Mining company Hut 8 has announced the purchase of specialized video processors for mining cryptocurrencies from Nvidia for $30 million. With their help, the company intends to expand its activities in the digital asset space beyond bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency Mining Processors (CMP) are a new type of Nvidia hardware aimed at professional miners. Thus, the manufacturer expects to reduce the cost of its offer for customers who do not need to solve graphics-related tasks, and save video cards for gamers who are faced with a shortage in the market due to the rise in cryptocurrency prices. Earlier, Nvidia announced that it plans to implement CMP for $50 million in the first quarter. Hut 8 has already reserved 60% of this amount.
Hut 8 CEO Jamie Leverton said they want to "discover new opportunities" and thus diversify their revenue sources. CMP will add 1,600 GH to the company's computing power, which will be used for mining on alternative blockchains such as Ethereum. Full delivery and installation of the equipment is expected this summer.
The mining firm Luxor Technology noted: "Investors in the public markets have generously rewarded the companies' ability to mine alternative cryptocurrencies, which is reflected in Hive's shares when compared to its Canadian competitors, which up to this time were focused on bitcoin."
Hut 8 shares are up 130% since the beginning of the year. The price of bitcoin has risen by 77% in the same time.