Report: Bitcoin miner Bit Digital expands in Iceland, stock jumps

Bit Digital (NASDAQ: BTBT), a leading Bitcoin mining company, is working to expand its operations in Iceland as the situation in the US worsens. 

In a statement, Samir Tabar, the company’s CEO, said that the regulatory situation in the US forced the firm to look for alternatives. He said that the company has already acquired 2,500 Bitcoin mining machines and housed them in Iceland. It acquired the machines for $5 million. He said:

“What we’ve done in the past is the machines come to the United States, but now instead of doing that we have to look at different jurisdictions due to instability. We have to take that seriously.” 

Bit Digital made the contingency plans because of the proposed changes by the Joe Biden administration. The government, which is focused on fighting climate change, has proposed imposing taxes on Bitcoin mining companies. 

The administration has also said that mining companies raise the cost of electricity on shared grids and increase emissions. As such, the government has proposed hiking taxes on BTC mining companies to 30% of their electricity costs. 

The US is also taking a more hardline policy again crypto companies following the collapse of FTX. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned Coinbase against offering staking products. It fined Kraken over $40M for these staking products.

The SEC is also battling other companies in the crypto industry. For example, it is fighting Ripple Labs, which created XRP. As we wrote in this article, Ripple’s CEO warned that many companies in the industry will move away from the US because of confusing rules. 

Most of Bit Digital’s mining machines will be in Canada and Iceland, with a small number of them in the United States. 

Bit Digital’s BTBT stock price has done well this year. It has jumped to $2.50, which was about 376% above the lowest level in December last year