Chinese Lottery Firm Rebrands, Purchases Bitcoin Mining Rig Manufacturer for $100 Million

Following the acquisition of the Chinese mining pool Btc.com, the China-based lottery company 500.com revealed the purchase of a bitcoin mining rig manufacturer Bee Computing. The Shenzhen firm purchased the semiconductor and mining device manufacturer for roughly $100 million in a share exchange agreement.

500.com Changes Name to Bit Mining Limited and Acquires Bee Computing for $100 Million

On April 5, 2021, the company 500.com Limited (NYSE: WBAI) registered a statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Form 6-K filing. The Shenzhen-based firm detailed that it entered into a share exchange agreement with the company Bee Computing. The mining rig manufacturer Bee Computing was established in 2018 and the filing notes that it specializes in 7nm-powered mining machines. Additionally, after acquiring the well-established mining pool Btc.com, 500.com changed its name to “Bit Mining Limited.”

Bee Computing has two mining rigs and both leverage 7nm semiconductors. The Pumbaa mining machine gets around 52 terahash per second (TH/s) and the B2T series gets around 21 TH/s. The most powerful miner has an efficiency rating of around 54 joules per terahash (J/TH) and the B2T has around 55 J/TH. The share exchange agreement is noteworthy and totals around $100 million for the acquisition.

The company’s SEC filing explains:

Pursuant to the share exchange agreement, the company shall, subject to customary conditions, [and will] issue at the first closing an aggregate of 16,038,930, or US$35 million worth, of its Class A ordinary shares to the selling shareholders. The first closing is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2021. Subject to satisfaction of the following milestones, the company shall issue at the subsequent closing an aggregate of 29,786,600, or US$65 million worth, of its Class A ordinary shares to selling shareholders and research and development team members.

Bee Computing to Continue Mass ASIC Mining Rig Production

Bee Computing is expected to continue the mass production of bitcoin miners incorporated with 7-nanometer application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC). The manufacturer must continue the development of machines with 7nm technology and deploy ETH-based ASIC mining machines as well. Bit Mining also wants Bee Computing to develop litecoin (LTC) mining machines.

According to the filing, Bee Computing has invested over $35 million into R&D projects and leveraged Mediatek Inc., the largest IC design company in Asia to help with the 7nm chips. Yufei Jiang, CEO of Bee Computing says the chips stem from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

What do you think about 500.com’s purchase of Bee Computing and its entry into the bitcoin mining space? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.