Crypto Miner BIT Mining Ditches Data Center Build in Kazakhstan Due to Unstable Power Supply

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency miner BIT Mining (BTCM) pulled the plug on its near-$10M mining data center construction project in Kazakhstan, citing unstable local power supply.

BIT Mining announced in May a plan to invest $9.33 million to construct and operate a data center in Kazahkstan with a total power capacity of 100 megawatts (MW). However, during its quarterly earnings report this morning, the company said that deal had been terminated.
The move won’t affect BIT Mining's bitcoin mining machines deployed in third-party data centers in the country, said the firm.
It’s another data point showing the continued difficulty miners are facing in Kazakhstan as the national grid operator moved first to ration electricity to crypto miners, and then to cut them off completely. On Dec. 2, CoinDesk reported that Bitmain-backed miner BitFuFu - following weeks of power rationing in Kazakhstan - abandoned its mining rigs there and purchased new ones to set up in the U.S.
BIT Mining, meanwhile, continues to ramp up data center investment in the U.S., saying development of its Ohio mining site is expected to be completed in the first half of this year. The location will have a total planned power capacity of up to 150 megawatts.
Turning to Q4 operating results, the company reported revenue of $495.8 million, up 26% from $393.1 million in the previous three months. Helping to boost revenue were deployments of mining machines in Hong Kong and the U.S., and stronger mining pool business thanks to rising cryptocurrency prices.
The company’s Q3 revenues were revised lower by $33 million because of a reclassification of commissions charged to mining pool customers, Vice President Danni Zheng told CoinDesk via WeChat on Thursday.
Shares are down 2.6% in late-morning U.S. trading, with miner peers also sliding alongside a 4% decline in the price of bitcoin (BTC).

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Aoyon Ashraf

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Eliza Gkritsi

Eliza Gkritsi is CoinDesk's crypto mining reporter.

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