Chinese Telecom Giant Coolpad to Drop $13.5M on Bitcoin Mining Rigs

Chinese telecom provider Coolpad Group is making a major bet on Bitcoin mining, with an investment of about $13.5 million to purchase mining rigs for deployment in North America.

According to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing, Coolpad plans to acquire 2,700 Bitcoin mining servers from Hong Kong-based JingYun Intelligent Technology, boosting its current mining computing power from 873,000 TH/s to approximately 1,504,800 TH/s.

The Shenzhen-based company, which primarily produces mobile phones and accessories, said it has been actively pursuing opportunities in the "Web 3.0 digital currency business" since the second half of 2023.

In May, Coolpad announced a $28 million investment plan to purchase shares in Nasdaq-listed crypto asset companies like CleanSpark, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, and Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF.

The move into Bitcoin mining marks a significant shift for Coolpad, which has traditionally focused on the highly competitive smartphone market. By diversifying into the crypto space, the company may be seeking to tap into a new revenue stream and hedge against potential downturns in its core business.

Mainstream firms invest in crypto industry

Coolpad's investment comes amid a broader trend of traditional companies exploring opportunities in the crypto industry.

As Bitcoin and other digital assets gain mainstream acceptance, more firms are looking to get in on the action, either through direct investments or by offering crypto-related products and services to their customers.

They include companies that have added Bitcoin to their corporate treasuries, as well as firms that are investing in Bitcoin mining stocks—such as asset manager BlackRock, which last year became a major shareholder in multiple Bitcoin mining companies. Jack Dorsey's firm Block, meanwhile, has invested in building crypto products for consumers and enterprise, launching its own Bitcoin wallet and developing a Bitcoin mining ASIC chip.