Recently the UAE Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) issued an advisory to UAE farmers stating that crypto mining on farms could cause a sharp spike in electricity bills and cannot be carried out on UAE farm lands. For some this is confusing given that in many countries it is encouraged to utilize bitcoin mining for farming and agriculture.

As per the announcement published in Khaleej Times, “This activity is considered a misuse of the farm for purposes other than its intended use.” Those caught mining crypto on farms shall face fines of up to Dh10,000, it added.

Bitcoin Mining and High energy, water costs

This is not the first time Bitcoin or crypto mining is associated with high energy usage and costs. In a research paper entitled,” The Environmental Footprint of Bitcoin Mining Across the Globe: Call for Urgent Action. Earth’s Future, 2023” the authors used energy, carbon, water and land use data from 2020 to 2021 to calculate country-specific environmental impacts for 76 countries known to mine bitcoin. They focused on bitcoin because it’s older, popular and more well-established/widely used than other cryptocurrencies.

As per the research if bitcoin mining were a country, it would be ranked 27th in energy use globally. Overall, bitcoin mining consumed about 173 terawatt hours of electricity in the two years from January 2020 to December 2021, about 60% more than the energy used for bitcoin mining in 2018-2019, the study found. Bitcoin mining emitted about 86 megatons of carbon, largely because of the dominance of fossil fuel-based energy in bitcoin-mining countries.

In terms of water, global Bitcoin mining used 1.65 million liters (about 426,000 gallons) of water in 2020-2021, enough to fill more than 660,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. China, the U.S. and Canada had the largest water footprints. Kazakhstan and Iran, which along with the U.S. and China have suffered from water shortages, were also in the top-10 list for water footprint.

“These are very, very worrying numbers,” Madani said. “Even hydropower, which some countries consider a clean source of renewable energy, has a huge footprint.”

Yet in terms of land use, the study analysed land use by considering the area of land affected to produce energy for mining. The land footprint of server farms is negligible, Kaveh said. The global land use footprint of bitcoin mining is 1,870 square kilometres (722 square miles), with China’s footprint alone taking up 913 square kilometres (353 square miles). The U.S.’ land footprint is 303 square kilometres (117 square miles), and likely growing while China’s is shrinking.

ADAFSA Justified in its decision

Mohamed El Masri, Founder and CEO of Permianchain, a blockchain start-up based in Toronto, Canada, that operates a permissioned blockchain platform to unlock liquidity from unused or underutilized natural resources reserves offering a mechanism for funding and energy creation for bitcoin mining and other sectors, explains, “I believe the recent warning by ADAFSA is justifiable and should have come way sooner. In my opinion, the AED 10,000 fine is a good warning fine, but if those miners do not comply, they should be fined a full year of bitcoin production (revenue) and be banned from ever conducting bitcoin mining business in the country.”

According to El Masri it is necessary to impose good practice and a sound regulatory compliant environment to maintain the UAE’s leading crypto stance. He notes, “Bitcoin mining is meant to be a social and economic practice that improves the livelihood of communities where energy and natural resources are underutilized, wasted or require commercial viability to bring to market. By hoarding power on agriculture land where it’s intended purpose is to bring much needed food security to the nation, I find that quite a waste of much needed resources.”

He explains that mining on agricultural land is not scalable anyway, and will not last. He states, “It was always a temporary fix for small-time retail mining managers to make a quick buck… the intention of these operators is money and not community or to build a circular economy for new wealth.”

He offers a solution which entails utilizing bitcoin mining in greenhouses and agribusiness to make use of the heat by-product for water heating, greenhouse crop production and other innovations are already being put to practice in various parts of the world.

Utilizing Bitcoin mining for sustainable Farming

This is true, other countries have opted for using excess energy, such as the methane waste on farms to use for Bitcoin mining.  The mining of Bitcoin, requiring substantial energy input for the computational processes, can effectively harness this surplus methane, mitigating its impact as a potent greenhouse gas while simultaneously transforming waste into wealth.

The AmityAge Mining Farm in Slovakia exemplifies this fusion, transforming human and animal waste into biogas, consequently powering their Bitcoin mining rigs. This dual benefit fosters sustainability while offering a robust business model that mitigates greenhouse gas emissions.

