Plans to achieve 70% carbon neutrality for its cryptocurrency mining operations, has been unveiled, Marathon Digital Holdings, a United States enterprise Bitcoin (BTC) mining company
By constructing a new data center that will host approximately 73,000 previously purchased Bitcoin miners as part of a new 300-megawatt operation located in Texas, the company aims to reduce its carbon footprint. Marathon plans to begin construction in October 2021 alongside Compute North, a long-standing industry partner, in order to achieve this goal.
Under the terms of the agreement, Marathon will provide Compute North an 18-month bridge loan worth up to $67 million.
“Compute North is a long-term partner of ours, and by expanding our working relationship with them through this new agreement, we have now secured economical hosting arrangements for all 103,120 of our previously purchased Bitcoin miners,” said Marathon CEO Fred Thiel, adding:
“This agreement sets us on a clear path to becoming one of the largest, most efficient, and most environmentally conscious Bitcoin miners in North America.”
Commenting on the news, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor said “Marathon is acting decisively to expand its US-based mining capacity in a carbon neutral fashion,” adding that publicly-traded miners will “lead the way on ESG initiatives.” ESG stands for environmental, social and corporate governance.
Marathon Digital’s announcement is timely, given the negative attention Bitcoin mining has received in recent weeks. With China planning to crack down on cryptocurrency mining within its borders, at least three mining pools have announced plans to halt activities in the country.