Institutional capital in Australia is starting to flow into bitcoin, and some prominent investors are backing the data centres that operate the cryptocurrency rather than chasing the soaring price.
Iris Energy, which has raised $25 million from investors including Thorney, Wilson Asset Management, Regal and OC Funds, plans to triple the computing power in its mining operation in British Columbia, Canada, which is powered by hydroelectricity to meet a growing desire for “green” investments.
Oscar Oberg, lead portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management, which has made a small pre-IPO investment in Iris from its micro-cap fund, said: “These guys are building data centres using the cheapest source of energy they can find, which is renewable, and they will have a lower cost of production to conduct bitcoin mining versus their competitors.”
“They have a very good board and management team – being ex-Palisade and Macquarie they know what they are doing – and we see it as an infrastructure play.”
Read more in the Australian Financial Review.