In Canada a Manitoba company is using waste heat from bitcoin miners to heat their Greenhouse and fish farm business. In addition Myera Group in Canada is merging the worlds of Bitcoin mining and sustainable agriculture. Within the walls of a former car museum, Bruce Hardy, president of Myera Group, orchestrates a unique operation where more than 30 miners hash away on the second floor, quietly mining bitcoin while generating heat that serves a dual purpose, powering the ASIC miners and nurturing nearby plants in a greenhouse.

Even Iceland which boasts of an abundant supply of renewable energy, making it attractive hub for bitcoin miners, but is plagued with a large gap in food trade balance, depending on imports for basic necessities, is considering utilizing the synergy between bitcoin mining and use of renewable energy to offer a heating solution for businesses and greenhouses.

UAE Bitcoin Mining

In Conclusion the issue might not be Bitcoin mining on farms per say, but on what energy resources are used for Bitcoin mining, and how the excess heat from Bitcoin mining can be used for something useful allowing for a sustainable process, with less effect on the environment while enabling food sustainability.

This is especially important given that Abu Dhabi in particular has become of a hub for Bitcoin mining in the MENA region. In 2023 Zero Two, and Marathon Digital Holdings, Joint entity based out of ADGM for crypto mining inaugurated  a 200 MW Bitcoin mining facility at Masdar Abu Dhabi.

As per Marathon digital website, Marathon digital is currently using UAE electricity grid to power the Bitcoin mining farm in Abu Dhabi, with 8,500 operational miners with a hashrate of 1.2 EH/s. ( They note on their website that *Data only represents Marathon’s share of the joint venture and not the total scope of operations). Marathon Digital own 20% of the joint venture.

Many in the ecosystem have noted that in the future, the UAE plans to use solar energy and nuclear energy as sustainable resources for energy production, until then whether Bitcoin is being mined on farms or elsewhere, the energy cost remains high.

Genesis Digital Assets Limited (GDA),a Bitcoin mining company with a presence in the UAE, is opening a new data center in Argentina powered by YPF Luz, a leading company in electric power generation.

The announcement comes during a period of expansion by GDA, which now operates 20 industrial-scale data centers across North America, South America, Europe, and Central Asia. The company’s first facility in South America is located in Rincón de Los Sauces, in the Neuquén Province and has a total capacity of 7 MW and 1 MW of backup.

The Bajo del Toro Thermal Power Plant, composed of YPF, Equinor and YPF Luz, will power 1,200 bitcoin mining machines, and efficiently monetize stranded gas, which would otherwise be flared into the atmosphere.

Speaking from the company’s Dubai office today, Abdumalik Mirakhmedov, Executive President of GDA, said: “We believe that Argentina is an important country for Bitcoin mining, given its abundance of energy sources and business-friendly environment.

“The opening of our first data center in South America is an important step in our geographic diversification efforts. And this will be yet another opportunity to show the world that Bitcoin mining can have a positive effect on the environment and can be fully integrated into local communities.”    

With an abundance of energy, a favorable political climate, and a strong crypto ethos, Argentina is becoming increasingly important for Bitcoin mining and the broader industry.

For the new data center, GDA will use the electricity generated from stranded gas provided YPF Luz, an electric power generation company that has been leading the energy transition since 2013.

As stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane gas adversely impacts the environment as it is responsible for approximately a third of the warming the world is experiencing. Methane mitigation techniques, such as the utilization of stranded gas, are important to reduce emissions and combat global warming.

“In 2022, we were the first Argentine company to generate electrical energy for cryptocurrency mining from flare gas, an innovative solution in line with YPF’s energy transition needs,” said Martín Mandarano, CEO of YPF Luz. “This project with GDA allows us to bring YPF and Equinor, two companies committed to reducing the carbon footprint of their exploration activities, an adaptable and sustainable flare gas use solution.”

Max Keisser the Bitcoin activist is at it again. Over the past months Max continues to make claims that a nation state is purchasing large amounts of Bitcoin. First, he pointed the finger at Qatar, claiming it would purchase $500 billion worth of Bitcoin.

Qatar obviously did not confirm or negate these claims; however, its central bank and government continue to prohibit the trading of cryptocurrencies noting the risky nature of these virtual assets. This has not stopped Qatar from embracing digital assets, and developing a regulatory framework as well as the digital assets Lab.

