Bhutan and Singapore-based Bitdeer have announced plans to raise $500 million to set up crypto mining operations that use the Himalayan kingdom’s plentiful hydropower.
Huge amounts of electricity are needed to power the vast computer farms that mine for cryptocurrency, leading to heavy criticism of their impact on the climate and a search for greener mining options.
Soaring energy costs have also squeezed crypto firms, leading to the birth of several initiatives to find cheaper and more sustainable ways to power their operations in a notoriously risky and volatile industry.
The initiative announced on Wednesday by the Bhutan government’s investment arm Druk and Nasdaq-listed crypto-mining firm Bitdeer includes the construction of data centres and investment in renewable energy such as hydropower and hydrogen.
“The Partnership with Bitdeer to launch a carbon-free digital asset mining datacenter represents an investment in a more connected and sustainable domestic economy,” Druk CEO Ujjwal Deep Dahal said in a joint statement with Bitdeer.
Bhutan, sandwiched between India and China, is carbon-negative and its constitution mandates that 60 percent of the country remains forested.
It has an abundant supply of hydropower and exports electricity to India, but has ramped up efforts in recent years to expand revenue sources and diversify its economy.
Druk and Bitdeer, which already runs data centres in Norway and the United States, said they expect to begin raising funds for the initiative by the end of May.
Bitdeer is owned by Chinese crypto billionaire Jihan Wu, and began trading on the Nasdaq in April.
Last year, dozens of companies united under the umbrella of the Crypto Climate Accord, pledging to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
Two US firms — Block and Blockstream — are preparing to launch a fully solar-powered bitcoin mine in June.
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