- Ethiopia has signed an agreement with Hong Kong-based operator Data Center Service.
- The state investment fund will provide $250 million to develop infrastructure for mining and AI training.
- Ethiopia has banned cryptoassets but will allow cryptocurrency mining from 2022.
Ethiopia is investing $250 million to create infrastructure for bitcoin mining and training in AI technologies. To this end, the country’s government has signed an agreement with Data Center Service.
The funding will be provided by state-owned firm Ethiopian Investment Holdings. The team of Data Center Service, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based data center operator West Data Group, will handle the technical side of the issue.
It’s important to note that the Ethiopian Investment Holdings statement doesn’t mention cryptocurrency mining directly. It talks about building advanced infrastructure “for data mining operations and artificial intelligence training” in Ethiopia.
However, Hashlabs Mining CEO Kal Kassa confirmed this information on social network X (formerly Twitter). His company has been mining cryptocurrency in the country since 2022.
It’s official!🥂
The Ethiopian Government will be mining bitcoin through it’s partnership with Data Center Service PLC, a subsidiary of the West Data Group
The partnership will be for the purposes of a $250 million data mining project in Ethiopia
- Kal Kassa (@KalKassa) February 15, 2024
Earlier, the media reported that 19 Chinese firms mining the first cryptocurrency had moved to Ethiopia. The reason for migration was low electricity tariffs and friendly relations between the countries, experts say.
Journalists also claim that bitcoin miners have their own lobbying associations in Ethiopia, supported by groups such as Project Mano and BitcoinBirr.
In addition, local authorities are working with the Cardano blockchain as part of an agreement to overhaul the public education system.
Recall, we wrote that bitcoin miner Phoenix Group reported a rise in profits after the IPO.
