Bitmain Puts Its Mega Mining Facility Project in Texas on Ice
Bitmain Technologies is shelving its plans to create a mega BTC mining facility in Rockdale, Texas. The news comes as the BTC mining behemoth continues to downsize both the scale of its operations as well as its staff numbers.
$500 Million BTC Mining Project on Hold
According to Texas Public Radio (TPR), Bitmain his suspending its plans to build a $500 million crypto mining and data center in Rockdale. Commenting on the news, Steve Young, the Milam County Judge, :
I’m really disappointed because we had advertised this. We had waited for this and had wanted this. We had welcomed this. This was huge. We need some positive news here and some jobs here. We need a tax base here, and this was a step in the right direction.
Back in mid-2018, the company plans to build one of the largest BTC mining centers in North America. At the time, Bitmain said the facility situated on the Alcoa aluminum smelting site would commence operations in 2019, providing as many as 500 jobs.
For Young, the news is yet another blow to the local economy of a place struggling to attract investments. Dave Barkemeyer, a former Milam County Judge, says the county has lost about of its tax revenue in the last ten years.
Massive Downsizing of Operations
As at press time, Bitmain is yet to issue any official word on the matter. However, a spokesperson for the company intimated that Bitmain was in the process of downsizing its operations across the United States. In an email reportedly sent to Young, the spokesperson said:
The right-sized team at Rockdale now has the expertise to re-start the project at small scale anytime. Bitmain would like to ramp up the site at a slower pace and scale based on market conditions.
According to Young, Bitmain had already made some significant progress on the facility with as many as 8,000 servers running into millions of dollars already on site.
Meanwhile, the company continues to make the rounds on the cryptocurrency news circuit with reports of retrenchments across various departments. On Thursday, Bitcoinist that the company will be getting a new CEO as the co-founders step down from administrative duties.
Bitmain losing dominance = more decentralisation
– Laying off 50% staff (reported) – Mining pool dominance down 28% in last 6 months – Poor bet on BCH at the cost of losing BTC – Lost key chip designer – ASICs losing competitive edge – Growing competition (Canaan, Halong, Ebang)
— Misir Mahmudov (@misir_mahmudov)
Since December 2018, Bitmain has fired employees in both its and Cash development department. Reports indicate that its bet on BTC Cash 00 which backfired coupled with the massive decline in cryptocurrency prices saw the company record north of $700 million in Q3 2018 alone.
Consequently, Bitmain, once the undisputed giant in BTC mining arena is slowing having its monopoly eroded. Back in mid-2018, the company’s mining pools; BTC.com and AntPool were approaching control of total BTC mining hashrate. Presently, both pools account for 24 percent.
Will the current situation with Bitmain lead to a less monopolized bitcoin mining arena? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Image courtesy of Twitter (@misir_mahmudov), Shutterstock
Esports wagering is a large — and growing — global industry at the intersection between gambling, technology and entertainment. In their , Newzoo found that China and North America will generate $362 million during 2017, or 52 percent of global esports industry’s revenue. If the esports industry continues on the same growth trajectory, the global industry is expected to generate $1.4 billion in 2020.
Unikrn’s blockchain-powered platform is tapping into this growth industry, offering services such as “skill and spectator betting applications, a tournament series, team ownership, a casino group and multimedia content for the esports fanbase.”
Along with launching an initial coin offering (ICO) in mid-September, the company has expanded its offerings to the European Union through a joint venture with RBP, a key player in the online horserace and sports betting market, and plans to launch a new skills-based product.
Expanding across the European Union comes after the platform was granted a much coveted gaming license from the (MGA). As one of the first European Territories to regulate online gambling, Malta has become a staunch regulatory supporter over the past several years. Today, over 100 companies currently hold a license issued by the MGA including software developers, online casinos and Remote iGaming operators.
Though obtaining a gaming license from the MGA took more than a year, for Unikrn, it has provided an opportunity to enhance their reputation as a legitimate esports wagering platform; something critical for their successful expansion and token sale. “They [MGA] are by every measure the gold standard and one of of the most respected authorities for responsible and ethical wagering,” said Unikrn founder and CEO Rahul Sood in a
After creating the VoodooPC in 1991 then selling it to Hewlett-Packard, Sood spent 18 years as an entrepreneur. Next, he joined as general manager of Microsoft Ventures, Microsoft’s international startup accelerator and outreach program. Sood left Microsoft in 2014 to enter the world of live immersive esports betting by co-founding Unikrn.
Why Blockchain?
