At a time when a growing number of telcos are exploring blockchain but few are looking at cryptocurrency, JTS has announced plans to install 500 bitcoin mining machines at its Jastel Data Center over the course of Q3 this year.
In 2022 JTS will scale its mining operation 10-fold, installing a further 5,000 machines in partnership with the Jastrel Network at industrial locations around Thailand.
According to reports, the phase after this will see JTS bring 50,000 machines online, scaling its operation 100-fold before the next bitcoin halving. Halving occurs roughly every four years, or once every 210,000 blocks, and is next scheduled for 2024.
JTS said this would bring "about 5 exahashes of power onto the network, which, even by the next halving’s standards, would be an impressive percentage of global mining power, and would make JTS the largest bitcoin mining operation in Southeast Asia".
At this scale, JTS could mine about 16,000 bitcoin per year.
President of JTS, Dusit Srisangaoran said: “Now is a good time for JTS to invest in bitcoin mining, given its widespread adoption and the incident in China that caused the hashrate to drop to an eight-month low.”
Comprising 10 countries, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
