It’s A Small Crypto World After All
If you have been following the financial news, you will know that FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange who recently filed for bankruptcy. FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, allegedly misdirected FTX billions to his cryptocurrency trading hedge fund – Alameda Research – who also filed for bankruptcy.
Here’s what you probably don’t know.
Alameda Research invested $1.15 billion in Genesis Digital Assets (GDA), a bitcoin mining company – becoming its single largest investor.
GDA mined bitcoins in Kazakhstan until Kazakhstan cracked down on GDA and others due to the massive amount of electrical power that bitcoin mining consumes. GDA operations require over 700 megawatts of power – enough power to supply 100,000 houses and equal to the power generated by 350 wind turbines. Apparently, Kazakhstan was afraid of the looming electrical power shortage and being on the Chinese border, who can blame them?
GDA decided to move their mining operations during 2022 to several locations in Texas and to Fountain Inn, SC. GDA promised to create a total of 120 new permanent jobs and 480 construction jobs by relocating. Now that kind of new job promise sounds like it came straight out of a state chamber of commerce press release.
Which brings me to a few random questions:
Did the State of South Carolina or any local entity give tax incentives to GDA when they relocated to Fountain Inn?
How many permanent jobs did GDA create in Fountain Inn?
What is the value today of Alameda’s $1.15 billion investment in GDA?
Will Alameda’s bankruptcy impact GDA’s operations in Fountain Inn?
How much electricity does GDA consume in Fountain Inn?