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On Monday, the West Point City Council approved a three-year lease agreement with the crypto mining company, EZ Blockchain.

The company will lease .7 acres of city property on Old West Point Rd for $900 per month. The lease allows EZ Blockchain to expand its current West Point operations. West Point City Manager Ed Moon says the crypto-mining company began operations in West Point on OG Skinner Dr in December and is the city’s largest electric customer.

“This project is a great addition to the West Point community,” CEO and Co-Founder of EZ Blockchain Sergii Gerasymovych told The Valley Times-News. “We indirectly invested half a million dollars into the local economy hiring only local contractors and created seven full-time well-paying tech jobs with [an] additional seven jobs being staffed as we speak. During the construction, we will invest another $0.5 M in the local economy while using local goods and services.”

Crypto mining is a process of confirming transactions on the network called a blockchain using specialized computing equipment called ASICs. EZ Blockchain is a technology company that specializes in solving wasted, underutilized energy problems with the help of crypto mining and high-density computing.

“We will be using underutilized power capacity allocated to the city that otherwise would be sitting idle, which will create extra revenue for the city,” Gerasymovych said. “The state of Georgia is a very business-friendly state, especially they welcome data center businesses.”

EZ Blockchain partnered with the City of West point on installing an 8 megawatt(MW) project on OG Skinner in December 2021, and the project that was voted on Monday is the first stage of expansion for the company that will add another 8 MWs, as well as add four more company-built mobile data centers fully operational in mid-spring. 

“I am personally very excited to feel the support and collaboration from the city officials, utility department, and economic development department,” Gerasymovych said. “They have done a very good job of working with us in the last few months.”