Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino Confirms $500M Investment in BTC Mining
- Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said that his firm will invest $500 million in Bitcoin mining infrastructure.
- The firm will invest the money in the next six months, constructing mining facilities and investing in other miners.
- It aims to grow computing power to 1% of the BTC network, with capacity ranging between 40 and 70 MW.
- The new mining rigs will be set up in Bitcoin-friendly regions like Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador.
Paolo Ardoino, the former chief technology officer and the new chief executive officer at Tether, the issuer of USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, confirmed his firm’s investment in Bitcoin mining. The firm is set to invest $500 million in Bitcoin (BTC) mining infrastructure in the near future.
In an interview given to Bloomberg, the new Tether CEO stated that his firm is ready to spend as much as $500 million in the upcoming six months on the construction of mining facilities and investments in other miners. The firm is considering the construction of mining rigs in Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador, the first countries to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021.
Ardoino added that Tether plans to grow its computing power to 1% of the BTC mining network, adding that new sites would have a capacity of between 40 and 70 megawatts (MW). The stablecoin firm noted that it has a total of five mind-blowing projects (and counting) planned for 2024 while noting that a “couple of these could obliterate some popular Web2 centralized services for good.”
The Tether executive is expected to assume his position as CEO of the firm in the near future. He said that the stablecoin issuer will raise its direct mining operations to 120 MW by the end of the year and reach up to 450 MW by the end of 2025. The firm is also considering setting up a 300-MW facility and is building up its facilities inside containers that can be moved when electricity prices change.
As reported earlier by Bitnation, Ardoino refused to disclose the location of the firm’s new Bitcoin mining site.
“Mining for us is something that we have to learn and grow over time. We are not in a rush to become the biggest miner in the world,” Ardoino said.
It is important to note that Ardoino will become the CEO of Tether in December and will resume his position as CTO of Bitfinex, the parent firm of the stablecoin issuer. Interestingly, earlier this month, Northern Data AG, a German-based BTC mining company, secured a 575 million-euro ($610 million) debt financing facility from the stablecoin issuer.
The financing deal will enable the firm to invest in its three business lines, including its artificial intelligence cloud service provider, Taiga Cloud, Ardent Data Centers, and Peak Mining, the company’s mining business.