Marathon buys additional 10,000 S-19 Antminers to become top US crypto mining firm
Bitcoin miner Marathon purchased 10,000 next-gen S-19 Pro Miners - commonly known as the Antminer S9s, in partnership with Bitmain for mining capacity boost on the US market. The agreement will see an addition of 23,560 miners and make Marathon become the top US bitcoin mining group. Marathon focuses on optimizing the efficiency of operations, lowering the cost of electricity for mining bitcoin. Despite the challenge from Bitcoin’s halving earlier this year, the company believes that it is in a position of advantage through its unique relationship with Bitmain.
Why it matters: Bitcoin mining is a massive industry that may grow larger as Bitcoin becomes a more popular way to store and transfer value. In addition to large mining groups like Marathon, nations like Iran have entered the Bitcoin mining sector. A deep mining pool for the Bitcoin blockchain should help it to operate reliably, even if there are disruptions in nations like the USA and China, both of which are looking for new ways to regulate cryptocurrency. While there have not been any concrete actions against crypto miners so far, governments have few options in terms of enforcement, outside of banning the systems in their jurisdiction.
