MASSENA — Coinmint, the parent company of North Country Colocation Services (NCCS), has entered into a strategic partnership with NYDIG for NCCS' bitcoin mining operation at the former Alcoa East plant.

Officials with both companies say they plan to significantly increase the  number of employees in the North Country over the next several years as part of the agreement.

The expansion project has been under discussion for years, and the strategic capital from NYDIG reflects their commitment to both NCCS and Northern New York for investment and job growth, officials said.

The local bitcoin mining operation currently employs about 85 full-time workers, split between the former Alcoa East facility and a smaller operation in Plattsburgh, NY.

Officers of NYDIG and NCCS announced the transaction during a special employee recognition and town hall event at the Massena facility on October 16.

NYDIG is a New York based, vertically integrated financial services and infrastructure firm dedicated solely to Bitcoin, officials said.

“This is a very exciting and transformative day for this company. For the past three years we've been working tirelessly towards a goal of ensuring the security of everyone's job here.  This transaction, and resulting expansion project gives us the necessary, long-term stability and security of this company,” NCCS CEO David Fogel said.

“We have been looking for an outside company, a capital partner, strategic partner, in order to execute on our expansion project. I'm thrilled to announce that we have found such a partner, and we just recently closed on a transaction with a company that many of you know well. They're one of our biggest customers. They're our best customer in terms of industry knowledge and intelligence, hard work. We’re thrilled to announce today that we're partnering for our future with NYDIG,” Fogel told employees.

Operations at NCCS will continue "as-is" after the strategic investment into Coinmint, with the focus on growth and expansion over the coming years, officials said.

According to Fogel, the partnership with NYDIG will strengthen Coinmint’s financial and competitive positioning, while also protecting workers in Massena and the North Country.

The investment from NYDIG will allow NCCS to further its expansion project, which NCCS has been investing material capital in for over three years, Fogel said.

The partnership on the project has been on hold as Massena Town Board members weighed final regulations for data mining and crypto operations in the town for the last several months.

Town officials adopted the final regulations during their board meeting last month.

“This investment reinforces our commitment to the Northern NY community. By expanding the NCCS operation, we aim to create more jobs and focus on long-term stability and growth for employees and their families,” Fogel told North Country This Week.

Fogel commented that NCCS, one of St. Lawrence County’s largest taxpayers, will continue to invest and act as an active benefactor of Massena and the North Country community institutions and events. To date, NCCS has assisted the Massena Fire Department, Massena First Responders, Massena Central School District, Rockin’ The River festivals and numerous other charitable events and organizations.

NYDIG CEO Tejas Shah and other senior executives from NYDIG were also on hand for the event.

"The operational excellence of all the staff in this space gives us significant confidence in their long-term growth. From our perspective, over the past several years we have viewed this site, this company, as a premier Bitcoin mining facility in the country," Shah said.

As part of the partnership, Fogel and Shah said they felt it was important employees truly understood how important they were to the company and its success. Shah said he and NCCS founder Ashton Soniat will provide all workers in Massena and Plattsburgh a one-time bonus as a thank you, on top of the existing bonus structure.

The two companies are awarding every employee in Massena and Plattsburgh a bonus from a $500,000 pool based on service time.
NCCS currently hosts 54,000 miners, essentially computer servers that continually mine for Bitcoin, over four former smelting lines.

Fogel said the plan is to continue to expand operations to possibly utilize all six of the site’s former smelting lines, each roughly the length of five football fields.

He said the facility is currently using 166 megawatts of its 435-megawatt approved amount, leaving significant room for the expansion project.  NCCS draws electricity from the nearby Moses-Saunders dam.

One of the keys to the project would be utilizing more efficient machines, along with a rack system that would allow for more miners to be stored in the facility, as opposed to the shipping containers that are currently used in some cases.

Company officers say the rack systems are much easier to work with, allowing technicians to more easily install and maintain the miners.

The facility would also see a number of other upgrades, including to the electrical system, cranes and three unused lines.

For these upgrades and the overall expansion project, NCCS intends to use as many local and regional suppliers as possible, creating a further boost to the North Country economy, officials say.

No timeline or financial figure has been given for the project just yet, but Fogel said the companies are working together diligently to take the next steps as soon as possible.

“This really is a huge day for NCCS. We really are proud of this partnership, and I think this will set us up for success for many years to come. This expansion project really will be transformative and we’re proud to partner with NYDIG,” Fogel said.