Estonian technology conglomerate Burfa is turning to Bitmain to supply key cryptocurrency mining infrastructure to its Narva-based data center, offering a glimpse into the arms race underway for high-performance computing resources.
The $26-million agreement will allow Burfa to double its data center capacity and secure a steady supply of processing equipment over the coming months. Burfa will start receiving the new equipment as early as summer, the company announced Wednesday.
“There are clear limits to hardware production and this contract places us among a dozen or so major clients in the world who could secure such a large volume of additional resources,” said Ivan Turygin, chairman of the board at Burfa. “All others will have to wait until the supply chains are restored back to normal or pay a lot more for the equipment on the secondary market.”
Burfa was founded in 2013 as a developer of cryptocurrency mining equipment. The company pivoted to high-performance data centers in 2017 before migrating its operations to the Enefit Technology Park in Narva.
Bitmain is one of the world’s largest makers of crypto mining equipment. The company filed for a public listing in September 2018 but didn’t follow through with its plans. At the time, a publicly listed Bitmain was earmarked to be worth up to $50 billion.