Google Acquires 5.4% Stake in Bitcoin Miner Cipher Mining for $3 Billion

Google has acquired a 5.4% stake in bitcoin miner Cipher Mining as part of a multi-year $3 billion deal involving Fluidstack, a company specializing in artificial intelligence data centers.

It is reported that Google will receive its stake in Cipher Mining in exchange for guaranteeing Fluidstack’s $1.4 billion contractual obligations to Cipher. This is part of an even larger $3 billion Fluidstack-Cipher deal for a 10-year lease of computing capacity.

Under the agreement, Cipher will provide Fluidstack with 168 megawatts of computing power, with a maximum total output of 244 MW at the Barber Lake facility in Colorado City, Texas. The site’s total capacity could reach 500 megawatts.

Google, in turn, will cover $1.4 billion of Fluidstack’s lease obligations to Cipher Mining. In exchange, the tech giant will receive warrants to acquire approximately 24 million common shares of Cipher—about a 5.4% stake in the miner.

Cipher CEO Tyler Page said the deal will strengthen the company’s position in high-performance computing.

“We believe this agreement will be the first of several in the high-performance computing space, as we continue to expand our capabilities and strengthen our position in this fast-growing sector,” he said.

This is not Google’s first investment in mining companies. In late August, the search giant became the largest shareholder in miner TeraWulf, acquiring a 14% stake in exchange for guarantee obligations under a separate deal with Fluidstack.

See also: "Chinese Company Executes $1 Billion Cryptocurrency Deal"

#Google #Mining

Share: