• Taoping Inc. (TAOP) has signed a mining deal with Kazakh company Aral Petroleum Capital LLP.
• The MoU will see the Hong Kong blockchain firm build a cryptocurrency mining site with a total capacity of 100MW.
• To increase its mining capacity, TAOP has signed a purchasing partnership with Hoover Investment Group Limited, and an MoU with Dennver Group Holdings Limited.
• The blockchain company will be looking to reach a hash rate of 1000GH/s before the end of 2021.

Taoping Inc. (TAOP), a Hong Kong blockchain firm, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Taoping Digital Assets Asia Limited (TDAA), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aral Petroleum Capital LLP, a company based in Kazakhstan.

The MoU will see the blockchain company invest in and build crypto mining sites in Kazakhstan with a total capacity of 100MW. TDAA and APC will own 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively. In addition, the MoU gives TDAA, who are already involved in mining, priority to deploy its cryptocurrency mining machines.

Not long after the news broke, 1Dailystocktip wrote on Twitter;

“Taoping shares are trading higher after the company announced it signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture with plans to invest and build cryptocurrency mining sites with a total capacity of 100MW. $TAOP pro.benzinga.com” 

The first stage of construction will see the completion of mining sites totalling 30MW within three to six months. Both companies will be involved in the operation and maintenance of cryptocurrency mining machines in Kazakhstan.

At its current Ethereum mining capacity, TDAA has a total hash rate of 300GH/s, generating approximately 210 Ether per month. However, all that is going to change in the coming months.

Has Mining Stopped Being Bad for the Environment?

The environmental impact of Bitcoin mining has been one of the most discussed issues in the industry this year. Following Elon Musk’s opinion on the effects of Bitcoin mining, the price of Bitcoin fell from its record-high of $64k to under $30k.

The Green Bitcoin Mining Council was forthwith created by Michael Saylor and Bitcoin miners. The trend then moved to the banning of crypto mining operations by several countries, with China taking the spotlight. This begs the question, has mining stopped being bad for the environment?

Cryptocurrencies, specifically those built on proof-of-work consensus mechanisms, have generated a reputation over the years for requiring a lot of electricity for mining. However, while crypto mining is being criticized, a bigger issue lurks in the dark.

According to ARK Investment Management, Bitcoin mining does not utilize even 10% of the energy required by the traditional banking system. Furthermore, Ethereum mining utilizes less electricity than Bitcoin.

In response to the repeatedly raised issues, the mining of cryptocurrencies has now shifted towards mechanisms with renewable energy: green mining. A crypto user on Twitter, Mr Macoy, eloquently explained the mining situation stating:

“As crypto evolves, two things that could replace mining Proof of Work(POW) for [an] eco-friendly environment.

1. Proof of Stake(POS): mining reward in how much crypto coins you hold.

2. Proof of Space and Time(POST): use HDD/SSD to mine at home without a powerful GPU.”

On The Flipside

• China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies and mining operations has led to a reduction in the number of active miners in the region.
• North American mining companies have seen a surge in demand for hosting space for mining.
• As China warns of further crypto crackdown, the mining earnings of North American Bitcoin miners have reached record highs

TAOP, Ready for the Mines

Just days after TAOP signed the Kazakh oil company, the blockchain technology and smart cloud services provider has announced two additional Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) for the purchase of mining power.

The first MoU, signed with Denver Group Holdings Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, will see TAOP purchase Ethereum mining machines with a total hash rate of 500 GH/s. 

The second is a purchase agreement signed with Hoover Investment Group Limited, a blockchain investment and digital asset supply chain company based in Hong Kong, which will see FAOP acquire 1,220 NVIDIA CMP 170HX mining cards in September 2021 for approximately $4.0 million.

TAOP also announced that the mining devices would be for use in Hong Kong and its new mining sites in Kazakhstan. In reacting to the news, Webnow wrote:

“Taoping (NASDAQ:TAOP) trades 5.3% higher premarket after it signed a purchase agreement with Hoover Investment, a company focusing on blockchain investment”

By the end of 2021, the computing power of TAOP could total 1000GH/s, generating about 700 Ether per month.

Why You Should Care?

Signing an MoU with an oil company for mining cryptocurrencies shows just how important digital assets have become. Cryptocurrencies are no longer the future of the financial industry, because they are already becoming the industry. This is made evident by their growing rate of adoption and its use in different industries.