However, this has not discerned Keisser, he commented on an X (formerly twitter) post by Vivek4real that notes that an “undisclosed nation-state just bought another 100 Bitcoin. They now own 59K Bitcoin.”

Keisser comments on X that his new intelligence points to Abu Dhabi being the purchaser of Bitcoin. He states, “Just got some new intel . . .  Abu Dhabi is now the top contender.”

So now it is not Qatar but its Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.

This while still seeming farfetched, could be closer to the truth than assuming that Qatar is purchasing Bitcoin. First Abu Dhabi and the UAE in particular have been positively approaching virtual assets. Both Abu Dhabi’s ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) regulatory arm the FSRA as well as Dubai’s virtual asset regulatory authority (VARA) have come out with crypto regulations and have licensed crypto exchanges, and custodians.

Moreover Abu Dhabi is home to a Bitcoin mining farm co-owned and managed by Marathon Digital so it could be plausible that they are accumulating Bitcoin from revenues of the crypto mining farm. It is also the base of Phoenix Group another huge bitcoin mining investor.

So while Keisser continuously tries to allude to the fact that an rich oil country, or a country in the MENA region is buying up Bitcoin, the biggest governmental owners of Bitcoin are the United States, Britain, and Germany. They own the most Bitcoin according to Arkham Intelligence. The crypto analytics firm noted that the United States owns 212,847 Bitcoins.

What one can say for sure, is that the ownership of Bitcoin is falling more into the hands of institutional investors, and governments whether with Bitcoin ETFs or confiscated crypto.

U.S. based Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol (SBP), which aims to unlock Bitcoin’s potential to become the most transparent and sustainable asset has appointed UAE national, an entrepreneur and pioneer in nuclear energy technology, space industry and digital assets Ali AlNuaimi.

Ali Alnuaimi, will hold the position of advisor at Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol. As per the Xpost of SBP, “Ali brings a wealth of experience to Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol. His visionary leadership in launching the UAE’s 1st nuclear reactor & integrating blockchain technology into the energy & financial sectors is a testament to his expertise in sustainable #energy & technological innovation.”

The post adds, “Ali’s pioneering work in leveraging blockchain for energy sustainability aligns perfectly with the company’s objectives, promising to accelerate the adoption of #cleanenergy solutions in bitcoin mining.”

AlNuaimi holds other advisory roles in well renowned entities in the digital asset, AI and Blockchain fields. He is an advisor at Buildr.ai, Marathon Digital, Gigaenergy, and Mysten Labs, the creators of Sui Blockchain.

He is also the Founder and Managing Director of AI firm Shafra.

SBP enables investors to hold verifiably sustainable BTC through the introduction of a new environmental commodity derived from clean energy bitcoin mining, called the Sustainable Bitcoin Certificate (SBC). SBC are paired with BTC 1 for 1 by investors. SBC financially incentivizes Bitcoin miners to use verified clean energy sources.

Finally, SBP’s certificate allows Bitcoin to become fully sustainable with transparent clean energy use without disrupting the fungibility of BTC.

Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol is turning environmental sustainability into an appreciating commodity, in turn supporting clean energy bitcoin miners and helping investors reach their ESG goals.

SBC are a new environmental commodity specifically designed to align Bitcoin mining with climate action. SBC incentivize verified clean energy use and waste methane mitigation, as well as mobilize capital from investors toward the energy transition.

The SBP aims to bring in new revenue and energy transparency by mining Bitcoin with clean energy.

UAE has become a hub for Bitcoin mining, whether with Marathon Digital in Abu Dhabi, or Phoenix Technology, could this be the starting point for digital assets mining, using nuclear energy available in Abu Dhabi?

In a recent press release published by Marathon Digital Holdings, Bitcoin mining entity, the company showcased its unaudited Bitcoin production stating that in January 2024 their Abu Dhabi facilities will have a total of 7.1 exahashes online.

According to the CEO of Marathon Digital Fred Thiel, the operations in Abu Dhabi UAE currently has 2.7 exahashes online and includes over 13,000 rigs energized at their second larger facility in Masdar City. As he stated, “the remaining 4.4 exahashes are still expected to be online in January 2024.”

In November Marathon Digital had reported that 7.5 exahashes would be online by the end of 2023.

