FoundryX, Foundry’s new marketplace, aspires to be an eBay for Bitcoin mining machines. Foundry is a Digital Currency Group subsidiary that began in 2020 and has developed quickly
Foundry is Establishing a New Marketplace
Bitcoin mining has experienced a tremendous transition in the last year, with much of the sector relocating to North America due to a crackdown in China.
That’s one of the reasons Foundry, a rapidly expanding American mining firm, is establishing a new marketplace to connect buyers and sellers of used Bitcoin mining rigs.
The new site, dubbed FoundryX, aims to operate as a type of eBay for the mining industry, leveraging its contacts with hundreds of buyers and sellers and acting as a trustworthy middleman in an industry that was historically notorious for secrecy and dubious methods.
“People demand clarity,” said Foundry’s VP of Business Development Jeff Burkey, who told Decrypt that buying Bitcoin mining machines has often taken a leap of faith involving wire transfers to China.
Foundry says it has arranged over $125 million in equipment purchases in 2021 and has secured over 40,000 machines for delivery through 2022. It also manages a mining pool and runs its own machines.
A Tremendous Transition for Bitcoin Mining
People used home laptops or even cell phones to mine Bitcoin in the early days. However, by 2015, Bitcoin’s rising popularity necessitated the purchase of additional computer power in the form of specialized machines with bespoke processors.
Currently, the devices cost tens of thousands of dollars and are made by two Chinese companies, Bitmain and MicroBT. China’s crackdown on crypto has targeted domestic activity, but not the construction of expert machines, according to Foundry CEO Mike Colyer.
However, as a result of the crackdown, Chinese miners have sought to relocate their machines out of the country or sell them to purchasers in other nations, notably the United States, according to Colyer.
This has created a business opportunity for Foundry, as it assists both buyers and sellers with the complicated process of shipping mining rigs halfway around the world.
A Quick Development for Foundry
Despite the fact that Foundry is just two years old, it has developed quickly. The company began by focusing on its own Bitcoin mining operations, but quickly expanded to assist other North American businesses in obtaining and financing equipment, and in February, started a pool that has grown to become one of the largest in the world.
Foundry, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, is also fulfilling a strategic function for its parent firm by cross-selling financial and administrative services given by Genesis, another DCG company, to its mining clients.
