The company behind the mining project is Miner One. This Monday, a balloon was sent up with mining equipment attached to it for the purpose of mining bitcoin in the stratosphere, a layer in the atmosphere, at the height of 35 000 meters. The aim was to show bitcoin’s increasing potential worldwide.
Miner One is currently in the middle their ICO (initial coin offering), and the project can be seen as a PR stunt. The purpose, however, was not to make a lot of money on mining, but rather to get attention. The mining gains landed on only one satoshi.
Both the company’s employees and those interested in joining the ICO really seem to believe in bitcoin. A survey conducted by the company showed that 76 percent of those in the community believe that the bitcoin price will rise to between $15,000 to $45,000 per bitcoin during the year. 1,500 people participated in the survey.
Since the community has such a strong belief in bitcoin, the company decided to dispatch the mining station for a two and a half hour mining session, as was reported by Bitcoin News.
The mining center will be built in Luleå
Luleå, a city in northern Sweden, is considered the most optimal place to have large databases at. Similar to Facebook, which has their largest database in Luleå, Miner one follows this trend. The attraction of this place is partly the cheap energy supply, but also the environmental friendly perspective due to the 100 percent renewable energy.
The cold climate has its advantages in the mining world. The generators are cooled down due to the arctic climate, which almost completely removes the extensive cooling costs.
“We are bullish on bitcoin because it remains the world’s most popular and proven application of blockchain technology”, said Miner One CEO Pranas Slusnys, according to Cryptoinvest.
