Hut 8 Mining Corp. has announced that it is joining Foundry’s U.S.-based bitcoin mining pool, marking a notable expansion of its North American mining strategy. The publicly listed company said it has already contributed 14,400 mining machines to the Foundry USA Pool, representing approximately 0.81 exahashes per second (EH/s) of hashpower. Hut 8 also plans to deploy an additional 5,000 miners by August 2021, which would lift its total contribution to roughly 1.20 EH/s.
Hut 8 Deepens Its North American Mining Footprint
Based in Toronto, Hut 8 is one of the better-known publicly traded bitcoin mining companies in North America. Its move to Foundry’s pool reflects a broader effort to align more of its mining activity with infrastructure based in the United States and Canada. Foundry Digital LLC, the operator of the pool, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG) and focuses on cryptocurrency mining and staking services.
The company said that a portion of its mining fleet is now operating through Foundry USA Pool. In practical terms, that means Hut 8 is directing some of its existing hashpower to a mining platform positioned as a North American alternative in a sector that has historically been dominated by China-based pools.
Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton framed the decision as part of the company’s broader shareholder value strategy. She said the company evaluates each decision with that objective in mind and emphasized the importance of having a strong bitcoin mining pool that is both based and operated entirely in North America. According to Leverton, that regional alignment supports Hut 8’s ongoing momentum as one of the largest and most innovative bitcoin miners in the western hemisphere.
14,400 Miners Online, 5,000 More Planned
The immediate scale of the deployment is significant. Hut 8 said it has already added 14,400 rigs to Foundry’s mining operation, accounting for about 0.81 EH/s of hashpower. The company’s next step is to bring another 5,000 machines online by August 2021.
If completed on schedule, that expansion would push Hut 8’s contribution to the pool to about 1.20 EH/s. The increase would strengthen both Hut 8’s own production capacity and Foundry’s standing among global bitcoin mining pools.
For mining companies, pool selection can influence not only operational efficiency but also the strategic positioning of hashpower. By shifting a meaningful portion of its fleet into Foundry’s ecosystem, Hut 8 is signaling confidence in a U.S.-based pool operator at a time when North American mining infrastructure is competing more aggressively for global relevance.
Foundry Positions Itself as a U.S.-Based Alternative
Foundry described its pool as a strong U.S.-based alternative to an industry landscape long shaped by China-dominated mining pools. That positioning is central to the company’s pitch. Rather than acting only as a pool operator, Foundry is building a broader services platform around mining, including financing and treasury support.
Foundry CEO Mike Colyer said Hut 8 is also a client of the company’s equipment financing business, underscoring the broader commercial relationship between the two firms. He added that Foundry is pleased to welcome Hut 8 to the pool as the company works toward securing North America’s place among the world’s top five bitcoin mining pools.
This combination of pool services and mining finance is important because it suggests Foundry is trying to become more than just a destination for hashpower. Instead, it is building an integrated business model designed to support miners across hardware acquisition, pool participation, and post-mining treasury management.
Treasury Management and Yield Services for Miners
One of the more distinctive parts of Foundry’s offering is its Miner Treasury Management Services. According to the announcement, these services are linked to Genesis, another DCG subsidiary. The stated goal is to help miners manage the bitcoin they produce more effectively rather than simply liquidating mined BTC immediately.
Among the available options is a service that allows clients to generate yield in bitcoin on mined BTC, potentially helping operators maximize the total bitcoin return from their mining activities. The release also referenced other Genesis-powered products, including high-security custody, BTC-collateralized lending, derivatives, and seamless liquidation.
For mining firms, these types of financial tools can be meaningful. Mining is capital intensive, and operators often need flexibility in how they hold, borrow against, hedge, or sell their bitcoin reserves. While the announcement did not provide detailed terms or adoption figures for these services, it clearly presented them as part of Foundry’s broader value proposition to industrial-scale miners.
Why the Move Matters
At a basic level, Hut 8’s decision adds substantial hashpower to Foundry’s U.S. pool. But the significance goes beyond a single client onboarding. The announcement highlights an ongoing shift in the geography and structure of bitcoin mining infrastructure, with more emphasis on North American participation, localized operational control, and vertically integrated service offerings.
For Hut 8, the move supports expansion at a time when scale remains a critical competitive factor in industrial mining. For Foundry, landing a publicly listed miner with a large deployment strengthens the credibility of its pool and its broader ecosystem of services. And for the market more broadly, the development points to continuing efforts by North American players to build alternatives to legacy centers of mining concentration.
As of the announcement, the key figures are clear: 14,400 miners already deployed, 0.81 EH/s currently contributed, and a target of 1.20 EH/s by August once the next 5,000 rigs are online. Those numbers make Hut 8’s Foundry partnership one of the more notable mining infrastructure developments described in the company’s latest update.