Crypto News
Chinese Partnership to Bring Large-Scale Bitcoin Mining to Ethiopia
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The Ethiopian government is set to enter a partnership with companies from China to establish powerful new Bitcoin mining infrastructure in the country, all centered around a massive hydroelectric dam.
On Thursday, February 14, actors involved with the project announced a partnership between Ethiopian Investment Holdings, a state-owned investment firm, and Data Center Service PLC, subsidiary of West Data Group, based in Hong Kong. Kal Kassa, the CEO for Ethiopia at Hashlabs Mining, initially went to Twitter to claim that “The partnership will be for the purposes of a $250 million data mining project in Ethiopia,” but he would subsequently delete this announcement and replace it with a similar announcement that did not include an exact dollar amount. Regardless of the specific cash commitments involved, the aim of this partnership is clear: the establishment of a data center and other critical infrastructure to supercharge Bitcoin mining in Ethiopia.
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Since Bitcoin mining has largely been prohibited in China, West Data Group has been actively working to begin new operations abroad, in familiar mining hubs like Kazakhstan and the United States alongside multiple other African nations. Chinese investment money has already been flowing into various countries in Africa due to the Belt and Road Initiative, but Ethiopia has a couple of distinct advantages that make it even more attractive: for one, it joined BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) in January 2024, making it the newest member of this economic alliance of emerging nations. This added diplomatic relationship will doubtlessly make massive international deals run much more smoothly.
The second biggest advantage in Ethiopia’s favor is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a massive project to construct a dam on the Nile River to revolutionize Ethiopia’s energy generation. The dam has been in construction for more than a decade; it finally began filling with water in 2020, and has been generating hydroelectric power since 2022. But its current operations are only a fraction of its full potential, assuming the project completes smoothly. For these reasons, Chinese Bitcoin miners have been flocking to Ethiopia in 2024, to the extent that 19 of the 21 bitcoin mining firms that have reached agreements with Ethiopia’s state power company are headquartered in China. Several specifics of the dam have sweetened the deal additionally; not only has a substantial amount of Chinese investment already gone into the dam’s construction, but its altitude and consistent climate create conditions that are fairly ideal for year-round mining operations. This is the situation as it stands today, but this major new infrastructure partnership has only just started. One can only imagine how far it can go from here.
Nevertheless, there are several concerns with the long-term viability of the site as a global hotspot for Bitcoin mining. First of all, the GERD has been something of a hotly contested issue between Ethiopia and the Egyptian government. The Nile River has two main tributaries, the White and Blue Nile. Although the White Nile is one of the longest rivers in the world, stretching more than 2,000 miles from Lake Victoria to where it meets up with its counterpart in Sudan, the much shorter Blue Nile flowing from the Ethiopian Highlands supplies about 85% of the water once the two tributaries meet. The Egyptian government’s long-held concern is that the dam could cut off most of their country’s water, unless Ethiopia is extremely scrupulous with not filling the dam too quickly. However, until the dam is full, it will only be able to generate a fraction of projected energy goals.
Talks between the two governments have repeatedly broken down over the past several years, and no agreement to resolve this dispute formally exists. The Ethiopian government has nevertheless claimed that they will proceed with normal construction and operations whether an agreement is reached or not. The United States has brokered several of the talks between these two governments and is generally considered to favor Egypt’s position; considering the rivalry between the US and China, there are no shortage of opportunities for either side to attempt to influence the dam’s progress and operations.
Still, despite these possible setbacks, the GERD in its present state is substantially operational, with many Bitcoin miners already setting up shop. Reuters reported that 90% of Ethiopia’s electricity comes from hydroelectric sources, and that the finished dam will produce about as much electricity as the entire country generates today. Nuo Xu, founder of China Digital Mining Association has claimed that “Ethiopia will become one of the most popular destinations for Chinese miners,” and he is already arranging for representatives from additional mining firms to visit the site.
As far as the actual infrastructure that will be built from this multinational partnership, details have been particularly sparse, especially considering how Kal Kassa revised his claim to downplay the specific amount $250M invested. Bloomberg claims that most government discussion of the project uses various euphemisms like “high-performance computing” and “data mining” to refer to Bitcoin mining, with the project officially designated a data center. “Ethiopia is heavily regulated,” claimed Nemo Semret, CEO of Ethiopian miner QRB Labs, which is involved in pro-Bitcoin lobbying efforts. “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.” In other words, it seems that the government still has some sort of squeamishness over directly endorsing Bitcoin and the industries that support it. Nevertheless, its actions have supported Bitcoin miners a great deal.
