A subsidiary of Vancouver-based cannabis production firm Calyx Bio-Ventures has opened a data centre to mine cryptocurrency.
Canada Blockchain Hosting (CBH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Calyx, has acquired its first cryptocurrency mining and blockchain data validation operation, in British Columbia, Canada.
The firm has purchased 50 mining units, each with seven GPUs, with rights to another 40 units. As well as these purchases, the transaction has given the company access to its second data centre location.
Calyx states that the next stage of its cryptocurrency strategy will be the installation of 1000 sq. feet of data centre space in its new office headquarters, which will accommodate around 100 mining units, each containing 13 GPUs. This is intended to expand to 7500 sq. feet after negotiations with the facility owners have been completed.
The acquisition of mining units and data centre facilities will, according to the firm, immediately generate revenue and improve its ability to expand its private blockchain ecosystem. The units in question will mine Bitcoin, Ethereum, Decred, Lbry, Zcash, Pascal and any others it considers to be ‘profitable in the near term.’
Roger H. Forde, Calyx’s president and CEO, commented: “This first phase provides us with a testing ground to streamline our blockchain technology currently being developed for the cannabis e-commerce space, and will generate revenue today that will cover our underlying costs on a month-to-month basis.
“The company has sufficient cash in hand to accelerate that plan to the next phase and growth beyond that will be based on opportunities that present themselves.”
The Canadian firm oversees two wholly-owned subsidiaries, CBH and Cannigistics Agri-Solutions Corp, a software development company that has created a platform designed for indoor agriculture. Its website states that medicinal marijuana is a primary market.
In a letter to shareholders, Forde wrote that the decision by eight U.S. states to legalise medicinal and recreational marijuana consumption puts the company in a strong position, thanks to the country’s ‘estimated ten million regular cannabis consumers.’
Calyx notes that many blockchain based cryptocurrencies have seen ‘significant appreciation’ in the last year. This is particularly true of Bitcoin, which has risen from being worth approximately $800 (approx. £600) this time last year, to more than $10,000 now.
Despite this, Goldman Sachs has said it will not trade in the currency, and JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO, Jamie Dimon, described it as a “fraud.”