21 bitcoin miners, the majority of them are Chinese, are said to have inked power supply deals with the Ethiopian state electrical provider. It appears that the African nation’s desire for foreign cash has trumped the issues frequently brought up by proponents of climate change.
Ethiopia is about to become China’s Favorite Location for Bitcoin Miners
21 bitcoin miners have signed power supply contracts with Ethiopia’s public electricity utility. These agreements have established the African country as one of the top global locations for bitcoin mining equipment and have created access to a potentially profitable foreign exchange market.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) recently went online, and a Bloomberg report citing Nuo Xu, the founder of the China Digital Mining Association, indicates that Ethiopia will progressively become a preferred location for Chinese bitcoin miners due to its contracts with miners.
In order to put this into perspective, only two of the 21 bitcoin miners who have acquired power supply agreements with the Ethiopian power provider are not Chinese.
The study, however, suggests that Ethiopia’s quest for foreign cash appears to have superseded the worries of those who oppose bitcoin’s impact on climate change. However, the nation has continued to impose stringent regulations on miners, as stated by Nemo Semret, CEO of QRB Labs.
Ethiopia is subject to strict regulations. It has been extremely difficult to introduce a new industry like this, and we have been working for the past two years to obtain all the required government licenses,” Semret allegedly stated.
The CEO also disclosed that a decision to control “cryptographic products,” including mining, had been issued by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
Although the long-term prospects for these Ethiopian miners are still unknown, the hydropower generated by the dam may allay concerns about the apparent over reliance on non-renewable energy sources in bitcoin mining.
In addition, the typical temperature in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, which is 2,400 meters above sea level, is perfect for mining. These are some of the characteristics that have bitcoin mining specialists cited in the research suggesting Ethiopia could be a contender to the U.S. state of Texas.
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