The9 signs green Bitcoin mining deal with Russian firm BitRiver

BitRiver utilizes only surplus hydroelectric power to operate its data centers in Russia and CIS countries.

The9, a Chinese internet company listed on the Nasdaq, is moving forward with its cryptocurrency mining plans by signing a contract with a major Russian data center operator.

The company announced Monday that it has signed a crypto mining hosting agreement with Russian crypto mining services provider BitRiver through its fully-owned subsidiary NBTC.

As part of the agreement, BitRiver will reserve 15 megawatts (MW) of its electric capacity for The9’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining machine deployment for an initial term of two years. After the contract expires, both parties have the right to automatically extend their cooperation for one more year, the announcement notes.

As part of the agreement, The9 will place a batch of Bitcoin miners at BitRiver’s data center located in Russia’s Republic of Buryatia, a spokesperson for BitRiver told Cointelegraph. The9 is now expected to determine the exact number and type of mining devices that they plan to send to BitRiver’s data center. The facility has an initial total power capacity of 100 MW, and is capable of hosting more than 33,000 mining devices.

BitRiver is known as the largest crypto mining colocation services supplier in Russia, providing hosting services for large-scale crypto mining operations. The firm provides renewable energy sources for crypto mining, exclusively using surplus hydroelectric power to operate its data centers in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, which are confirmed by certificates from the International Renewable Energy Certificate Standard Foundation.

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The news comes as The9 continues to move into the crypto mining business after announcing plans to enter the industry earlier this year. The company said in January that it signed partnerships with several investors including crypto mining giant Canaan.

In June, The9 reached a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian crypto mining firm Montcrypto to build a 20 MW supply of electricity in Calgary. The company said that Montcrypto provides a “greener and more environmentally friendly power supply” to The9’s mining business with its carbon-neutral infrastructure.