Wall Street Bitcoin Miner BitFuFu Acquires Facility in Ethiopia, Eyes Cheaper Energy

BitFuFu, a Wall Street-listed #Bitcoin mining company, has acquired an 80-megawatt mining facility in Ethiopia to counter rising production costs. The move seeks to capitalize on the lower…

Major Bitcoin cloud mining company BitFuFu has made a big impact in the crypto mining sector by acquiring a majority share in an 80-megawatt (MW) Bitcoin mining facility situated in Ethiopia, according to an announcement on Oct.23.

This acquisition will see BitFuFu, a Wall Street-listed company, move from an asset-light approach — where it relied on outside hosting — to directly owning and running its mining equipment. One major benefit of the Ethiopian facility is that its energy prices — which are less than $0.04 per kilowatt-hour — are expected to significantly lower BitFuFu’s Bitcoin output costs.

Dubbed the ‘Wall Street Bitcoin miner,’ BitFuFu acquires an 80-MW facility in Ethiopia to counter rising production costs. This move aims to capitalize on the lower energy prices in the East African nation to boost its Bitcoin mining profitability.

This new facility will add up to 4.6 exahashes per second (EH/s) based on BitMain’s innovative S21-series mining equipment, augmenting BitFuFu’s total capacity. After this purchase, the company’s overall capacity for hosting will exceed 600 petahashes per second (PH/s), and BitFuFu will have about 13% of that direct ownership.

According to Leo Lu, the CEO of BitFuFu, this acquisition marks a turning point for the business as it will enable it to take advantage of Ethiopia’s low energy prices and increase profitability.

This move comes at a time when the Bitcoin mining industry is facing increasing challenges, including rising mining difficulty and soaring energy prices, which have eaten into miners’ profits.

Over the past year, BitFuFu’s net profit dropped by 75% while its operating expenses increased by 170%.

However, the company's move to diversify its infrastructure and capitalize on lower energy costs in Ethiopia is a strategic response to these challenges.

Previously concentrated in the United States and other regions, BitFuFu's mining operations will now benefit from Ethiopia's cheaper electricity, giving it a competitive edge in the industry.

Moreover, the new plant will generate employment opportunities in Ethiopia, aligning with BitFuFu's global aspirations and contributing to the local economy.

Despite these efforts, challenges remain for Bitcoin miners. According to CNF, due largely to low transaction fees and high operating costs, Bitcoin miners earned only $816 million in September.

The post-halving environment has become more demanding as rewards have decreased while mining difficulty has increased.