Data centers in the United States are now beginning to accept bitcoin for colocation space and other services as the interest in the digital currency continues a rapid expansion.
Who’s paying? Companies in the digital currency sector, of course.
C7 Data Centers is one of two companies that announced bitcoin acceptance recently. The center, based out of Salt Lake City, says they’ve accommodated about 4.5 megawatts of capacity just for bitcoin customers, according to CEO Wes Swensen, as reported by Data Center Knowledge.
This additional center is designed to home bitcoin miner operations, digital currency payment processor servers, and other startups in the industry.
“We have not announced that new data center yet, but it sold out within weeks of notifying interested customers,” Swensen told DCK. “I anticipate more demand on top of the backorders we have. I would estimate that approximately 35 to 40 percent of worldwide Bitcoin mining will be originating out of C7 by the fall.”
With that much demand, how could C7 reasonably disregard community requests?
“We saw no demand to pay in the currency a year ago, and now it comes up once a week,” he adds. “It’s easy to setup, and process, with the added bonus of low fees to do so. Compared to setting up a merchant account, Bitcoin is a snap. I can’t help but think ‘simpler is better’ when it comes to payment processing, so I have to believe [Bitcoin] adoption is going to grow rapidly.”
While C7 offers colocation space, another company specializing in wholesale data center space also announced bitcoin acceptance in the past few days.
Server Farm Realty operates in the state of Washington, and allows companies to lease suites of space, which they can install equipment of their choice.
It’s become a hotspot for miners due to low electricity rates.
“Server Farm continues to find ways to make it easy for companies to work with us,” says Server Farm Realty CEO Avner Papouchado. “As one of the first data center owners and operators to accept Bitcoin as payment, our innovative approach to business, coupled with the leading-edge design, security and capabilities of our facilities, continue to differentiate Server Farm in the market.”
The Center is home to the likes of HashPlex, MegaBigPower, and PeerNova operations.
And while bitcoin acceptance in itself is good, most companies tend to immediately convert all of their digital revenues into fiat.
Both C7 and Data Center Realty say they’ll keep some part of their bitcoin revenue with the hope the price will increase.
“I plan to exchange half of my Bitcoin payments into US currency, and harbor the other half,” said C7 boss Swensen. “I’m pretty confident in its eventual rise in currency valuation. I’m simply gauging the interest in customers that want to pay in Bitcoin, and it seems that acceptance is growing.”
[textmarker color=”C24000″]Source[/textmarker] Data Center Knowledge