Cryptocurrency mining firm Bitfury Group Ltd. today said it has raised $80 million via a private placement to continue to develop both its customizable chips and its blockchain platform.

Founded in 2011, Bitfury is best known for its application-specific integrated circuit or ASIC chips that are used to mine cryptocurrencies, but it provides a full range of blockchain-powered software as well. It has also dabbled in side projects such as its arguably infamous “internet of things”-enabled light bulbs in 2015.

In 2018, Bitfury launched its sixth generation of chip design, the Bitfury Clarke ASIC, as well as a new series of high-performance computing servers, the Bitfury Tardis. The company is also big on the environment, saying that it’s committed to operating its data centers on renewable energy, including developing immersion cooling technology, a new high-performance computing solution that allows for significant reduction of data center electricity use.

“This private placement reflects our achievements, and it recognizes our ability to address adjacent market segments in high-performance computing, including in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence,” Valery Vavilov, Bitfury’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “The institutionalization of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, partnered with the opportunity of these emerging technologies, is a natural expansion opportunity that Bitfury will build on — in 2019 and beyond.”

Bitfury is, by some accounts, the second-largest cryptocurrency miner in the world behind Chinese giant Bitmain Technologies Inc., which filed to go public in September.

The new investment may be the last one for Bitfury, since the company is reported to be mulling an initial public offering in October.

Including the new funding, which came from Galaxy Digital, Lian and Jabre Group, Armat Group, Dentsu Inc., Macquarie Capital, MACSF insurance group and Argenthal Capital Partners, Bitfury has raised $250 million to date. Previous funding includes a $30 million round from Credit China Fintech Holdings Ltd. in January 2017.

Image: Bitfury