Bitmain, one of the largest cryptocurrency miners and a leading manufacturer of equipment for bitcoin mining, has decided to cater the needs of the growing Russian market locally. The Chinese company has recently opened a tech support center in the city of Irkutsk, one of the largest in Siberia. The new facility will repair Bitmain’s ASIC-rigs and even replace faulty equipment.
Russian mining companies will surely welcome the announcement, as up until now they were forced to send defective ASICs back to China. That involved going through some nerve-wracking customs formalities and paying for expensive shipping to Asia.
In the absence of a licensed repair shop, many Russian miners had to either fix the rigs themselves or rely on local “handicraftsmen”. Sending the precious “iron” to China was both expensive and risky, as the hardware could be damaged in shipping. Going back and forth through Russian and Chinese customs further complicated the servicing of mining devices by their manufacturer.
From now on, qualified repairs will be performed in the new Bitmain service center in Irkutsk. Unrepairable devices will be replaced with new ones, provided they are covered by warranty, as Hi-news.ru reports. The postal address of the facility is: Index 664043, City of Irkutsk, 12 Rakitnaya Street, office 103.
Before sending the hardware, though, Russian miners have to contact tech support and fill out a form available on the website of the manufacturer. Devices can be shipped after Bitmain’s agents clarify all details, answer any outstanding questions, and approve the claim.
Customers should not forget to create a repair ticket. To do that, they need to set up an account, log in, and then go to Support – Create Repair Ticket. Bitmain recommends sending S9, T9, T9+ and R4 models fully assembled, if they are manufactured after October 2016. The company operates two other repair centers – in Hong Kong, for clients from all over the world, and in California, for US customers.
Mining Business Going Global
Bitmain is one of the most successful producers of mining equipment, largely thanks to its ASIC products, designed to provide the immense computing power needed to mine bitcoin. The Chinese company also controls some of the biggest mining facilities in the world. Recently published data suggests it has made between $3 and $4 billion last year from mining cryptocurrency and selling equipment to other miners, as news.Bitcoin.com reported.
China has been the home base for the largest mining companies for years. New regulatory risks, including restrictions on electricity consumption, have forced major players to look around for other, more friendly destinations to relocate at least part of their business.
It has been reported that Bitmain is setting up regional headquarters in Singapore. The company has also established a branch in Switzerland. According to some publications, the Beijing-based firm is building a new data facility in the State of Washington. BTC Top, the third-biggest mining pool, is said to open a mining farm in Canada, and the next company on the list, Viabtc, is already operating facilities elsewhere in North America and in Iceland.
www.news.bitcoin.com