Digital Shovel sets the new trends in the crypto mining industry!

Our congratulations on the launching of your  latest revolutionary product, “the NanoPOD”! Have you already had some private investors or companies which could test this product first? In what countries except Canada will your products be available? Are you planning to expand the boundaries of your services?

S: For testing, we do dry runs on all of our products first before delivering to clients. Given the price point, this is more of an entry level product and it is usually individuals or small businesses purchasing rather than large investors or major companies.

Given that the unit takes up just two skid spaces and fits in a normal truck, and also can ship as a flat pack (in pieces) which lowers shipping costs for our overseas customers, and removes the need for a forklift to offload in remote locations.

According to your forecasts, how profitable would it be for companies to keep mining farms equipped with your new products in comparison with the old devices? 

S: This is really based on power cost, $/T or cost per Terrahash for the equipment, and J/H (Joules per Hash) which is the amount of energy consumed for each Hash to be performed. You really need to have at least two of these factors in your favor to remain competitive in today’s market.

With that said, it is important to factor in your datacenter and infrastructure cost, as well as how long it takes to deploy into your $/T price (Which is what Digital Shovel provides) to really paint a clear picture of your ROI. This is where Digital Shovel truly provides value for our customers by providing a rapidly deployable, cost effective solution. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen clients try and build it themselves, only to find 6 months later it was better to purchase a pre-made unit, all the while their miners are sitting on a pallet, not hashing at all.

How do you see the future of the mining industry after launching such containers as the M300 Minipods? Because the general trend of the mining market was that it is less profitable for small consumers to be engaged in this activity! In your opinion, could your product change this situation? 

S: It is important to note that our M300 (and newly released S250 line) are module blocks that work for customers from 300KW all the way up to 100 MW+. We have single deployments that have over 100 units at one site, joined together in strings of 6 or 8 units to create one large assembly. So with that said, our core business is actually larger commercial and industrial customers, the NanoPOD was designed to bring some of the same competitive advantages to more entry level customers looking to move from a few miners in their garage or basement, to something a little more industrial.

What warranty period of operation do your products have? 

S: 3 years on the pods, except for fans, which carry a 1 year warranty. All claims are handled out of our Toronto facility, and we generally keep most parts in stock, even throughout the Covid supply chain disruptions.

Do you provide a management service for your products? Is it included in the cost of the contract?

S: At this time, no, we are strictly an equipment provider, and we provide remote support for our customers on the operation of our devices. We also provide some high level general site planning, but they still need a GC, EPC, and Electrical Contractor that is familiar with the area they operate in.

For what businesses would you suggest buying  M300 Minipod and for what businesses - i300 Minipod? And what would you suggest for startup businesses - indoor or outdoor solution?

S: It really depends on the client’s site. If you have an existing building, and REALLY want to use it, or require brick and mortar for your financing - the i300 line is the way to go. However, you generally are going to spend more on ventilation and building modifications by the time you are done, compared with going with our outdoor solutions. For smaller startups, the NanoPOD is the best fit for those looking to be sub $50k to get started.

Is it appropriate for one company to buy both M300 and i300 Minipods and NanoPOD? Would it have some advantages by mining Bitcoins on these three completely different containers?

S: That is really a site specific, and project size question. Each of the different solutions is designed to solve a different problem. Most customers considering the M300 or i300 line are not in the same category as those considering the NanoPOD.

Nowadays in some countries more interest began to be shown in different cryptocurrencies at the state level! How do you think your projects are appropriate to the needs of the state sector of the economy? But there are still some concerns on the energy consumption for mining! So what features do your products have to correspond to the interests of the state economy? 

S: It's funny, people often talk about the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining and the effects it has on the grid. When in reality, the majority of miners participate in curtailment. This means that they shut off their miners when prices go high, thereby lowering the tax on the electrical grid, and using up underutilized capacity. Our smart system in ALL of our Pods, allows the customer to turn their miners off remotely, or on a schedule, or even based on the price of electricity, which is certainly a benefit at a state level..

Do you keep some statistics on the amount of Bitcoins mined by all your sold M300 and i300 Minipods? It is interesting to know how your company enhances this sphere of earnings! What volume of investments is required for launching business in this sphere? 

S: While we don’t keep exact metrics, we do have enough containers in the field to house around 80,000 new generation miners, which is around 8.8 Exahash, assuming an average of 110TH/miner.  

As for dollar amounts, as mentioned above with our NanoPOD, you can get into the space for around $40-50k with new generation miners included.

How do you imagine the future of the mining business? Would it be the supremacy of large mining corporations or some small communities united for one purpose? 

S: Sadly, I do think it is going to become more and more commoditized, and pushed to a larger industrial level. However, there still will be certain arbitrage gaps in the 3 factors I mentioned earlier, allowing small players to still get a piece. No different than oil and gas drilling - while much of the industry is dominated by the big players, there are still smaller outfits making a profitable go at it.