Northern Data, Europe’s largest Bitcoin mining company, has made a groundbreaking move in the world of cryptocurrency with a massive injection of 575 million euros in debt financing from Tether. This strategic investment will fuel Northern Data’s mission to expand its artificial intelligence cloud business by acquiring advanced hardware and bolstering its operations.
This impressive deal is set to make a significant impact on Northern Data Group, a prominent player in the blockchain and data center industry. The 575 million euro debt financing facility, with a term lasting until January 1, 2030, is a remarkable development that promises to reshape the landscape of cryptocurrency mining and AI cloud services.
Northern Data Group operates across three key business lines: Taiga Cloud, Ardent Data Centers, and Peak Mining. With this substantial infusion of capital, the company is primed to enhance its capabilities in each of these domains.
One of the primary focuses of this investment is to empower Northern Data Group’s Taiga Cloud business. As a Generative Artificial Intelligence Cloud Service Provider, the company seeks to expand its offerings further, solidifying its position as a leading player in the European market. The acquisition of sophisticated hardware is expected to play a pivotal role in achieving this goal.
Furthermore, the debt financing will be utilized to bolster the Group’s portfolio of data centers through Ardent Data Centers. This strategic move will enhance the data center infrastructure business, ensuring that Northern Data Group continues to meet the growing demands of its clients.
Miners’ Resilience in Bitcoin’s Tough Terrain
Bitcoin’s relentless march towards increased difficulty continues, with a 2.35% boost in difficulty observed on October 29, 2023, at block height 814,464. This upward trajectory has now propelled the network’s difficulty to a record 62.46 trillion, surpassing the previous high of 61.03 trillion.
Mining bitcoin block rewards has never been more challenging. Despite this, bitcoin miners exhibit remarkable resilience, maintaining a combined hashrate just above 450 exahash per second (EH/s). Block times still hover under the ten-minute average, with speeds ranging from nine minutes and 17 seconds to slightly over nine minutes per block.
The Bitcoin blockchain is supported by an extensive network of miners. A total of 42 mining pools contribute a minimum of 3 gigahash per second (GH/s) to the network, while approximately 17 pools boast more than 1 EH/s of dedicated hashpower.
In the competition for dominance among mining pools, Foundry has recently overtaken Antpool, commanding 27.02% of the total hashrate, with Antpool closely following at 26.58%. Together, these two giants control a staggering 53.6% of the network’s entire hashrate.
Foundry and Antpool have been locked in a tight race for hashrate supremacy over the past week, with Foundry slightly ahead on October 30, recording 120 EH/s compared to Antpool’s 118 EH/s. The dynamic landscape of Bitcoin mining continues to evolve as miners adapt to increasing challenges.