Japanese Internet giant GMO has announced it will launch a Bitcoin mining business to corner around six percent of the market by 2018.
A disclosure which surfaced Thursday revealed plans to mine with 50,000 seven nm chips generating around 500 petahashes per second.
The initial cost to set up the project is “will be more than 10 percent of the consolidated noncurrent assets as of Dec. 31, 2016” of ¥3.489 bln ($32 mln).
“We will operate a next-generation mining center utilizing renewable energy and cutting-edge semiconductor chips in Northern Europe,” a translated copy of the disclosure reads.
“We will use cutting-edge seven nm process technology for chips to be used in the mining process, and jointly work on its research and development and manufacturing with our alliance partner having semiconductor design technology.”
GMO has operated since 1995 but only this year became involved in cryptocurrency, opening an exchange under Japan’s new licensing scheme.
As part of the plans, GMO will use coins it mines to add liquidity to its exchange arm, as well as run a cloud mining business and sell “next-generation mining boards.”
According to data from Blockchain.info, GMO could control around five to six percent of Bitcoin mining when it launches in the first half of 2018.
“We believe that cryptocurrencies will develop into ‘new universal currencies’ available for use by anyone from any country or region to freely exchange ‘value,’ creating a “new borderless economic zone,” it added.
Japan is currently in the midst of a significant Bitcoin marketing push, facilitating cross-sector merchant acceptance on the back of multiple partnerships.