Three new Bitcoin mining data centers have been established by Genesis Digital Assets (GDA) in South Carolina, as part of the company’s moves to expand its operations in the United States.
Two of the new data centers that are being set up by GDA are located between the towns of Lockhart and Union, while the third one is located near Anderson.
The new sites
All three of the new mining sites started operations this year and 33 megawatts (MW) is their combined total capacity.
Furthermore, GDA had also broken ground last year in Texas with the launch of a mining facility that could generate 40-megawatt (MW).
GDA is one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the world and it reportedly has mining operations across North America, Asia and Europe.
As a matter of fact, the company is believed to contribute about 2% of the total hash rate on the Bitcoin network.
Andrey Kim, the founder and chief executive of GDA, talked about the strategic interest of the company in the state of South Carolina.
He said that they regard it as one of the most exciting states in the United States because it has abundant clean electricity from nuclear and hydro energy sources.
He also added that it is also one of the states that is clearly ‘pro-innovation’.
Local communities
About 150 local workers had been employed by GDA for the construction of the three new mining centers.
The Head of North America at GDA, Ankit Joshi, said that they had been very impressed to see the warm welcome they had received from local communities because it could benefit their economy.
It appears that interest in the bitcoin mining and crypto sector in South Carolina is growing, which is in direct contrast to its neighbor in the north where a Bitcoin moratorium had been implemented in 2023.
South Carolina
A delegation from South Carolina visited El Salvador last year in order to learn more about the adoption of Bitcoin in the country.
This delegation included members belonging to the Emerging Tech Association Inc. in South Carolina and Curtis Loftis, the State Treasurer.
The Pacolet data center is one of the newest mining sites established by GDA and its location is close to a Lockhart Power hydroelectric plant.
According to Kim, their goal is to establish their data centers close to clean energy sources for ensuring that the most environmentally friendly energy is used for running their operations.
But, he did add that they could not provide details about the specific energy mix that was being used at the Pacolet data center.
Critics of Bitcoin mining have said that due to the PoW (proof-of-work) consensus mechanism used by the Bitcoin network, fossil fuel is still used by data centers powered by renewable energy.
This is because the mining difficulty rises when more mining power is used. But, according to Kim, the goal of GDA is to show that it is possible to mine Bitcoin in an ESG-friendly way.