Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) said in a news statement on Tuesday that it planned to move its mining machines away from a coal-powered location in Hardin, Mont.
In the last year or two, crypto miners have come under increased criticism for their carbon impact, and some have taken steps to switch to renewable energy. Marathon has promised that by the end of 2022, all of its operations will be carbon neutral.
According to a Marathon investor presentation in March, the Hardin bitcoin (BTC) mine is hosted by Beowulf. Beowulf also owns the adjoining coal power station that supplies electricity to the mine. The mine has enough room for 30,000 Bitmain Antminer S19 mining rigs, which could create 3.3 exahash/second of computational power when combined.
The change will take place in stages over the third quarter of this year to avoid any disruption, according to Marathon.
The crypto mining firm did not say where the machines will be relocated or what “more sustainable power sources” it will employ. The company’s current aim, according to CEO Fred Thiel, is to place mining rigs “behind the metre” at sustainable power stations, which means the facilities are near an energy producer and can draw power without passing via the grid.
Marathon’s stock was down nearly 8% on Tuesday morning, although bitcoin’s price had fallen little in the previous 24 hours.
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