Although most of the mining and infrastructure building in Ethiopia has been a thoroughly Chinese business deal, the vast potential in the project has already been recognized worldwide. Marathon Digital, the largest Bitcoin miner in North America, specifically called attention to the site. Charlie Schumacher, Marathon’s vice president of corporate communications, publicly stated that “we are looking at Africa. We believe that bitcoin mining is, among other things, a technology solution for the energy sector, and Africa may be a great place to prove this thesis”. He went on to add that “Bitcoin miners can incentivize the buildout of more power across the continent, by serving as the first customer for new power projects”.
In other words, industry leaders worldwide have identified this project as a powerful first step. Even if the Ethiopian government makes it difficult for Marathon or other US mining companies to buy into this Chinese investment hub, there are countless opportunities to recreate the project. Many Ethiopians today do not have access to electricity, and Bitcoin mining is incentivizing electricity generation there with hundreds of millions of dollars. Is there any shortage of other locations that would similarly benefit from such incentives? Of course not. Bitcoin has the power to be a driver for progress worldwide, pushing electricity generation and job opportunities with it. And as an added benefit, it’s all renewable. Is it any wonder that people worldwide are looking at Bitcoin as a new model to bring economic independence everywhere?
Chinese investment at Ethiopia’s largest dam is creating a powerful new mining hub. Still in its relative infancy, the area is already host to significant mining activity.
The day Bitcoiners have been waiting for is finally here. Donald Trump, the first-ever pro-Bitcoin president of the United States, is officially being inaugurated today, January 20, 2025. After a historic campaign in which he famously turned his stance around and championed Bitcoin and crypto throughout 2024, Bitcoiners are eagerly watching to see his promises come to life.
Trump’s campaign was filled with bold commitments to the Bitcoin and crypto industry: national bitcoin reserves, freeing Ross Ulbricht, making the United States the crypto capital of the world, and more. Today marks the beginning of his presidency, and these promises are expected to roll out in the days ahead.
Bitcoin Magazine is thrilled to celebrate this monumental moment in Bitcoin history by bringing you live coverage of the inauguration from PubKey NYC starting at 10:00 a.m. EST.
LIVE: DONALD TRUMP INAUGURATION | AMERICA’S FIRST #BITCOIN PRESIDENT https://t.co/KuwGYgUukP
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) January 20, 2025
The livestream will feature a recap of Trump’s campaign trail, highlighting key moments when he voiced his support for Bitcoin. We’ll be joined by well-known leaders in the Bitcoin space, who will share their predictions and debate the potential impact of the Trump administration on Bitcoin’s future.
This celebratory event brings together Bitcoin and crypto community members to discuss, debate, and reflect on what Trump’s presidency could mean for Bitcoin adoption and regulation.
Don’t miss the action—Catch the Bitcoin Magazine livestream coverage on X, YouTube and Rumble starting today, January 20, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. EST.
Donald Trump’s inauguration as the first pro-Bitcoin U.S. president is here—join Bitcoin Magazine’s live coverage at 10 a.m. EST!
Today, the BTCPay Server Foundation was awarded a $25,000 grant paid directly in bitcoin from Unbank, a cash focused Bitcoin exchange, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. The grant will be paid out to contributors working on developing new features, open-source payment innovation, and maintenance of BTCPay Server’s Greenfield APIs and codebase.
“Unbank’s support is a testament to the growing recognition of open-source payment solutions in the Bitcoin ecosystem,” said BTCPay Server core contributor R0ckstar Dev. “This grant will help our efforts to enhance BTCPay Server’s capabilities and reach.”
Unbank, which has become a leading bitcoin ATM network with over 830 ATMs and over 30,000 partner locations, is also utilizing BTCPay Server to process bitcoin sell transactions within their app.
“We love using BTCPay Server in our operations,” Emilio Pagan-Yourno, CEO and COO of Unbank. “When customers buy Bitcoin at our ATMs, we rely on their API to batch and broadcast transactions every 15 minutes. Supporting BTCPay Server is not just essential for our business — it’s a privilege to contribute to the FOSS ecosystem that powers financial freedom.”
Last summer, BTCPay filmed and released a documentary covering the use of bitcoin as a means of exchange at the world’s largest Bitcoin conference in Nashville. BTCPay, in collaboration with Jack Maller’s company Strike, enabled every vendor at the conference to accept bitcoin as payment.
