Crypto Landscape Shifts As Tether Drops $500M Bombshell On Bitcoin Mining Expansion

Stablecoin issuer Tether is making a significant push into Bitcoin mining with the goal of dominating this highly-stacked market.

The company, according to newly appointed CEO Paolo Ardoino, is looking to pour out $500 million over the next six months. Building new mining facilities and acquiring stock in already-existing mining companies are two aspects of this audacious expansion.

In order to rank among the top Bitcoin mining businesses worldwide, Tether has made some quite significant progress.

The company’s proposed half-billion dollar investment is a big move that might propel the $87 billion stablecoin operator to new heights in a highly competitive market like cryptocurrency mining.

Ardoino, set to become the CEO of Tether in December, emphasized that mining is a gradual learning and growth process for their team. He clarified that there is no urgency to become the largest miner globally.

Tether Goes Mining

The approach underscores a commitment to a measured and informed strategy rather than a hasty pursuit of dominating the mining landscape, he said, as he reflected on a focus on sustainable development and long-term success in the mining sector.

Tether recently purchased a sizeable stake in Northern Data AG, a Bitcoin mining operation with its headquarters located in Frankfurt, and issued a $610 million credit line to the company. Tether’s broader initiatives to diversify beyond its primary USDT stablecoin business include this strategic position.

“Mining for us is something that we have to learn and grow over time. We are not in a hurry to become the largest miner in the world,” Ardoino said.

Tether’s objective is to establish mining operations in strategically significant regions, such as El Salvador, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

In an effort to enhance its computational capacity to reach 1% of the Bitcoin mining network, the organization is undertaking this endeavor.

Ardonio delineated the corporate strategy of constructing mining facilities in chosen nations, with a capacity spanning from 40 to 70 megawatts (MW).

Bitcoin retreats to the $36K territory. Chart: TradingView.com

Tether plans to increase its direct mining capacity to 450 megawatts by the end of 2025, with a target of 120 megawatts by the end of 2023.

About $150 million is set aside for direct mining initiatives, some of which are currently being distributed to new sites, according to Ardoino, who spoke with Bloomberg.

Tether Aims Big For 2024

With a grand total of five incredible initiatives planned for 2024 and counting, Ardonio said they are about to complete Tether’s ecosystem with yet another “powerful piece of the puzzle.”

A few of these, according to Ardonio, have the potential to permanently demolish a number of well-known Web2 centralized services.

The company has already said that it intends to use a self-custodial wallet to store up to 15 percent of its earnings in Bitcoin. With 2% of its existing assets held in Bitcoin, Tether also announced a Q1 net profit of $1.48 billion this year.

Meanwhile, miners are jumping at the chance to profit from Bitcoin’s recent increase, as the cryptocurrency is due for a “halving” event in April 2024.

Mining is an energy-intensive process that has seen a rebound in activity, although its profitability has not yet returned to its 2021 peak.

Since the start of November, earnings per unit of processing power have risen from $70 to more than $81, latest data shows.

Featured image from Pixabay