Bitcoin mining company Coinmint will build the world's largest mining center in New York State

Despite the continued decline in Bitcoin prices this year, cryptocurrency mining company Coinmint said it would invest $700 million on 1,300 acres of land in northern New York that Alcoa once used to smelt aluminum to build the world's largest Bitcoin mining center and create 150 jobs in the next 18 months.

Coinmint has been looking to lease the land since Alcoa closed its New York plant four years ago. After months of negotiations, Coinmint has secured a 10-year lease with an option to renew. According to Bitcoin price data, Bitcoin prices fell 30% after the deal was signed.

Prieur Leary, chief technology officer of Coinmint, believes that as long as the Bitcoin network exists, mining will be profitable, and the company has developed a mining process that is more competitive in the market. Previously, Coinmint had a mining plant in the town of Massena, New York, which has access to clean and cheap electricity services such as hydroelectric and wind power. Prieur Leary revealed that each of their computers used for mining will generate 1,400 watts of electrical power, equivalent to a hair dryer, and hundreds of thousands of such devices will run at the same time each time, and the climate in Massena is relatively cold, which helps reduce air conditioning costs.

Cryptocurrency mining is done by high-powered computers. To process Bitcoin transactions, they need to be verified by complex mathematical equations and then added to a “distributed ledger.” In return for providing the solution, miners are rewarded with Bitcoins.

Coinmint said it has begun deploying infrastructure in an old Alcoa plant and expects mining operations to be operational within a year. The 435-megawatt mining center will become the world’s largest “digital currency processor.”

Coinmint's main competitor at this stage is Bitmain, which, according to Bernstein analysts, had a turnover of $3-4 billion last year, which is not much different from chip manufacturing giant Nvidia. Currently, the company is recruiting security personnel, electricians and experienced IT personnel locally.