Giga’s Latest Site Utilizes Excess Energy from Natural Gas Flaring, Yielding Between $200,000 and $250,000 Worth of Mined Bitcoin, According to the Firm’s Co-founder.

Texas-Based Bitcoin Miner Giga Energy Expands into Argentina to Utilize Wasted Energy

Giga Energy, a Bitcoin mining company based in Texas, has extended its operations into Argentina, aiming to tap into the surplus energy generated from “natural gas flaring” in the South American nation’s oil fields.

Brent Whitehead, co-founder of Giga, hailed this expansion as a significant milestone for the company in a LinkedIn post dated March 26. Natural gas flaring involves the burning of gas associated with oil extraction, releasing methane in the process. Giga converts this methane into electricity to power its Bitcoin mining rigs.

According to a CNBC report on March 26, Giga’s expansion in Argentina involves placing a large shipping container fitted with thousands of Bitcoin miners atop an oil well. Excess gas is redirected into generators, which in turn power the mining rigs. Giga’s mining site in Argentina, located in the province of Mendoza, has been undergoing testing since December and has already mined between $200,000 and $250,000 worth of Bitcoin, as revealed by Matt Lohstroh, another co-founder of the firm, in an interview with CNBC.

Also, read- Has Bitcoin Completed its Pre-Halving Retracement? 52K BTC Accumulated in a Single Sunday

Despite this success, Giga is still awaiting the importation of essential equipment before it can fully scale its operation and turn a profit.

Argentina holds the world’s second-largest shale gas reserve, according to a recent academic paper from the University of Michigan. Giga’s Bitcoin mining operation in the country aims to reduce methane emissions, Whitehead stated.

To manage onsite operations, Giga has enlisted the services of IT company Exa Tech, while the required gas to power the Bitcoin miners will be provided by oil and gas firm Phoenix Global Resources.

Giga initially launched its Bitcoin mining operations in 2019 and currently has 150 megawatts worth of containers installed in its facilities in Texas and Shanghai. The expansion into Argentina coincides with preparations for the upcoming Bitcoin halving event, expected around April 20. This event will halve the Bitcoin reward for miners from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.

As the halving event approaches, there may be a global shift in hashrate from the United States to countries with lower electricity costs, according to Jaran Mellerud, founder and chief mining strategist at Hashlabs Mining. Mellerud highlighted Argentina and Paraguay as the most promising countries for Bitcoin mining in South America.