Tether has invested $100 million in Jihan Wu’s bitcoin mining company, Bitdeer, in the form of equity capital. The deal includes a warrant for an additional 5,000,000 shares valued at $50 million.
The issuer of the USDT stablecoin has the option to increase its stake in Bitdeer over the next 12 months.
The mining company will use the funding to expand its data center, develop ASIC devices for bitcoin mining, and for general corporate purposes as working capital.
“We consider Bitdeer one of the strongest vertically integrated operators in the mining industry, distinguished by advanced technology and reliable organization, engaged in research and development,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
He noted that the company anticipates close collaboration with Bitdeer “in several key infrastructure areas.”
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. acted as the agent for the private placement of shares. The securities are not registered in the United States under applicable law and cannot be offered to American investors. Bitdeer went public on Nasdaq in April 2023 through a merger with the SPAC Blue Safari Group Acquisition Corp.
In November 2023, Tether announced a $500 million investment in bitcoin mining, including through purchasing stakes in other companies.
Previously, the firm participated in the initial funding round of the Volcano Energy project for mining digital gold in El Salvador using geothermal energy from a volcano, amounting to $1 billion. Tether also spent $420 million on acquiring 10,000 H100 chips from Nvidia for Northern Data. The German bitcoin mining company utilized the devices in the AI sector.
In the first quarter of 2024, the issuer of the largest stablecoin by market capitalization reported a net profit of $4.52 billion.
