VANCOUVER -- Online lender Mogo Finance Technology Inc. says it has formed a new subsidiary to begin bitcoin mining through an agreement with Vancouver-based DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc.

Mogo Blockchain Technology Inc. says it will initially lease 1,000 bitcoin mining machines to be managed and operated by DMG at its facilities in British Columbia.

Greg Feller, president of Mogo, says the new mining subsidiary will enable the company to generate its own supply of the cryptocurrency as it plans to launch its own bitcoin buying and selling service later this quarter.

The growing frenzy around bitcoin and other cryptocurrency offerings saw the number of blockchain-related securities on the Canadian Securities Exchange skyrocket to 24 last year compared to just one in 2016.

Companies that use blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin, accounted for 14.4 per cent of the total traded volume on the CSE in 2017 compared to less than 0.04 per cent a year earlier.

However, many financial observers believe bitcoin is in a speculative bubble that could crash at any time.

Bitcoin slumped about 30 per cent last week after South Korea's government announced more measures to curb bitcoin trading, including a potential shutdown of exchanges.

Companies in this story: (MOGO.TO)