But its monthly BTC mining incentives have consistently increased. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the company posted “extraordinary loss” in its hardware manufacturing business.
Consequently, GMO said it would “not develop, produce and sell” miners in the future.
The company joined the mining hardware industry only in 2017, making it incredibly short-lived. GMO will, however, carry on with its internal mining operations while it shuts down hardware manufacturing operations. The left over activities will be overhauled and its mining hub will be relocated to a less expensive electricity zone.
While total mining equipment revenues have tanked, the Bitcoin mining incentives of the company has increased over time steadily. With only 21 BTC received in December 2017, it grew by June 2018 to 528 BTC, and in December 2018 to even more than 960 BTC.
The company issued the following statement: “the market’s total hash rate decreased, so our mining share rose and our mining reward expanded.”
It also gives full mining incentive information and hash rate data on other mined cryptocurrency, including bitcoin cash (BCH). The altcoin has provided the company with varying rewards: from 213 BCH in December 2017 to 62 BCH in June 2018, increasing to 875 BCH in October before declining to 400 BCH in November 2018.
GMO has asserted that its cryptomining activities will be no longer reported monthly. Instead, it will publish the results as part of its quarterly profit announcements.
At the end of 2018, the company took a creative turn, offering to pay its staff in Bitcoin. Paying in Bitcoin meant a 10% plus incentive on the regular salary of the employee when the employee chose Bitcoin.