During its Series A round, Unikrn received funding from several notable investors including Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, actor Ashton Kutcher’s venture firm, , media executive Elisabeth Murdoch’s venture fund , media executive Shari Redstone’s and the largest betting company in Australia, . The commonality between most of these venture funds is that they typically pick portfolio companies working in a mix of media, technology and entertainment.
Anthony Di Iorio, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Decentral, joined UnikoinGold as an advisory team member because he finds the project both intriguing and well-supported.
“I’m a big believer in the power of decentralized technologies, like blockchains, to empower entrepreneurs and individuals,” he told bitcoin Magazine. “I’m motivated to support the entrepreneurs, the projects, and the communities that are pushing that technology forward by applying it in interesting and exciting ways to existing markets. Unikrn is a bit special.”
Unikrn’s Editor-in-Chief of content, Ryan Jurado, describes the platform’s journey toward the blockchain as a tool for product and community growth. In 2015, Unikrn released Unikoin, a free, internal, non-cryptographic token issued in 2014 that gives users the ability to bet on esports and win prizes in regulated markets where Unikrn is unlicensed to operate. However, Unikoin had no secondary market and customers persistently asked for more value or uses for the token.
Jurado explained that idea for Unikrn to use blockchain technology first came from Mark Cuban in early 2016. After investigating the technology, the team found using a blockchain-based currency would improve compliance and accountability, two activities paramount in bookkeeping.
“The distributed ledger makes Know Your Customer (KYC) and risk management easier and less costly,” Jurado said to bitcoin Magazine. “It saves time and money used for converting currencies, and helps minimize engagement with banks.”
Along with a distributed ledger model, Jurado also pointed out that the blockchain “expands real-time betting, live betting and skill-based products that would be difficult, or impossible, using fiat currency.”
The blockchain’s ability to increase transaction options while decreasing the need for transactional trust was another value Unikrn sought, Jurado explained, resulting in “an Ethereum-based token with an open ledger that can be used to better rate risk and flag potential abuse.”
A gaming platform such as Unikrn which runs vast numbers of transactions per day manages a lot of risk benefits from “an Ethereum-based token with an open ledger that can be used to better rate risk and flag potential abuse.” Furthermore, as Jurado pointed out, “For users, it’s a home-run: Using blockchain is less expensive than using fiat, and less overhead means less expensive products.”
Tale of Two Koins
To run the token sale and crypto platform, Unikrn opened a subsidiary, Unikrn Bermuda Ltd. The token that Jurado hopes will become “the decentralized token of esports and gaming” is called (UKG) and was made available in September.
Di Iorio described UnikoinGold as “the (decentralized) beating heart of the secure and seamless wagering ecosystem Unikrn has pioneered.”
As for the original non-cryptographic token, Unikoin, Sood has stated that Unikrn is undergoing a “forking” of their token system in which there will be two currencies: and UnikoinSilver.
Anybody in the world can buy and use the Ethereum-based UnikoinGold utility token in non-betting applications, including jackpots and experiences, software, hardware, esports, teams and tournaments; however, only users in Unikrn-licensed regions will be able to use it to bet.
Though UnikoinSilver can only be earned, it can be used in most unregulated markets around the world. “The token will allow every non-minor esports and gaming fan to engage in all Unikrn betting products, regardless of where they live. It is a free, non-blockchain token, but will allow fans to unlock real prizes and non-betting operations including editorial, production studios, tournament organization and live broadcasting.” UnikoinSilver also appears to be an alternative “to unregulated skin betting for regions where real-money betting can’t be offered.”
ESPN Meets Esports Meets Vegas
Having already raised $30 million in ether, the UnikoinGold token sale is capped at $100 million. One advantage it has as a token sale is the ease of onboarding users who are already familiar with token transactions. Unikrn’s other advantages come from the fact that they already have an existing platform that is profitable and an online community that is engaged. “This isn’t an investment,” said Sood in a Medium , “It’s a purchase for a product that we developed that has utility on our platform and our users love and demand.”
A clear caveat to UnikoinGold’s success is that its gaming/ICO combination is sure to keep them visible on every regulator’s radar, which is why earning a Maltese gaming license was such a significant step.
Even at such a unique intersection between media, gambling and gaming, Unikrn is not the only player. Other esports betting platforms using blockchain technology include , , and . And it has yet to crack the lists of top esport betting platforms on sites like and .
Sood does not seem surprised by his company’s success, thus far. “UnikoinGold was designed and intended for use by our own esports community. It’s like ESPN meets Esports meets Las Vegas.”
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