Ethiopia Explores Crypto Mining with New Hong Kong Data Center Deal
Ethiopia has inked a memorandum of understanding with Data Centre Service, a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s West Data, to build a $250 million data mining infrastructure project in the country.
Data centres provide the facilities to host large-scale Bitcoin mining operations. The East African nation’s latest move comes as many Chinese crypto mining operations are relocating there following a sweeping 2021 crypto crackdown by the Chinese government.
Hong Kong—a semi-autonomous region in China—has been more welcoming to crypto, but the two governments remain closely linked.
Ethiopian Investment Holdings announced the deal yesterday on LinkedIn, although the account subsequently deleted details of the deal’s value or counterparty, according to Reuters.
#Ethiopia makes data center deal with #Hong_Kong company, may start mining
The Ethiopian government has entered into a partnership with a Hong Kong data center operator. According to reports, #Bitcoin mining will be among the activities the sides develop together.
State-owned… pic.twitter.com/Q5UdLC33aW
— Addis Standard (@addisstandard) February 16, 2024
The deal also aims to promulgate AI training throughout Ethiopia.
Ethiopia started welcoming miners in 2022, although trading crypto remains prohibited. Operations setting up there can utilize reduced energy costs, an incentive that may be more alluring because of Bitcoin’s upcoming halving on April 19.
The halving refers to a quadrennial event predetermined in Bitcoin’s code when miners’ Bitcoin rewards are cut in half. This will force the largest operations to upgrade and expand their mining capacity in order to stay profitable. The ensuing global supply squeeze has historically proven to drive the price of Bitcoin.
Many miners see
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