Luxor aims to ease crypto miner logistics as halving looms
The bitcoin mining services firm’s new hardware procurement and shipping arm follows a similar launch by Foundry in July 2022
Artie Medvedev/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Bitcoin mining services firm Luxor Technology has introduced a business for crypto miners in need of better hardware transportation and management ahead of the bitcoin halving.
The company’s new division, called Luxor Logistics, looks to answer demand from miners for “a crypto-native, experienced international logistics provider,” according to Lauren Lin, the company’s director of business development.
It is set to offer international and US shipping via air and sea freight and trucking, as well as customs clearance, insurance advisory and warehousing solutions.
The Monday launch comes just months before per-block rewards for bitcoin mining are set to be cut in half — from 6.25 bitcoin (BTC) to 3.125 BTC per block. Such an event occurs roughly every four years, and the upcoming halving is set for April 2024.
It is expected to put financial pressure on certain companies in the sector, industry watchers and executives have said.
Read more: At anniversary of 2016 BTC halving, a look to the next one
“With the bitcoin halving coming soon, every hour counts,” Lin told Blockworks in an email. “So miners are increasingly looking for efficient logistics solutions to improve their lead times so that they can plug in hardware as quickly as possible.”
Miners have historically used general freight forwarders or specialized crypto logistics companies with little or no crypto mining expertise, Lin added.
“We’re miners ourselves and have spent extensive time with other miners on deployments, so we know exactly how to test equipment, package and arrange shipments for maximum efficiency,” she said. “The little improvement accrues into big gains for efficiency and deployment time.”
Luxor competitor Foundry launched a logistics arm in July 2022 that sought to offer an “all-in-one solution for mining hardware deliveries,” it said in a news release at the time.
Lin noted that users of the Luxor logistics services are set to include users of the company’s trading desk for application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). It has so far provided logistics services to roughly 700 companies through that arm — transporting 112,000 bitcoin mining ASICs to 30 countries.
Users are also set to include “miners operating or expanding into different countries and regions, and operators who needed advisory and assistance for easing logistical hassles,” Lin said.
The executive did not immediately disclose specific companies set to use the services.
International expansion has been a tactic for crypto mining giant Marathon Digital, for example, as the company has prioritized reducing its costs by finding new sites and exploring less expensive methods of mining.
Another crypto mining giant, Riot Platforms, sought to de-risk logistics via a deal with MicroBT designed to on-shore its supply chain.
Spokespeople for Marathon and Riot Platforms did not return requests for comment about Luxor’s new service.
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