Amid the ongoing sustainability-related conversations around the Merge, a new solar-powered Bitcoin mining firm raised $8 million in a Series A funding round.
The funding round by Aspen Creek Digital Corporation’s (ACDC) was backed by industry giants like the crypto financial services company Galaxy Digital and blockchain investment firm Polychain Capital.
ACDC took a “power first” approach. This is basically when a crypto mining business gives priority to power and infrastructure over mining operations before a funding round.
ACDC’s funds will be used to open its second mining facility in Texas. Come fall, the facility, with a mining capacity of 30 megawatts (MW), will share space with an 87 MW solar farm.
This funding round came as a ray of hope amidst ongoing struggle of BTC miners with drastic drop in profits. BTC mining firms are shutting down across the globe. Most recently, one of the largest Bitcoin mining data centers, Compute North, filed for bankruptcy due supply chain issues and lack of funds to pay lenders.
Shedding light on the development, ACDC CEO Alexandra DaCosta told CoinDesk that some key factors behind the move have been investors seeing the markets reel from the hike in energy prices and witnessing a fall in Bitcoin prices. That is what made the funds “go from a PowerPoint to real life,” according to Da Costa.
They were not the only company of this kind that was looking to raise capital, but their model was what set them apart from others, he concluded.
