US Marathon Digital Holdings to jointly build $406 million crypto mining facility in UAE

 

In an SEC Filing dated January 27^th 2022, USA based Marathon digital Holdings, a digital asset mining entity, announced that it had entered into a shareholder’s agreement with FSI ( FS Innovation), the BTC mining subsidiary of UAE ADQ a sovereign fund,  to form an Abu Dhabi, ( ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Markets) based company.

As per the filing, the joint UAE ADGM based company will establish and operate one or more mining facilities for digital assets. The business entity will be in the field of digital asset/crypto mining.

The initial phase will consist of two digital asset mining sites comprising 250 MW (megawatts) in Abu Dhabi UAE.

Marathon Holdings will own 20% of the joint company in UAE only. The cost of the project will be $406 million.

This new comes after UAE based Phoenix Technology which embarked on establishing a $2 billion crypto-mining farm in the UAE,  announced in November 2022, that the biggest crypto mining project in the region will be completed in the next six months, Q2 of 2023.  The press release at the time noted, “The project will be finalized within six months, giving the region a taste of technological advancement and development.”

In February 2022 Phoenix had announced it was part of the group of entities developing the UAE crypto mining farm in an interview with well renowned crypto and Blockchain lawyer Irena Heaver.

Crypto mining is an integral part of the development of crypto economies, and the MENA region is opening up to exactly these economies. Already the GCC and MENA region has become an attractive destination for crypto mining. 

During Binance Week 2022, Khalifa AlJaziri, AlShehhi, Commercial Affairs Regulatory Sector Projects advisor at the Ministry of Economy in UAE, claimed that the Dubai World Trade Center Authority (DWTCA) would be legislating the crypto mining sector. He stated, “We are setting the guidelines and rules needed to regulate crypto mining within this crypto framework.

The UAE is not the only country that has shown interest in crypto mining. Oman Investment Authority (OIA) took part in a $350mn equity round in Crusoe Energy Systems. The US firm helps oil and gas producers cut flaring by using stranded natural gas to power cryptocurrency mining. Crusoe systems set up operations in Oman as well.