One of the largest Bitcoin mining centers will be built in the Himalayas

Mining company Bitdeer expects to build a 100 MW power plant in Bhutan for carbon-free cryptocurrency mining. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The investment arm of the Kingdom of Bhutan and mining company Bitdeer Technologies plan to find investors for a $500 million fund.

Fundraising will begin as early as the end of May. The purpose of the fund is to launch a carbon-free Bitcoin mining center. Which uses hydroelectric power, the two companies said in a joint filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the document, Bitdeer expects to build a 100-megawatt power plant in Bhutan. And its construction will begin in the second quarter and be completed in July-September.

Mining will be the least risky way for Bhutan to take advantage of cryptocurrency opportunities. And for now, the country will only focus on Bitcoin, said Ujjwal Deep Dahal, head of the investment arm of local firm Druk Holding & Investments, in a commentary for Bloomberg. Druk began mining cryptocurrencies as part of an experiment when bitcoin was still worth about $5,000, he said.

The kingdom of Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan is located between China and India. And it has a population of about 800,000 people. The local economy relies heavily on revenues from hydropower. Druk manages public investments in traditional areas. These include stocks, bonds, technology, energy and real estate. It also mines cryptocurrencies and invests in what the company calls a “future-oriented” strategy.

The Bitdeer company is registered in Singapore and is owned by Chinese businessman Jihan Wu. And acts as one of the leading players in the cryptocurrency mining market in terms of aggregate capacity. Wu previously served on the board of directors of Bitmain, a leading manufacturer of mining equipment. And owned the BTC.com mining pool until February 2021.

Bitdeer went public on the NASDAQ exchange through a SPAC deal in April, and its shares trade under the ticker BTDR. The company owns one of the largest cryptocurrency mining centers in Texas. In the United States, rising electricity prices have led to the bankruptcy of several major cryptocurrency players. And on May 2, the presidential administration again raised the issue of imposing a 30% tax on miners.