An American crypto mining company is expected to begin operation late this year. It purchased the facility from Miners One Partners, a British Virgin Islands limited partnership that has a majority of China owners. That worried national security officials since the facility is near a missile base.
CleanSpark, the second largest crypto-mining operation on the stock market, recently got spotlight in front of Wyoming lawmakers. Zachary Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, gave updates on his company's progress at a meeting of the Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology.
Crypto mining, simplified, is the act of contributing large amounts of computational processing power and energy to solve increasingly complex problems. Solving a problem confirms the validity of a blockchain and rewards the users with bitcoins.
”I'm sure some of the questions today that I'll get … are actually going to be about the acquisition we did … near Warren Air Force Base,” Bradford said to the committee.
In May, the Biden Administration issued an order demanding the prior crypto mining operation “cease activity.” MinersOne Partners is a British Virgin Islands limited partnership, however a majority of ownership falls under China nationals, which worried security officials. Citing the proximity of the operation near a missile base, the operation was shut down, and the real estate went up.
“I'm happy to report that late last week…we closed on that transaction, so we are now the owners of the property,” said Bradford.
Sen. Chris Rothfuss (D-Laramie) congratulated Bradford on the purchase, and Rep. Cyrus Western (R-Big Horn) replied, “outstanding”.
Lawmakers have been trying to attract industries like crypto mining and promote technologies like blockchain since 2018. Wyoming has since passed 13 laws that made the state extremely welcoming to such businesses.
CleanSpark is the type of corporation Wyoming was looking to attract with those bills. It operates exclusively in the USA, the founder is from Lander, and the act of mining crypto requires a lot of power, which that state is ready to offer).
In a press release the company said the completed faculty “will bring an additional 45 MW online in Wyoming”. For reference, the Nuclear Regulatory Commision says 1 Megawatt is similar to the amount of power used by “400 to 900 homes in a year”. The Boysen Dam produces 15 to 17 MW annually, and the Sweetwater Wind Farm creates around 92 MW.
“So we want to be in areas and places with abundant power,” said Bradford. “Or power that has intermittent needs, that we, and the community at large can benefit from our participation in. In addition, we expect to be investing in further infrastructure things, such as substations that will actually allow greater electrification and distribution of power available on the grid.”
Bradford also speculated that his company would hire close to 40 jobs, with the potential to hire more as the facilities and technologies are upgraded overtime. Bradford said CleanSpark is expected to invest $40 to $50 million on infrastructure over the next three to six months at the Wyoming property and a second location in Mississippi.
“Our intention, and our hope, is just like we did in Georgia, where Georgia was a net export state and still is. It allowed that power to stay in state and generate jobs and tax dollars inside the state lines,” said Bradford.
They plan to be fully open and running by December 2024.
