Block and Blockstream, a company that makes Bitcoin infrastructure, are partnering with Tesla on an open-source, solar-powered Bitcoin mine, the companies announced Friday. Tesla’s 3.8-megawatt Solar PV array and its 12 megawatt-hour Megapack will power the facility, and construction has started on the project.
“Weʼre excited to start the construction of this facility using Tesla Solar and Megapack,” Adam Back, CEO and co-founder of Blockstream, said in a press release. “This is a step to proving our thesis that Bitcoin mining can fund zero-emission power infrastructure and build economic growth for the future.”
The goal is for the facility to be completed “later this year.” When it’s running, there will be a publicly available dashboard showing “real-time metrics of the projectʼs performance, including power output and Bitcoin mined.” The plan is for the dashboard to be available “24/7 from any browser, providing the industry with a real-world, real-time case study of a zero-emission energy Bitcoin mine.”
“People like to debate about the different factors to do with Bitcoin mining,” Back said in an interview with CNBC. “We figured, let’s just prove it. Have an open dashboard so people can play along, maybe it can inform other players to participate.”
Blockstream and Block (formerly Square) first announced in June that they planned to build the facility.
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