Bitcoin Mining in Space: Starcloud's $2 Billion Gamble
Starcloud, a data center company in space, has received nearly half a billion dollars in funding and a valuation of over $2 billion for its ambitious project. The company aims to mine Bitcoin in space, but experts say this is a bad idea due to the high costs involved. One of the main challenges is obtaining cheap energy, which is essential for BTC mining.
The cost of running ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) in space is higher than on Earth because it includes launch costs, heat radiation, and maintenance expenses. Starcloud's business model has been questioned by experts, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and YouTuber Real Engineering.
According to calculations, it would take tens of thousands of launches for Starcloud to achieve its goal of creating gigawatts worth of processing power in space. The company has already sent one Nvidia H100 GPU into space but can't run it at full power due to overheating issues.