Bitcoin Mining
Iran government has finally accepted the mining of cryptocurrencies as a lawful activity. Here, Antminer D3 cryptocurrency mining computers are seen at a facility of Venezuela's Youth and Sports Ministry in Caracas, Feb. 23, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Bello

A merger agreement between Northern Bitcoin (BTC) and Whinstone US Inc. could set the stage for the largest BTC mining facility in the world.

Northern Bitcoin, a German company that focuses on BTC blockchain technology, announced the merger via press release on Monday. The deal that involves their American competitor brings more experience and resources since the Whinstone Group has been in the blockchain industry in as early as 2014 with a successful track record in operating mining facilities in the Netherlands, Sweden and the U.S.

The mining farm that the merger was based off on is already being built by Whinstone, and it boasts a capacity of one gigawatt on an area over 100 acres in Texas.

Bitcoin Mining
Cryptocurrency market downfall has resulted in several miners selling their equipment at significantly low prices as they are facing huge losses. Here, two construction workers inspect the area at the bitcoin mining company Bifarms in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada, March 19, 2018. LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images

"With this merger, we are catapulting ourselves faster than originally planned to the top of the world in Bitcoin mining. Whinstone's team has done a great job over the past few years and is proving its leadership in the blockchain industry by building the world's largest mining facility," said Mathis Schultz, CEO of Northern Bitcoin AG.

"Together, we have a dominant leadership position in this fast-growing industry and are well-positioned to benefit significantly from the future development of blockchain technology," he added.

The two companies expect the first phase of the construction to be completed in the first quarter of 2020. By then, they anticipate it to house 300 megawatts of capacity, which they estimate will rank them number one in the world. They expect to be at full capacity by Q4 of 2020.

Competition

Northern Bitcoin was founded in 2018 as a sustainable BTC miner as its mining operations in Norway rely on renewable energy sources, and along with Whinstone, they are up against two other companies that are constructing mining farms in Texas.

Last month, startup company Layer 1 received $50 million from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Shasta Ventures, and other investors to establish their mining farm that is located 150 miles west of Midland Texas.

Following the announcement of Layer 1, China's Bitmain also set its agenda for establishing a BTC mining facility in rural Texas just a few days after. Bitmain's power size will be at 25 to 50 megawatts that could go up to 300 to what it termed as the largest in the world -- a far cry now from what Whinstone and Norther Bitcoin targets.

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