Bitmain's Wu Jihan: Expanding Bitcoin Mining Business in the U.S. and Planning to Get Involved in AI

In an interview with Bloomberg, Bitmain co-founder Jihan Wu revealed that his company has huge expansion plans for its Bitcoin mining operations in the U.S. On April 13, 2018, the mining company announced that it had received approval to establish a cryptocurrency mining operation in the United States.

Wu Jihan revealed that the company has been working to expand its mining operations around the world, including launching more facilities in the United States, and the company is currently operating two mining farms, 10 MW and 12 MW respectively.

Wu Jihan said that Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) have experienced a lot of growth in the past year, which is also in line with the strong performance of the cryptocurrency market. The company's profits have been growing, and its turnover in 2017 reached $2.3 billion.

Bitmain also recently announced that it is developing a new ASIC Antminer that will be launched later this year. The Antminer E3 promises to deliver significant hashing power while offering greater efficiency and is specifically targeted at the Ethereum (ETH) mining community.

Wu Jihan pointed out that the United States is one of its largest target markets, and it is the company's second largest market after China. Therefore, the company must redouble its efforts in the market. However, the US market is quite challenging due to its high costs. Despite this slight obstacle, the company believes that its participation in the market will play a key role in encouraging competition in the US market. It is also committed to reducing mining costs.

Bitmain’s two cryptocurrency mining facilities under development are expected to be completed by mid-2018. While Bitmain has big plans for the U.S., Wu did not reveal the actual number of facilities Bitmain plans to launch in the U.S. But he said the company plans to invest more than $100 million to launch more crypto mining equipment in the U.S.

Wu Jihan also said that the expansion plan will not only benefit revenue, but also help create more jobs.

He also commented on the company’s stance on artificial intelligence, saying Bitmain also plans to get involved in this area.