Major stablecoin issuer Tether is looking to inject $500 million into bitcoin mining operations as part of the company’s plans to become one of the largest miners in the world.

With the firm currently building bitcoin mining facilities in South America and Central America, the USDT issuer also has ambitious plans to contribute one percent of the total computing power of the BTC network.

Tether’s Diversification Into Bitcoin Mining

Tether, which maintains market dominance in the stablecoin industry, is looking to make its mark in the bitcoin mining sector. The company recently reported a cash surplus of over $3 billion on its attestation report.

Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview, incoming Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed that the firm will allocate $500 million to bitcoin mining activities over the next six months.

The fund will be channeled towards constructing Tether’s bitcoin mining facilities and investing in existing BTC mining businesses, which includes a $609 million debt financing facility recently given to European bitcoin miner Northern Data Group.

Tether’s foray into BTC mining signals the company’s attempt at diversification and could provide an alternative avenue for profit-making for the firm. The stablecoin issuer is behind the largest stablecoin, USDT, whose market cap increased by $22 billion over the past year and recorded a new peak of more than $87 billion in November 2023.

Eyeing One Percent Market Share

As part of its plans to become a major player in the bitcoin mining industry, Ardoino said Tether is looking to have one percent of total bitcoin mining computation power by establishing BTC mining facilities in Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador, each having a capacity of 40-70 megawatts.

Bitcoin mining giant Marathon Digital, which recently opened a mining project in Paraguay powered by renewable hydro energy, contributes about four percent of the total computing power of the BTC mining network.

According to Ardoino,

“We are committed to being part of the Bitcoin mining ecosystem. When it comes to the expansions, building new substations and new sites, we are taking them extremely seriously.”

Furthermore, Tether is working towards increasing its direct mining operations by the end of the year to 120 megawatts, with the company hoping to attain 450 megawatts by the end of 2025. The stablecoin issuer is also considering a site with a 300-megawatt capacity.

Despite the firm’s seemingly ambitious efforts, Ardoino said that Tether is not in a hurry to be the world’s biggest miner, stating, “Mining for us is something that we have to learn and grow over time.”