The9 Limited strikes deal to expand in Kazakhstan

More hashrate will soon be coming to the BTC network as China-based companies continue expanding regionally due to a hostile climate back home.

Nasdaq-listed block reward mining company The9 Ltd. (NASDAQ: NCTY) recently announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary NBTC Limited had reached a deal with Kazakhstan company LGHSTR Ltd. The two companies have signed a non-binding investment memorandum to set up a blockchain-related joint venture in Kazakhstan.

The newly created entity will invest and build digital currency mining facilities with a total capacity of 200MW within two years. NBTC will own 51% of the new venture with LGHSTR owning the remaining 49%. NBTC will control the board of directors.

Once construction of the new facilities is completed, NBTC will prioritize deploying the blockchain mining hardware it owns or ones owned by its partners. Using the Antminer S19 as an example, the 200MW mining sites can house 50,000 hardware rigs generating 5EH/s of hash power.

The new jointly owned entity is also responsible for operating and maintaining digital currency mining machines in Kazakhstan.

Both companies expect the first phase of construction of 20MW will be completed in September 2021. Afterward, a total of 100MW is expected to complete by the end of 2021. The remainder is to be completed by the end of 2022 cumulatively.

“The9 is actively developing the globalization of its cryptocurrency mining business. The first batch of hash power has been restored in Kazakhstan in early August this year and has been operating stably,” NBTC Ltd. CEO Cai Zhifang said. “If the cooperation with our worldwide mining facilities partners progresses smoothly, we expect to restore approximately 50% of our original hash power by the end of October this year, and we plan to restore all our original hash power and add new hash power before the end of this year.”

The joint venture continues The9 ongoing strategy to seek out and establish operations in different regions globally that have low-cost electricity and abundant, sustainable energy.

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