According to Blockworks, Bitcoin mining companies are increasing their financial resources in anticipation of potential spot bitcoin ETF decisions early next year. Twitter co-founder and bitcoin enthusiast Jack Dorsey led a $6.2 million seed round in Mummolin, the firm behind the launch of a decentralized bitcoin mining pool called OCEAN. In addition, Canadian mining company Bitfarms closed a private $60 million share sale with US institutional investors. OCEAN is a non-custodial mining pool, allowing miners to lend computing power with ASIC interfaces and receive rewards directly from the bitcoin network without the company taking custody of the mined bitcoins.
Dorsey emphasized the importance of providing more independent, sovereign options for bitcoin mining during a live event promoting OCEAN. This investment marks Dorsey's second round of 2023, following his seed investment in bitcoin voucher provider Azteco in May. Bitfarms operates mining facilities in Quebec, Washington, Argentina, and Paraguay. The company recently announced the purchase of 35,888 T21 bitcoin miners, boasting the most attractive price point since 2020.
November saw significant funding activity for bitcoin miners. Abu Dhabi-based Phoenix Group raised $370 million through an initial public offering ahead of its listing on the emirate's ADX stock exchange. Northern Data Group secured a $623 million debt financing facility from Tether Group, partially to expand its bitcoin mining operations. In other news, Warner Music Group joined investors such as CMT Digital, Winklevoss Capital, and the NEAR Foundation to raise $3.5 million for MITH, a blockchain fan engagement platform. MITH enables creators to develop tiered membership platforms for fans, who can store collections and rewards on their profiles.