The grant will help BTCPay continue to work on open-source payment development.
When the $TRUMP meme coin dropped Friday evening, no one was surprised. Or at least, they shouldn’t have been. He has a knack for jumping headfirst into endeavors he thinks he can make money on, in self-promoting fashion, that often end in disaster. Some of these ventures include Trump Airlines, Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Magazine, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Mortgage, Trump: The Game. Crypto is the next game in town he’s decided to throw his hat into.
I’ve already written articles and talked at various lengths about Trump leaning into the crypto space to earn votes in this past election that in many ways was quite successful. At Bitcoin Nashville this past summer, in an effort to garner support for his presidential candidacy, Trump said some notable things including that America will become “the crypto capital of the planet and bitcoin superpower of the world,” that he would fire Gary Gensler, and that he wants all remaining bitcoin to be made in America (concerning from a decentralized point of view, and highly implausible in reality). He also famously said that he would commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht on Day one, which if he does I will be the first to give credit where credit is due. (For more on this I recommend watching the recent Reason documentary on why Ross should be freed).
Crypto is Donald Trump’s next frontier and combines several things he absolutely loves when it comes to business deals – Quick easy money, self-promotion, America first messaging, and little bureaucratic friction standing in his way. So, what is $TRUMP coin?
It’s built on the Solana blockchain with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. Initially, 200 million tokens are available for circulation, while the remaining 800 million are held by CIC Digital, a Trump Organization affiliate, subject to a three-year lock-up period (which means the Trump family holds 80% of supply…). Following its launch, the $TRUMP coin’s market cap surged, reaching approximately $6 billion. The coin’s price peaked at $33.7. The $TRUMP coin was marketed as a means for supporters to express their alignment with Trump’s ideals, rather than as an investment opportunity, which is hogwash for the pump and dump self-enrichment scheme that he is in my opinion immoral and unethical for creating, and investors (oops, guess we should say “fans”) are stupid for taking part in.
With inauguration on Monday, we’re entering uncharted territory where it’s likely Trump will issue Executive Orders relating to bitcoin and crypto, and now emboldened by the presidency, lack of legal worries, and supporters that I truly believe would be fine with whatever he does. As he famously quoted, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”
Some of these actions could be positive for the Bitcoin industry and advocates in the United States. But many of his actions could also equally benefit the broader crypto space that is rife with pump-and-dump scam coins and useless get rich quick schemes for wealthy insiders and people who have lobbied him throughout this last cycle. The pump and dump crypto landscape, his goofy coins and NFT’s, make sense to Trump. In fact, I’m betting he truly believes this is crypto’s purpose, while knowing little about Bitcoin. Trump has repeatedly said he has “fun with crypto” and ended his keynote address at the Bitcoin Conference this past summer by saying “have a good time with your bitcoin and your crypto and everything else that you’re playing with.” Trump’s experience in and views of crypto and bitcoin are around fun and making easy money. But with Bitcoin, many of us in the space are fighting for much more, which includes Bitcoin’s many use-cases as censorship resistance digital currency, digital gold, a medium of exchange to use in self-custody and via privacy preserving tools, a powerful tool for human rights, and much more. This isn’t a gamble for us…it’s the future of money that challenges the dollar and central bank rule.
If Trump really began to grasp this, based on his track record and previous statements on Bitcoin, he’d be quite against this use of Bitcoin. Or perhaps he knows what Bitcoin is at some level, and would rather promote the “fun” meme coins, and maybe Bitcoin as digital gold, but nothing more. He did after all say in 2021, quite clearly, “Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam. I don’t like it because it’s another currency competing against the dollar.” He added that he wanted the dollar to be “the currency of the world.” (For more on this concept I’d highly recommend following Mark Goodwin and his work on the bitcoin dollar.)
Trump wants you to keep playing with crypto, funneling money to his organizations, but it’s unlikely he’d be a fan of anyone using bitcoin as a competitor to the dollar, circumventing traditional finance or using privacy tools (particularly if you are an adversary or from what he deems a left/woke cause, which perhaps one day he’d classify our nonprofit The Progressive Bitcoiner as). I’ll keep promoting Bitcoin as resistance money, and hope you’ll join me, rather than endlessly gambling on crypto “and everything else you’re playing with.”
This is a guest post by Trey Walsh. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
$TRUMP Coin is nothing more than a way to extract money from the crypto ecosystem.
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