Blockchain technology company Blockstream has announced details of its Bitcoin mining services. In a blog post on Aug. 8, the company revealed two massive data centers for enterprise class co-location services, along with Blockstream Pool, using the BetterHash protocol. Its aim is to maintain the decentralization of the Bitcoin network.
Your Bitcoin mining equipment, Blockstream’s data-centers
The data centers, located in Quebec and Georgia, account for a combined 300 megawatts of energy capacity. At full capacity, populated with the latest mining rigs, this could account for around 7.5% of the entire network hashrate.
The facilities provide a turnkey solution for co-location of clients’ mining equipment, covering delivery to the data-center, installation and maintenance. Mining rigs are managed remotely by the customer, giving real-time analytics and control over each device’s operation.
The service is currently geared towards enterprise and institutional customers, and Fidelity Center for Applied Technology was revealed as an early customer. Fidelity is reportedly filed for a New York Trust License last month.
First mining pool using BetterHash protocol
The other part of Blockstream’s mining service provision is the world’s first mining pool using the BetterHash protocol. BetterHash reportedly allows individual miners to control which transactions are included in their newly mined blocks.
This solves a key issue with many mining pools, in which the pool operators determine which transactions to include. As such, decentralization is increased, and potential attacks on the network become much more difficult.
Away from mining, Blockstream is busy developing its Liquid sidechain project, bringing speed and cost benefits to the Bitcoin network.
