.