Japan’s Internet Giant GMO Unveils New Crypto Priorities, Exchange Profits Up 7-Fold

Japan’s GMO Internet has unveiled new priorities for its cryptocurrency business along with the performances of its crypto exchange and mining operations. The changes going forward result from the bear market and increased total hash rate.

Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space

GMO Coin Profits Up 7.3-Fold

Japanese internet giant GMO published its second-quarter results for this fiscal year on Thursday. The report details the performances of the company’s cryptocurrency operations as well as changes in future plans.

In the second quarter, GMO’s overall crypto business generated a “revenue of JPY 2.6B [~US$23,481,811] in just a year since the launch,” the report reads. It also generated operating profits of 250 million yen (~$2,257,744) in the quarter compared to a loss of 730 million yen (~$6,592,612) the previous quarter.

For GMO Coin, the company’s crypto exchange operation, its “revenue increased 7.3-fold” in the second quarter compared to the previous. Its Q2 net sales were 1.42 billion yen (~$12,824,623) with operating profits of 550 million yen (~$4,967,283). In the first quarter, the subsidiary made a loss of 760 million yen (~$6,863,883).

Furthermore, GMO revealed that its crypto exchange’s “customer accounts are growing steadily,” with about 177,000 accounts opened in one year.

Mining Revenues Up 92%, Unexpected Loss Incurred

GMO’s crypto mining business generated 1.17 billion yen (~$10,568,436) in revenue in the second quarter, up 91.8% from the previous quarter. While “our hash rate is increasing as expected,” the company made an overall loss of 360 million yen (~$3,252,429).

Noting that the “loss was against our expectation,” the company proceeded to change its mining business policy. In July, GMO mined 568 BTC, a slight increase from the previous month of 528 BTC. However, the hash rate in July was 384 PH/s, unchanged from the previous month.

Citing external, “uncontrollable factors,” namely the low price of bitcoin and the increasing total hash rate, GMO detailed a change of priorities.

Previously, the company’s top priority was to mine cryptocurrencies in-house, then to offer cloud mining services to the public before selling mining machines. The new strategy puts selling the machines first, then mining in-house before offering their cloud mining services. The company will also “secure a more inexpensive power supply” to lower electricity costs for mining.

GMO hopes that the change in strategy will lead to more control over their investments and an earlier payback. Meanwhile, the company still plans to ship GMO miners B2 and B3 at the end of October.

What do you think of GMO’s new priorities and performances of the crypto exchange and mining operations? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and GMO Internet.

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