Bitmain has partnered with Core Scientific, the US-based mining hosting provider, to offer certification program “Ant Training Academy” in the United States, as this will be the first location to receive this accreditation outside of China.
On May 28, it has been reported that the company announced the collaboration with the first courses set to launch in the fall of 2020.
However, the new academy will be located in Dalton, Georgia, and offers the same “highly regarded training and certification services” as in the China-based entity.
This may have important implications for the mining industry in the United States, as the program was previously only conducted in Shenzhen, China. Trainees had to travel to the country and pay up to $2500 per person for a two week training period.
Bitmain ASIC technicians will soon be able to receive their training in the U.S. https://t.co/X6gZnAziHQ — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 29, 2020
It has been analyzed that the courses were conducted in Chinese, with translation services included in the fee for those who needed it. The reward for completing the certification is the ability to order replacement parts from Bitmain.
Kristy-Leigh Minehan, the former CTO of Core Scientific, explained that this ability is “highly coveted for mining farms.”
Kind of weird to hear about this. I assumed that any broken device would be either FUBAR'd or could be fixed through scavenged parts from DOA machines. Never knew there were licensed technicians lol — Andrey Shevchenko (@shvandrew) May 29, 2020
Likewise, ASIC miners often suffer faults from a single chip, which renders the entire device unusable.
She said that replacing the broken part can be done in three hours while going through the manufacturer’s warranty process could take up to three months.
As per the report, China-based miners had a natural competitive advantage, which was only magnified by the outside travel restrictions China imposed after the COVID-19 outbreak.
Thus, a US-based training facility makes it much easier for local technicians to obtain the valuable certification.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Pixabay
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