$90 Million Budget: Japan's GMO Reveals More Cryptocurrency Mining Details

Japanese digital services firm GMO has divulged additional plans for its forthcoming cryptocurrency mine and the $90 million budget backing it.

According to TechWave, on Wednesday the company held a presentation on the plan following its announcement last week. GMO, which was founded in the 1990s and already operates its own cryptocurrency exchange, said it would begin mining – an energy intensive process by which new transactions are added to a blockchain –in the first half of 2018.

In the presentation, GMO representatives said that it would begin testing a new 7nm semiconductor chip by the spring. To date, according to the demo, GMO has already spent $3 million out of an expected 10 billion yen (worth approximately $90 million). That initial funding has been spent to kickstart the chip development as well as work on the facility itself, according to the report.

GMO representatives announced the datacenter, which will be built in northern Europe, and its purpose last week, marking the first time a major internet company jumped into the cryptocurrency mining market.

According to GMO President Masatoshi Kumagai: "Besides mining at our company, we also plan to sell the mining board with the 'cloud mining center' [so] that anyone can participate in mining."

GMO is not the only company to get involved in cryptocurrency mining. Japanese e-commerce giant DMM announced they would also be getting involved with the business. They plan to begin testing in October, and may enter full production by the end of 2017.