Kenya Poised To Increase Its Bitcoin Mining Hashrate Block, Inc. And elite venture capital firm Stillmark invests $2 million in community-first company Gridless.
Gridless Bitcoin will build more mining facilities close to renewable energy facilities, prioritizing the electrification of the surrounding community before using surplus electricity to secure the network.
Enables off-grid power generation
“Africa needs affordable electricity,” said Erik Hersman, CEO of Gridless. “Our work in supporting renewable energy mini grid developers fills a gap, helping developers to expand faster, be more sustainable and serve thousands of homes.”
The company builds and operates data centers in rural areas deprived of reliable electricity, partnering with key energy companies such as hydropower specialist Hydrobox to launch at least three live facilities, with plans to further expand into East Africa. Is. Gridless’ partnership with Hydrobox provides the power producer with round-the-clock power to make energy production viable.
Gridless CEO seeks to tap Africa’s renewable energy potential
According to Gridless, without an anchor tenant, the return on investment becomes impossible. A mining facility provides a minimum baseload against which power producers can plan.
Gridless can also adapt its electricity usage based on the needs of the community, with the possibility of introducing new, more efficient mining computers. Mining is the process of securing the bitcoin network by validating transactions based on specific consensus rules. Transactions are divided into blocks. Miners must spend computing power to solve a puzzle and add transactions to the blockchain. The bitcoin software then rewards them with new bitcoins.
“Renewable energy is abundant on the continent. It presents excellent potential for profits for both energy generators and miners, as well as the potential to deliver a real positive impact on the communities where it is used,” Hersmann said.
According to Statista, 65% of Africa’s renewable energy mix in 2020 came from hydropower sources. Additionally, the continent has approximately 11,4 MW of solar capacity and 6,500 MW of wind capacity. Kenya leads the continent for geothermal power generation after the Kenyan government recently eased the regulatory burden for the renewable sector.
Small Mining Facilities Will Improve Bitcoin Security
A core tenet of bitcoin miners is that they act as a decentralized automated clearing house for transactions. Only transactions verified by the clearing house are considered suitable to be added to the blockchain, as malformed transactions are rejected.
However, the movement of mining capabilities beyond the reach of the average Joe into the hands of large corporations has concentrated bitcoin mining into centralized groups. Concentration will worsen as miners fight an uphill battle to stay profitable in the current bear market.
Bitfarms, Hive Blockchain, Hut 8, and Riot Blockchain all mined 4,400 bitcoins in the three months ending September 2022, with Riot producing the cheapest bitcoins at $11,020 per coin. Riot operates the largest mining and hosting facility in North America and plans to continue that dominance in Q1, 2023.
On the other hand, projects like Hydrobox can improve the security of the bitcoin network through the deployment of smaller features while empowering African companies with newly minted bitcoin.
These projects can also propel previously disadvantaged communities onto the global economic scene through affordable electricity and internet access. Payments company Strike launched a new money-transfer service between the US, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria on December 6, 2022.
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