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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Friendship developed, with Russ and Andy advising each other on their complex hobby. As more people were getting into bitcoin mining globally, the technology required to win a round of puzzle solving was far surpassing your standard home setup. Andy and Russ were buying up increasingly complex tools. One day, a few years ago, Russ and Andy realised their own operations were literally getting too big for their homes.Andy was ordering equipment that was like "running two turbines in the living room", while Russ was tripping over cables in his living area."I was building Frankenstein's monster," Russ says."It was pretty crazy. I think we were both on the verge of our wives going, 'Enough is enough. It's us or the crypto mining'."So, Andy and I put our heads together and said, 'Let's build our first farm'."What is a bitcoin farm?Again, the analogies aren't particularly accurate here.The "bitcoin farm" operated by Russ and Andy today, through their company Metamining, is actually a bunch of shipping containers in the outback with technology that mostly operates remotely.Early days of Metamining's crypto operations. (Supplied: Metamining)Russ and Andy declined to disclose the location of their facility, citing security concerns. They say they've partnered with a remote landholder to provide them with a cheap energy source."It was a fantastic opportunity that came just at the right time, because I think it saved both our marriages," Russ says."And we were able then to really scale up in a big way."They've built infrastructure such as solar and wind farms. And we're piggybacking off that green energy."There's obviously massive power needs for bitcoin mining."Over the years, there have been ongoing concerns about bitcoin mining's enormous energy usage and associated carbon emissions, akin to entire countries.Iren's data centre site in Prince George, British Columbia. (Supplied: Iren)In the Northern Hemisphere, an Australian-founded company Iren is running five facilities across Texas and British Columbia that are being run by hydro, solar or renewable power purchase agreements.The sheer size of Iren's operations show just how far bitcoin mining has come in 2024, and what small-time operators like Russ and Andy are now up against to claim their prize.Iren's facilities span entire plots, and between them are still only able to solve enough coding to claim around 300 bitcoin a month.Iren's data centre at its site in Prince George, British Columbia. (Supplied: Iren)Even at bitcoin's current peak, Iren's revenue is hugely offset by its power bills."Last month, we made around $US14 million in revenue against a power cost of around $US6 million," its Australian-based co-founder Daniel Roberts told ABC News.Mr Roberts insists the company is profitable, but Iren's financial results from last year show it posted a loss of $AU260 million.That was after write-downs
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