Louisville-based AboutBit LLC recently announced it is launching an “ultramodern” cryptocurrency mining facility in Sullivan County in southwest Indiana.
This development, AboutBit and local officials believe, could be the first step in making the area a cryptocurrency mining hub. Given the uneven market for cryptocurrency, that remains to be seen – but the idea is intriguing.
According to AboutBit, its facility will eventually support more than 50,000 machines, aimed at mining bitcoin and a variety of proof-of-work assets. The operation will be built on a 10-acre site adjacent to Merom Generating Station, a 50-year-old coal-fired power plant in Merom, along the Illinois border between Terre Haute and Vincennes. Phase I of the project is set to be completed in June, according to AboutBit.
AboutBit officials said they initially will employ 15 high-paid tech workers with the promise of hiring more once the operation is up to speed later this year. What’s more, AboutBit said other mining operations could be housed in its facility, creating a global crypto mining hub in the area.
“The low cost of power will be a very attractive incentive for miners looking for a base of operations,” says AboutBit CEO Stacy Griggs. “We’ll be able to provide the power wholesale to miners from both the U.S. and around the world, along with the physical space and infrastructure to accommodate their hardware demands.”
Through a five-year agreement, AboutBit will purchase 115 megawatts of electricity from WIN Energy – a cooperative member of Bloomington-based Hoosier Energy – to power the facility. Crypto mining operations are notoriously large energy consumers. To accommodate such a high load, the power supply to the facility is fully interruptible, allowing AboutBit to respond to power requirements during peak demand.
WIN Energy CEO Tom Nowaskie says the project will benefit the local economy and the co-op’s members and owners.
“We believe there is tremendous potential for rural areas and advanced technology infrastructure such as data storage, cryptocurrency and cybersecurity facilities,” states Nowaskie. “This is an example of that potential, and we look forward to exploring similar opportunities in the future. We also appreciate the continued positive collaboration and engagement with Sullivan County and community leaders.”
While the project has promise and is a great sign for Indiana’s outlying and rural areas hoping to capitalize on the tech boom, cryptocurrency is still a risky bet.
In the same week the AboutBit announcement was made, a Wall Street Journal article trumpeted “The biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. said it was bleeding users, reflecting continued destruction in the crypto market and investors’ unease about risky assets.”
Still, John McDonald, longtime local tech expert and managing entrepreneur of Indianapolis-based venture studio Next Studios, thinks AboutBit is a good catch for Sullivan County.
“A lot of people think the world of cryptocurrency is way out there,” acknowledges McDonald, chairman of the Indiana Chamber’s Indiana Technology and Innovation Committee. “If you’ve bought into crypto, data mining centers make perfect sense. Within the universe labeled cryptocurrency, they’re very valuable.”
Even if the cryptocurrency mining operation fails to be viable, McDonald thinks the facility has value long term.
I think this it is a valuable, forward-looking infrastructure. Even if it isn’t used for crypto mining, it still has value as a data center,” McDonald stresses. “A lot of people think cryptocurrency is kooky, but the fact is it drives data center usage. There’s no denying that.”
McDonald thinks the state should be pursuing data centers like this one for two reasons. “Data centers are the new factories of the data economy. If Indiana wasn’t in that game … we’re not going to get any of the factories. They’re also gateways for other operations, call centers and research and development centers.
“I think state officials should be pursuing data centers generally. With respect to crypto specifically, I’m not opposed to it, but I don’t know that the state needs to go toward a specific use case of a data center,” he adds.
McDonald sees Indiana as well positioned to get more of these types of facilities. That’s in part due to tax incentives the state passed for data centers in 2019, which eliminated sales taxes on IT equipment, software, networking equipment, generators and power consumption.
“Indiana can compete in places like Sullivan County because in addition to these tax incentives, land and electricity costs are less expensive in these outlying areas than urban areas,” McDonald concludes.