Marathon Digital by December had increased their energized hash rate 4% to 24.7 exahashes and extended their lead as the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner in North America. As per Thiel, “We continue to target 30% growth in energized hash rate in 2024 and with the recently announced acquisition of the two sites from Generate Capital, which is expected to close in January 2024, we expect to reach 50 exahashes in the next 18 to 24 months.”

In addition their new joint venture in Paraguay also continued to energize, reaching 0.3 exahashes with 2,110 miners now online and the company expect the total 1.1 exahashes to be online by early Q2 2024.

Bitcoin production grew, as Marathon mined 1,853 BTC in December, up 56% from November, and 290% year-over-year.

Thiel explained, “Significantly higher transaction fees helped December’s Bitcoin production grow much faster than average operational hash rate. For the month, MaraPool collected more than 380 BTC in transaction fees or 22% of BTC production, up from 12% of production last month. Our success in capturing the sizable transaction fees currently available to miners is directly related to owning and operating our own pool and represents a key competitive advantage of our vertically integrated tech stack.”

As of December 31, the Company holds a total of 15,174 unrestricted BTC. Marathon opted to sell 704 BTC or 38% of monthly production to cover operating expenses. The Company intends to sell a portion of its bitcoin holdings in future periods to support monthly operations, manage its treasury, and for general corporate purposes.

Marathon held $356.8 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet at month end, all of which was unrestricted. During December, the combined balance of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and bitcoin increased from $802.3 million to $998.5 million at December 31, 2023. In anticipation of the next Bitcoin network halving, the Company continues to build liquidity on the balance sheet to capitalize on strategic opportunities, including industry consolidation. The transaction to acquire two operating sites from Generate Capital is expected to close in January 2024 for approximately $178.6 million in cash to be paid from the Company’s balance sheet.

Oman continues to grow its crypto mining business amidst a crypto bull market and possible Bitcoin ETF approvals in early January across the United States. Oman based Green Data City and Italy based Alps Blockchain, through its subsidiary Alps MiddleEast SPC, have agreed to develop a blockchain data center in Oman. The crypto mining farm will be installed in the Green Data City’s hub with a first phase of 6.5MW.

Alps Blockchain will start to deploy the containerized units in January 2024, and use the latest S21 machines released by Bitmain. Alps Blockchain has long been in partnership with Bitmain, the largest manufacturer of mining equipment in the global market.

The new S21 mining ASIC reaches an efficiency rating of 16 to 17 joules per terahash (J/TH), an unprecedented performance in the market. This performance reduces the energy needed to mine and to secure the Bitcoin network.

The location of the Blockchain Bitcoin mining datacenter is energy efficient given it is located in Southern Oman where the summer temperature stays below 29 degrees celsius, naturally decreasing the cooling requirements compared to the rest of the region. In addition, the presence of cold deep ocean water will bring natural cooling in the next phases of the development and further reduce the energy needed to operate the facility to a minimum.

In addition to the geographical advantages of the location, the partners have chosen Oman because of the long-term security provided by the Green Data City mining license, the stability of the Oman Government energy policies, and the large renewable energy development plans in the Country.

This announcement follows a previous agreement in October 2023 between China’s Bitcoin crypto mining and Blockchain hardware manufacturer, Canaan and Oman’s Green Data city to pilot phase of a new crypto mining operation in Oman. The new site would also be installed in the facility of Green Data City, and under the agreement, Canaan has the option to expand the total capacity to up to 100MW.

As part of the Oman’s strategy to build  crypto mining datacentres in Oman, the first phase of Asyad Group crypto mining center was launched in August 2023 in the Free zone in Salalah.

Built and managed by Exahertz, a subsidiary of Afaq Advance Technologies firm, the first phase was inaugurated during a ceremony attended by top Omani governmental officials. The ceremony was held under the auspices of Eng. Said Hamoud Al Ma’awali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology. It was attended by HH Sayyid Marwan Turki Al Said, Governor of Dhofar.

In the same month, Oman’s Green Data City and Abu Dhabi’s Phoenix Group signed an agreement to develop a 150MW crypto-mining farm in Oman. The new farm will be set up in Green Data City was noted that it will be operational by Q2 2024, becoming one of the largest crypto-mining data centers in the region.

The first Bitcoin was mined in Oman back in December 2022.

Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran to start doing deals in Bitcoin, this is a statement made on X by no other than Max Keiser, the well-known Bitcoin influencer and the host of Keiser report, who is as well senior Bitcoin advisor to Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador.

As per Keiser’s statement, on X, “Russia, KSA, Iran will start doing deals in Bitcoin. Qatar knows this and is pulling the trigger on a huge BTC buy for their SWF (Sovereign Wealth Fund).”

This comes just days after Keiser stated that the Qatar sovereign Fund would be buying $500 billion of Bitcoin. Keiser had stated on X, “I have 1 word for you $100,000 Bitcoin God Candle fans. QATAR, the rumors are getting very loud on this. Their SWF (Sovereign Wealth Fund) rumored to looking to buy 1/2 trillion BTC (Bitcoin).”

Months prior to this Qatar was touted as discussing Bitcoin mining during the visit of HH Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar to El Salvador but nothing materialized on that front yet.

Keiser is a longtime Bitcoin advocate and educator, having advised people to buy Bitcoin since the price was $1.

With his statements Keiser seems to imply that the top GCC countries, Iran, and Russia plans to break away from the U.S. dollar and gravitate towards Bitcoin for trade.

Some would say that given that the Qatar Investment Authority founded in 2005 in October 2023, had an estimated $475 billion of assets under management would they use all that to buy Bitcoin? Qatar has not even legalized the trade of cryptocurrencies and neither has Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Russia.

In January 2023, Qatar Investment Authority CEO Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud told Bloomberg that they would be interested in the credit space, and AI (Artificial Intelligence) as a theme of investments. In 2022 the CEO of Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund showed interest in investing in Blockchain but shunned crypto.

Could the strained relationships with the United States be pushing forward this movement towards de-dollarization in the form of utilization of Bitcoin?

Another interesting analysis could be that Qatar is actually interested in Bitcoin mining in El Salvador.  El Salvador was noted as entering a public private partnership worth $1billion to create the world’s largest Bitcoin mining farm. Volcano Energy has developed the first mining pool in El Salvador with Luxor Technology.

This according to Volcano Energy is a $1 billion Bitcoin mining project set to transform El Salvador through the development and operation of renewable energy plants. Could Qatar one of the most experienced and highly invested renewable energy country be interested in this project? Maybe just maybe yes!

UAE based Phoenix Group, a cryptocurrency mining technology and blockchain entity, which launched the first crypto mining entity IPO in UAE on November 16th, has announced a resounding success with an impressive 33 time over subscription led by retail investors.

As per the press release, this success demonstrates robust investor interest.

The company’s offer of 907,323,529 shares witnessed overwhelming demand, particularly from retail investors who oversubscribed by 180 times. Professional investors also showed strong support, contributing to a 22-fold oversubscription, underscoring the strength and potential of Phoenix Group.

Bijan Alizadehfard, Co-Founder & Group CEO of Phoenix Group PLC, stated, “The overwhelming interest during the offer period is a powerful endorsement of our pioneering role in Cryptocurrency Mining and Blockchain. The anticipation leading up to our listing on ADX, as reflected by the oversubscription, is a testament to the confidence investors place in our vision and the potential they see in Phoenix Group.”

Munaf Ali, Co-Founder & Group MD of Phoenix Group PLC, commented on this milestone, “The exceptional oversubscription during our offer period is a clear indicator of the market’s endorsement of Phoenix Group as a leader in Cryptocurrency Mining and Blockchain Technology. As we prepare for our listing on ADX on December 4, 2023, under the trading symbol PHX, we are more committed than ever to enhancing our mining capabilities and driving tech innovations forward.”

Prior to the IPO, Phoenix Group sold 10% of its company shares to Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding Company’s subsidiary. This was seen as a positive stance towards Phoenix Group.

The successful close of the offer period paves the way for Phoenix Group’s anticipated listing on the ADX, scheduled for December 4, 2023, under the trading symbol PHX.

Marathon Digital Holding, a crypto mining entity has mined 18 Bitcoin out of the 1,202 Bitcoin produced in October 2023 from its UAE joint venture with 2.3 exahashes online in Abu Dhabi with 7 exahashes to be online by end of 2023. The figures were published in its unaudited Bitcoin BTC production and miner installation updates for October 2023.

