Brief: Japanese tech giant GMO will start mining bitcoin

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The news (extracted from Quartz):

• Japanese internet giant GMO just announced its cryptocurrency mining plan. The Tokyo-based company aims to spend more than 10 percent of its non-current assets, which amounts to US$320 million, to start mining bitcoin in the first half of 2018.
• GMO plans to develop its own mining chips, claiming they will operate at an unprecedented degree of efficiency. The proposed chips will use 7nm [nanometer] nodes, four times more energy efficient than the current industry standard of 16nm nodes.

Why it matters:

• A major new bitcoin miner could shake up the industry. Once GMO’s new 7nm nodes are in use, other miners will have to upgrade to stay in the game.
• GMO’s arrival will allay fears that bitcoin mining has grown too dependant on Chinese chip designers and operators. GMO’s Chinese competitor Bitmain operates mining pools that account for some 30 percent of all the processing power on the bitcoin network.
• China’s recent ban on initial coin offerings does not necessarily have a direct impact on activities like bitcoin mining, but broader regulatory scrutiny of the cryptocurrency market may be just round the corner – and could lead to further opportunities for mining operations outside of China.