Blackstone Data Services is developing a new cryptomine data center in the Bluestone Business and Technology Park shell building in Tazewell County, Virginia.
The new facility has a projected private capital investment of $18 million and is anticipated to provide five new jobs in the vicinity. The business will be the first to locate in the shell building at the park and two large outside data center servers have already been installed for the company.
Tazewell County is located in the southwest of the state, on the southern border of West Virginia.
“We are pleased to welcome Blackstone Data Services to the Bluestone Technology Park,” Eastern District Board of Supervisors Member Charlie Stacy said. “They will bring much-needed high tech, diversified job opportunities to Tazewell County and significant capital investment.”
Blackstone is a data center hosting services and cryptocurrency mining business. The new company will provide data center hosting; server and node maintenance; cryptocurrency mining container asset manufacturing to benefit a three-state area.
According to Blackstone CEO Seth White, the company intends to partner with local businesses in the coal and natural gas industries to take advantage of energy generation capabilities, for example, flare gas from coal mines.
“Our mission is to provide expert turn-key data hosting and technology services, enabling our clients to invest in new technologies without the hassle of self-hosting,” Seth White, Blackstone CEO, said. “Our vision is to offer a portfolio of data hosting and technology services that allows investors to easily gain access to advanced cryptocurrency technologies and to deploy these as investment instruments.”
The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) has approved ~$2.7million loan to the Tazewell County IDA to be used to finance the site grading, development, building construction, utilities installation, extensions, and other costs associated with developing the 40,000 square foot (3,700 sqm) shell building in the technology park. Further details about the development have yet to be released, but reports suggest the company is aiming for 10-12MW.
Completed in 2011, Bluestone Technology and Business Park is on 680 acres a few miles west of Bluefield.
Earlier this month, a US Federal report found that cryptocurrency mines use as much energy as conventional data centers and has called for more research into the energy impact and whether the underlying distributed ledger technology, blockchain, could be harnessed for positive environmental work. The US currently hosts around one-third of the world’s crypto operations.
