Bitcoin financial services firm Swan Bitcoin unveiled its newly formed bitcoin [BTC] mining business unit, Swan Mining, which already has 160 megawatts (MW) or 4.5 exahash per second (EH/s) worth of computing power up and running.

Swan Bitcoin has been operational since the summer of last year and has been previously in stealth mode, according to a statement shared with CoinDesk.

The mining business has been funded by institutional investors, with more than $100 million so far. The company intends to raise more capital to expand its operations, a Swan spokesperson told CoinDesk.

"We bring financial expertise and operational excellence, while our investors provide equity capital to our mining unit in exchange for priority on initial payouts and continued shared upside," said Rapha Zagury, chief investment officer at Swan and head of Swan Mining.

The timing of the new unit is notable as the industry is set to become more competitive this year due to the bitcoin halving event, which will see mining rewards cut by half. To prepare for this event, many miners are racing to order more efficient rigs, and some are buying up assets to become profitable post-halving.

Read more: Bitcoin Halving Is Poised to Unleash Darwinism on Miners

The miners have faced a brutal crypto winter as their revenue is directly correlated to the price of bitcoin. At the depth of the bear market, many large miners, such as Core Scientific (CORZ), went bankrupt, and others barely hung on. However, the recent rally in bitcoin price, helped by the spot bitcoin ETF, has helped the mining economics and even seen companies, such as Core, coming out of bankruptcy.

Swan Mining has taken this opportunity to rapidly expand its operations. It aims to increase its computing power by 44% or 8 EH/s by March. The company has already purchased and taken delivery of the mining rigs required to hit this target this year.

"Swan Mining developed and deployed at warp speed," Zagury said. "Our understanding is that this is the fastest-ever initial deployment of hashrate at this scale in Bitcoin history."

The firm has mined more than 750 bitcoin through its seven operating mining sites in and outside the U.S., the Swan spokesperson told CoinDesk, adding that three more mining sites are currently underway.

Swan Bitcoin, the parent company, is led by Cory Klippsten and raised $205 million of capital last year. The company intends to raise another round of funding in the coming months and expects to go public within the next 12 months, according to the statement.

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