Tech

You can now rent a Kodak-branded bitcoin-mining rig — but you'll have to hand over half of the profits you make

The formerly Kodak-branded bitcoin mininig device from Spotlite, on display on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at Kodak's booth at CES in Las Vegas.
Spotlite's bitcoin mining machine. Although on display at Kodak's booth at CES, it notably lacks a Kodak logo. Matt Weinberger/Business Insider
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  • The camera company Kodak is partnering with a company to get into bitcoin mining.
  • Kodak's stock soared more than 100% on Tuesday after it announced it would launch a cryptocurrency.
  • Critics have attacked the company over the mining scheme amid fears of a cryptocurrency bubble.


Another day, another unusual company taking the dive into the cryptocurrency space.

Kodak, the once iconic camera company, is licensing its brand to Spotlite, which builds computers designed to mine bitcoin, for a new line of bitcoin-mining machines that they plan to rent to the public for thousands of dollars. Although just how associated Kodak wants to be with the device is an open question.

On Tuesday, at Kodak's booth at CES, the tech industry trade show in Las Vegas this week, the company showed off the new mining computer, then dubbed the Kodak KashMiner, and company's representatives handed out flyers to promote the arrangement with Spotlite. The device on display and in the flyer had the Kodak logo featured prominently.

But when we returned to Kodak's booth on Thursday, Kodak's logo was noticeably missing from the bitcoin miners. Instead it carried Spotlite's brand.

kodak kashminer bitcoin
This is how the bitcoin mining machine was depicted on a flyer Kodak handed out at CES. Note the "Kodak" logo.  Matt Weinberger/Business Insider

In addition to still trying to figure out the branding on the miner, the companies are also apparently still trying to figure out the terms under which they'll rent the machines to customers.

On the flyer, the companies said they'd ask prospective customers to sign a two-year deal and pay $3,400 up front to rent the mining machines, which are used to support the bitcoin network and create new coins. As part of the agreement, Spotlite would gets to keep half of all proceeds the machines generate by mining bitcoin.

Spotlite and Kodak estimated customers would earn $375 a month, making $9,000 over the two-year rental period.

But a Kodak representative later said the deal terms were preliminary and weren't necessarily what the companies would offer customers.

kodak kashminer bitcoin
The inside of the flyer details the terms of Kodak's deal.  Matt Weinberger/Business Insider

After seeing the announcement and the terms in the flyer, some people harshly criticized the new service on Twitter. Some argued that Kodak's jumping into bitcoin mining was evidence of a bubble in cryptocurrencies. Others said that because mining bitcoin gradually becomes more difficult over time, Kodak KashMiner customers may see far smaller returns than they anticipated.

Such concerns, however, haven't put off some customers — Spotlite's existing capacity is already sold out, a representative told the BBC.

"At this time we have 80 miners, and we expect another 300 to arrive shortly," the representative said. "There is a big pile-up of demand."

The new bitcoin-mining rental service was one of two blockchain-related announcements from Kodak at CES on Tuesday.

The company also said it would team up with Wenn Digital to launch a blockchain-based rights-management service and related cryptocurrency. The service is aimed at tracking the online use of licensed photographs and ensuring photographers get paid for their works.

Kodak's stock skyrocketed more than 117% on Tuesday.

The company is the latest to see its stock soar after announcing bitcoin- or blockchain-related news. Shares of Long Island Ice Tea Corp. tripled in price after it renamed itself Long Blockchain last month, and those of a franchisee of the Hooters restaurant chain jumped last week after it said it would move into the space.

Check out Business Insider's picks for best cryptocurrency exchanges

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Rob Price was a senior correspondent at Business Insider, based in San Francisco. He wrote investigations and long-form features about platforms, people, and power in Silicon Valley.His stories variously led to attorney general investigations, large-scale internal reviews at major tech companies, high-profile personnel departures, citation by state and federal lawmakers, and the closure of a well-funded startup. His 2022 story on the Bitfinex hack is being adapted into a feature film, and in 2024 he received an SPJ NorCal Excellence in Journalism award for his reporting on AI and relationships.Rob's scoops and exclusive stories were cited by The New York Times, Bloomberg, the BBC, Associated Press, Reuters, CNBC, Politico, The Guardian, Axios, and many other national and international publications. His writing has also been published in or syndicated by The Washington Post, The Independent, Vice, Slate, and elsewhere, and he appeared on CNN, the BBC, CBS, Reuters, ABC Australia, and other broadcast media to discuss technology, business, and culture.He worked for Business Insider from 2015 to 2025. Prior to joining the features team, Rob covered Facebook and Silicon Valley, and before that wrote about tech business, policy, and the gig economy in London. Between September and October 2019, he was acting executive editor for Business Insider's UK bureau. He also sat on the board of directors for the San Francisco Press Club, the leading non-profit media advocacy group in the Bay Area, and was a volunteer crew member at the Marine Mammal Center, the world's largest animal hospital for marine mammals. You can contact Rob Price via email at robaeprice@gmail.com, or +1 650-636-6268 (Signal / WhatsApp / Cell). Selected stories:— They spoke out against their employer. Then they were hit with trade secrets suits.— The rise of 'shadow stand-ins'— App, Lover, Muse: Inside a 47-year-old Minnesota man's three-year relationship with an AI chatbot— Deel Speed: The inside story of a $12 billion HR startup's breakneck growth— Private islands, flying cars, and psychedelic parties: Inside the wild post-Google lives of Larry Page and Sergey Brin— 'I want your Instagram account': First came the threatening texts, followed by the SWAT teams. Then someone wound up dead.— Inside Iconiq: How Mark Zuckerberg's banker built a secret Silicon Valley empire and made billions— Gaia was a wildly popular yoga brand. Now it's a publicly traded Netflix rival pushing conspiracy theories while employees fear the CEO is invading their dreams— A drunken late-night assault allegation has roiled the secretive world of Mark Zuckerberg's private family office. Personal aides are speaking out about claims that household staff endured sexual harassment and racism from their colleagues.
Matt is a former Deputy Editor, Tech based in San Francisco. Matt came to Business Insider in 2015 from IDG Enterprise, where he reported on application development and new enterprise technologies for CITEworld, Computerworld, and Networkworld.