The Ethiopian state electricity company has reportedly signed power supply agreements with 21 mainly Chinese bitcoin miners. The African country’s pursuit of foreign exchange has seemingly taken precedence over the concerns often raised by climate change advocates.
Ethiopia Set to Become the Preferred Destination for Chinese Bitcoin Miners
Ethiopia’s state power company has entered into power supply agreements with 21 bitcoin miners. These deals have not only positioned the African nation as one of the world’s leading destinations for bitcoin mining machines but have opened a potentially lucrative source of foreign exchange.
A Bloomberg report, citing Nuo Xu, the founder of the China Digital Mining Association, suggests that Ethiopia’s contracts with bitcoin miners, combined with the recent coming online of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), will gradually make it a favored destination for Chinese bitcoin miners.
To put this into perspective, of the 21 bitcoin miners that have secured power supply agreements with the Ethiopian power company, only two are non-Chinese.
Meanwhile, the report indicates that Ethiopia’s pursuit of foreign exchange appears to have taken precedence over the concerns of anti-bitcoin climate change advocates. Yet, according to Nemo Semret, the CEO of QRB Labs, this has not deterred the country from enforcing strict requirements on miners.
“Ethiopia is heavily regulated. Introducing a new sector like this has been a big challenge, and we’ve been working for the last two years to get all the necessary permissions from the government,” Semret reportedly said.
The CEO also revealed that the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has issued a directive to regulate “cryptographic products,” including mining.
While the long-term future of these miners in Ethiopia remains uncertain, the dam’s hydropower could potentially address criticisms often raised about bitcoin mining’s perceived disproportionate use of non-renewable energy sources.
Furthermore, the altitude of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, situated 2,400 meters above sea level, provides average temperatures ideal for mining. According to bitcoin mining experts quoted in the report, these are some of the attributes that make Ethiopia a possible rival to the U.S. State of Texas.
Source: Bitcoin
