Numerous crypto-centric entities — encompassing Bitcoin (BTC) mining firms — are considering a return to the US, chiefly motivated by unpredictable geopolitical conflicts. Nonetheless, BTC miner HIVE Digital Technologies is intensifying its focus on the unexploited prospects within the Latin American sector.
In a unique discussion with Cointelegraph, HIVE Digital Technologies’ president and CEO, Aydin Kilic, remarked that Paraguay offers an enticing long-term prospect characterized by “geopolitical stability, affordable hydroelectric power, and a government welcoming to foreign investment”.
Continuing from where Bitfarms concluded
HIVE purchased Bitfarms’ 200 MW Yguazú facility for $56 million in January. The initial phase infrastructure of a 100 MW data center at the location was finalized in April, facilitating 5 EH/s of Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) mining.
HIVE intends to broaden its mining operations in Paraguay to 300 megawatts (MW) by 2025. The goal is to escalate the hashrate to 25 exahash per second (EH/s) by September.
Related: Bitfarms transfers Paraguay site to Hive for $85M, shifts focus to US
The CEO stated that HIVE has dedicated over a year to nurturing robust, collaborative partnerships with local participants in Paraguay. “We are channeling investments into local employment, training initiatives, and strong vendor collaborations. Our aim is to foster a local support ecosystem that stabilizes costs while enhancing uptime and efficiency,” he remarked.
Despite a proposed prohibition on cryptocurrency mining in Paraguay due to the strain it poses on the nation’s electricity supply and potential increases in electricity costs, Aydin mentioned that their team is actively engaging with lawmakers to advocate for clarity and collaboration in mining regulation.
HIVE embraces international diversification to mitigate geopolitical risks
HIVE operates data centers in Canada, Sweden, and Paraguay. In contrast to its ongoing LATAM expansion, the miner is relocating its headquarters to San Antonio, Texas.
“Our expanding presence in North and South America establishes a balanced footprint resilient to geopolitical or trade policy disruptions,” Kilic stated.
The US tariff on China has raised concerns regarding the escalating costs associated with mining equipment, such as ASICs. Kilic communicated to Cointelegraph that they have diversified sourcing channels for ASICs and electrical components to mitigate single-region dependencies.
Related: Bitcoin miners should manage costs in depreciating currency — Ledn exec
To ensure an increase from 6 to 25 EH/s, the CEO indicated that they have secured vital ASIC orders, obtained power access through long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), and augmented engineering capabilities across three continents to address market and technological uncertainties.
Profitability in Bitcoin mining is essentially a physics problem
Kilic regards Bitcoin mining profitability as a physics equation. He conveyed to Cointelegraph that capital and operational expenses rely on hashrate-sensitive evaluations to find the most constructive method to sustain their business through BTC treasury and ATM transactions.
While the individual mining community may encounter greater challenges in generating profits, the CEO proposed that the emphasis should be placed on the factors it can control: “Whether you operate one rig or ten thousand, it revolves around managing inputs like operational expenditures, power costs, and machine uptime to yield predictable outputs — maximizing energy efficiency, minimizing downtime, and maintaining discipline with treasury management.”
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