Tesla to partner with Block to mine Bitcoin at Texas site

[NEW YORK] Jack Dorsey's Block Inc and crypto firm Blockstream Corp are working together to build a Bitcoin mining farm with Tesla's solar-powered battery in Texas.

The mining farm will tap into Tesla's energy storage technology with rechargeable large-scale batteries at the site, Adam Back, chief executive of Blockstream, said at the Bitcoin Conference 2022 in Miami. Back did not specify the location.

The venture is the latest manifestation of the aligning interests of Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and Twitter co-founder Dorsey, including over the energy usage of Bitcoin.

Earlier this week, Dorsey said he was happy that Musk joined the board of directors of Twitter after Musk revealed his sizeable stake in the social media giant.

Musk expressed his interest in Bitcoin and Dogecoin early last year and allowed Tesla customers to buy the electric cars with Bitcoin, helping to send the crypto market to record highs.

However, the carmaker later suspended the Bitcoin payment opening citing environmental concerns over Bitcoin mining. Shares of Tesla fell 2.1 per cent, while Block dropped 1.4 per cent. Blockstream is a private company.

The latest move comes after Block, which is formerly known as digital payment company Square, secured a purchase from Intel Corp's Bitcoin mining chip. Buyers of the chip can potentially either make their own mining rigs or receive an assembled machine from the chipmaker.

Dorsey revealed the plan to decentralise Bitcoin mining and make the token's network more secure with Block earlier this year.

In the meanwhile, Dorsey has fully embraced the largest cryptocurrency by including Bitcoin micropayment Lightening Network in Twitter's tipping function and launching the NFT profile function. He has funded Bitcoin developers and planned to decentralize Bitcoin mining.

Tesla's first-quarter filing disclosed the company held US$2.48 billion in Bitcoin as of Mar 31.

Bitcoin revenue contributed to over half of the total net revenue of Block's Cash App, a separate filing showed.

The central and western parts of Texas are among the regions with rich wind and solar power resources. Bitcoin miners have flocked to the region, set up mines or expand transmission capacity in the past year.

A Tesla subsidiary registered as Gambit Energy Storage is building a more than 100 megawatt energy storage project in Angleton, Texas, a town roughly 40 miles south of Houston. BLOOMBERG