Bitmain-Backed BitFuFu to Acquire 80MW Bitcoin Mine in Ethiopia

Bitmain-affiliated Bitcoin mining and cloud mining firm BitFuFu is set to expand its power capacities through an acquisition in Ethiopia.

The company announced on Tuesday that it had entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a majority stake in an 80-megawatt Bitcoin mine in the Horn of Africa, which boasts electricity costs of less than $0.04 per kWh.

BitFuFu did not disclose the terms or the counterparties involved in the transaction but indicated that the site acquisition will enable the company to move away from a purely asset-light business model and broaden its geographic reach.

As of June 30, BitFuFu was operating nearly 25 EH/s of proprietary and cloud mining hashrate, with most of its operations hosted by third parties in the United States.

The company did not specify the operational status of the Ethiopian facility but stated that it has the potential to add 4.6 EH/s to its mining fleet using Bitmain’s Antminer S21 series.

The acquisition comes as Ethiopia emerges as an attractive location for Bitcoin mining investors, particularly those from China who have turned to overseas locations following China’s ban on Bitcoin mining. Ethiopia is said to have approximately 600 megawatts of operational Bitcoin mining hashrate.

Bitmain, which initially incubated BitFuFu before spinning it off with a minority stake, appears to be heavily involved in the Bitcoin mining ecosystem in Africa.

On its website, Bitmain features a 150-MW hydro-powered Bitcoin mine in Ethiopia as a case study, developed through a partnership with the Chinese company Baohui. The mining equipment manufacturing giant recently released a 61-page “Hydro-cooling Mining Farm Construction Guide” aimed at infrastructure partnerships to colocate its flagship equipment.