One of the largest mining facilities in the world – with output to rival a small power station – is set to open for business in the mining-friendly country of Kazakhstan in September.
* Mining facility operator Enegix told CoinDesk Friday it will be ready to open its 180 megawatt (MW) data center to mining pools at the start of September.
* Based in Ekibastuz, near the Russian border, the facility can host up to 50,000 mining rigs, according to director Dmitriy Ivanov.
* Assuming full capacity with Bitmain's AntMiner S19 series or MicroBT’s WhatsMiner M30, that would represent mining power of about 5-6 EH/s – approximately 4% of bitcoin's current hashrate.
* Enegix already operates two mining facilities but the Ekibastuz site is its largest – it will employ upwards of 160 people, including engineers, electricians and security personnel.
* The facility would handle as much electricity as needed to power 180,000 U.S. homes.
* Construction on the facility began in August 2019 and has reportedly cost $23 million, according to a series of slides shared with CoinDesk.
* The center will get its electricity straight from the Kazakhstani grid, which itself will source the power from a coal-fired station in Russia. Ivanov said it was the cheapest source of power available.
* Electricity in Kazakstan is cheap and plentiful, with much of the country's surplus currently exported to neighboring countries.
* This makes the country well-placed to become a global center for mining facilities, said Ivanov. National power stations rarely operate at full capacity so there's room for facilities to expand, and more to come online to use the power.
* Unlike China, where electricity prices change depending on the season, costs at the Ekibastuz facility will stay much the same year-round.
* Keen to attract business and foreign investment, the government has created a taxation framework to help further legitimize cryptocurrency mining in the country.
* Indeed, Cambridge University's Bitcoin Mining Map shows Kazakhstan now ranks fourth in the world for hashrate distribution – up from sixth in Q3 2019.
* Although clients will be free to mine any cryptocurrencies they wish, Enegix anticipates – as with their existing data centers – that most will mine bitcoin.
* Representatives from mining companies ViaBTC, F2Pool, Canaan, and Innosilicon have already visited the site, Ivanov said.
Paddy Baker is a London-based cryptocurrency reporter. He was previously senior journalist at Crypto Briefing. Paddy holds positions in BTC and ETH, as well as smaller amounts of LTC, ZIL, NEO, BNB and BSV.
That may not necessarily be a good thing for the struggling state.
FELIPE ERAZO 1 HOUR AGO Abkhazia to lift ban on crypto mining
That may not necessarily be a good thing for the struggling state.
The de facto state of Abkhazia threw the towel on its fight against crypto mining, with the president recently announcing measures to lift the nation’s current ban.
According to Finanz.ru, Aslan Bzhania stated on Thursday that his government plans to introduce “the most optimal mechanism” to regulate crypto mining, rather than maintaining the state’s current prohibition on blockchain-related activities.
Earlier this week, Ruslan Kvarchia, director of operational and technological management of the state’s official energy company, pointed to crypto mining as a major driver behind the current energy crisis affecting Abkhazia.
Commenting on this situation, Bzhania said:
“Now we are working on accounting and identifying the points where these mines are installed, it will not be possible to hide anything. (...) A government decree is being prepared, which will outline the most optimal mechanisms to regulate this process. We will not prohibit it [mining], the state will regulate it properly. This is also the first stage in solving energy problems.”
Bzhania said “it’s not easy,” when asked how he plans to bring the country’s power system back to normal levels. He added that even with the proper framework, it will likely take up to six months to solve the crisis.
As reported by Cointelegraph in July, Abkhazia had witnessed a surge in crypto mining activities in 2020, despite crypto-related activities being illegal since 2018. Customs have reported that mining hardware worth over $589,000 has crossed the nation’s border over the past six months.
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