DMM and GMO Shut Down Mine, Halt Hardware Sales

Two of Japan’s biggest cryptocurrency mining proponents are set to pull the plug on their operations.

Per Japanese media outlet Toyokeizai, e-commerce platform DMM is closing down its flagship farm and showroom in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, less than a year since it unveiled the facility.

The farm was mining Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum, and was even opened to the public, with guided tours available. The company had hoped to use revenue from the facility to fund further blockchain-related business operations.

However, Toyokeizai reports that DMM stated that “deteriorating profitability was the main reason” for the company’s decision to close down its mine, and that company executives had already resolved to turn their backs on mining as early as September last year. DMM will now reportedly look to sell off its equipment “in the first half of 2019.”

Meanwhile, GMO Internet, which only recently announced bumper crypto-revenues of USD 23 million in its Q3 report, has decided to cease developing and selling mining hardware. The company states that it will continue its own mining projects, but will conduct a “full review of its business structure.”

GMO has been one of Japan’s most notable mining players, and is the operator of a mysterious cryptocurrency mining facility that it operates at a secret Northern European location.

The company also operates a Financial Services Agency-licensed cryptocurrency exchange, and late last year announced the launch of a stablecoin project – which has the support of a range of Japanese banking partners.

Per Nikkei, two factors – falling cryptocurrency prices and increased competition – have fatally undermined the profitability of many of DMM and GMO’s mining-related operations.

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Bitcoin’s hashrate
(It measures how much computing power is being used by miners to maintain the Bitcoin network)