Fried Thiel, Marathon Digital’s Chairman and CEO  stated in their press release, “  “In October, we increased our energized hash rate 1% to 19.2 exahashes as the facility in Garden City, Texas, where we have 4.1 exahashes of miners installed, began to come online. Once this facility is fully operational later this month, we will have surpassed our 23 exahash target and solidified Marathon as the largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner in North America.”

In terms of the operation in UAE, Thiel added, “By increasing our hash rate and continuing to improve our operations at the facility in McCamey, Texas and elsewhere, we earned 4.0% of the total Bitcoin network’s available miner rewards and produced 1,202 bitcoin in October. This total includes 18 bitcoin from our 20% share of the JV in Abu Dhabi. We now have 2.3 exahashes online in Abu Dhabi as our second, larger facility in Masdar City has begun powering up. We continue to expect the full 7.0 exahashes in the UAE to be online by year-end.

“We have also been exploring new methods of mining that we believe may allow us to further diversify our operations, reduce our energy costs, and increase our sustainable energy mix. We recently announced a pilot project in Utah that is exclusively powered by landfill methane gas. Naturally produced methane is often stranded, and Bitcoin miners like Marathon are uniquely positioned to help capture and convert this environmentally harmful gas into clean, renewable energy. We look forward to sharing more of the many innovative mining projects that we are exploring in the months ahead.”

Furthermore in November 8th Marathon Digital Holdings reported results for the third quarter 2023 including its operational results for the quarter ended September 30th 2023, Thiel made a statement showcasing how their international expansion in UAE has opened up new international opportunities such as Paraguay. He noted, “We made significant progress on our 2023 strategic  priorities in the  third quarter. First, we grew our energized hash rate 8% quarter-over-quarter to  19.1 exahashes. In addition, our new facility in Garden City started energizing last week and is  expected to be fully operational later this month. Second, we experienced significantly higher uptime  as  optimization  efforts  helped  increase  our  U.S. average operational hash  rate 18%  from last  quarter to  14.2 exahashes.  Third, we energized our first joint venture and our first international location in  the UAE. This initial success has helped open new opportunities, and we  recently entered into a new joint venture in Paraguay powered by hydroelectricity.

The Company recorded net income of $64.1 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, during the three months ended  September 30, 2023, compared  to a net loss  of $72.5 million, or $0.62 loss per share, in the same period last year.

Marathon Digital officially inaugurated it 200 MW Bitcoin mining facility at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi UAE, under the joint venture Two Zero. In January 27th 2022, Marathon digital Holdings, announced that it had entered into a shareholder’s agreement with FSI (FS Innovation), the BTC mining subsidiary of UAE ADQ a sovereign fund, to form an Abu Dhabi, (Abu Dhabi Global Markets) based company.

Zero Two, and Marathon Digital Holdings, Joint entity based out of ADGM Abu Dhabi for crypto mining has inaugurated  the state of the art 200 MW Bitcoin mining facility at Masdar Abu Dhabi. The announcement was made in a LinkedIn post by Pierre Sematies, Partner at Roland Berger and Global Head of Digital assets.

He stated, “Today Zero Two inaugurated a state-of-the-art 200MW Bitcoin Mining Facility with Marathon Digital Holdings at Masdar. The quality of the facility and the pace at which it was built and energized are very impressive.” He congratulated the teams of both Zero Two and Marathon Digital, as well as Roland Berger Digital asset team who were part of this journey in the early days.

Prior to this Marathon Digital Holdings had confirmed that the company along with Abu Dhabi based Zero Two (Registered name FS Innovation), an emerging blockchain and digital assets infrastructure development company, will be launching the two digital asset mining sites with a combined capacity of 250 Megawatts in the sustainability hub of Abu Dhabi Masdar City and the port zone of Mina Zayed by the end of 2023.

The joint entity registered in ADGM will work to accelerate the global digital economy while supporting the power grid of Abu Dhabi, JV) with the first large-scale immersion Bitcoin mining operations in the Middle East. To power the sites, Marathon and Zero Two intend to leverage excess energy in Abu Dhabi, increasing the base load and sustainability of the Abu Dhabi grid. Marathon and Zero Two will offset any non-sustainably produced electricity with clean energy certificates.

The equity ownership in the ADGM Entity will be 80% for Zero Two and 20% for Marathon.

This announcement comes as Oman moves strongly forward with its crypto mining projects.