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Ethiopia attracted Chinese Bitcoin miners with a reported low, fixed electricity rate, hydropower-heavy generation and the prospect of earning revenue in U.S. dollars. The draw followed China’s 2021 mining ban. But Ethiopia’s power is also needed at home: in August 2025, local reports said Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) was pausing new mining agreements. The evidence available here does not establish whether that pause remains in force in 2026.
Why did Chinese Bitcoin miners look to Ethiopia?
China banned cryptocurrency mining and trading in 2021. Operators then looked abroad for places where they could run large mining operations and obtain electricity under workable commercial and regulatory terms, according to The Business Times’ February 2024 Bloomberg-sourced report.
Ethiopia permitted Bitcoin mining in 2022, although cryptocurrency trading remained banned, the same report said. That distinction matters: permission to mine did not mean that every cryptocurrency activity was legal or that mining firms had unrestricted access to power.
Electricity was the central business attraction
The February 2024 Business Times report said EEP offered miners a fixed electricity price of 3.14 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. A separate NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies account put the reported rate at 3.15 U.S. cents per kWh. These are two source-specific figures from 2024, not a verified current tariff; the small difference should not be read as a meaningful price range or averaged into a new figure.
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A fixed price can make a power-intensive operation easier to plan, but a headline rate alone cannot establish profitability. Contract terms, the amount and reliability of electricity available, equipment costs, cooling, and policy changes all affect whether a mining site makes financial sense. The sources do not provide a current, apples-to-apples comparison between Ethiopian contracts and electricity prices in Texas or elsewhere.
Other reported advantages
- Hydropower-heavy generation: Reuters reported in 2024 that Ethiopia had 5,200 MW of installed generation capacity, with about 90% from hydropower. NTU’s account, citing early-2024 data, gave a similar capacity and hydropower share, with wind at 8% and thermal generation at 2%. These are dated national estimates, not proof of spare electricity at every time or location.
- Foreign-currency earnings: The 2024 reporting described miners paying EEP in U.S. dollars. The arrangement could bring foreign currency into the country, while still depending on the utility’s power supply and government policy.
- Cooler conditions: The Business Times report cited Addis Ababa’s high-altitude climate as an advantage for facilities whose machines produce heat and need cooling. Cooling requirements do not disappear, but local conditions can matter to operating costs.
How much electricity does Bitcoin mining use?
Bitcoin mining uses specialized computers, commonly called ASICs, to perform repeated calculations in the process of validating transactions and adding blocks to the Bitcoin blockchain. These machines draw substantial electricity and generate heat, so a mining operation needs power infrastructure as well as equipment cooling.
Global consumption estimates vary. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index figures cited by NTU estimated that Bitcoin mining used 67–240 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2023, or 0.2%–0.9% of global electricity demand. The Business Times, citing the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, reported a separate 2023 estimate of 121 TWh. The figures come through different reports and methodologies; they should not be blended or presented as one exact measurement.
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The scale helps explain why a low power price attracts miners—and why contracts for large loads can become contentious where electricity access is constrained. A power-intensive operation may be commercially attractive without being a priority for households or other local users.
What did Ethiopia’s mining agreements involve?
In February 2024, The Business Times reported that EEP had power supply deals with 21 Bitcoin miners, all but two of them Chinese companies. The number describes the agreements reported at that time; it does not establish how many firms operate in Ethiopia now.
A July 2024 U.S. International Trade Administration account described the process then reported for mining firms: seek permission from the Information Network Security Administration (INSA) to import specialized hardware, sign a power purchase agreement with EEP, and obtain an investment license from the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC). These steps describe the reported process at that date and should not be assumed to be today’s complete requirements.
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Mining remained a regulated and politically exposed business. In the February 2024 Business Times report, Hashlabs Mining chief executive Jaran Mellerud described two risks: “Firstly, countries can run out of available electricity, leaving no room for miners to expand. Secondly, miners can suddenly be deemed unwelcome by the government and be forced to pack up and leave.”
Why did the attraction turn into a domestic power debate?
Ethiopia’s electricity can earn foreign currency when sold to miners, but the same supply is needed for homes, businesses and wider electrification. The competing priorities became more explicit in 2025. NTU reported in January that EEP had cited US$55 million in revenue in the prior year and forecast US$123 million for 2025. Those are figures reported at the time, not verified current revenue or a measure of net public benefit.
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The trade-off is particularly important because access to electricity remained limited in the dated accounts. Reuters reported in 2024 that about 40% of Ethiopia’s population lacked electricity access. NTU’s January 2025 account relayed a figure of 55% of the population having electricity access at home. The estimates use different reporting dates and framing; neither should be treated as a current, directly comparable statistic.
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Addis Insight reported in August 2025 that 27% of electricity generated by EEP in the past fiscal year had been allocated to data (crypto) mining companies. That is a secondary report’s figure, not an independently verified or current allocation. It nonetheless illustrates why electricity sold to mining operations drew scrutiny while domestic access and supply were priorities.
New agreements were reported paused in August 2025
Shega reported on August 7, 2025, and Addis Insight on August 8, 2025, that EEP was pausing new crypto-mining power agreements to prioritize domestic electricity needs. Addis Insight quoted EEP chief executive Ashebir Balcha as saying: “Our focus is on meeting Ethiopia’s growing domestic electricity needs first, before expanding supply to energy-intensive activities such as digital mining.”
That is a dated policy development, not confirmation of the current status. The available reporting does not establish whether EEP later resumed approvals, maintained the pause, or changed its terms.
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What later investment activity does—and does not—show
In January 2025, NTU reported that BIT Mining had agreed to acquire 51 MW of Ethiopian mining facilities for about US$14 million, including data centers and mining machines. The report documents a transaction agreement, not independently verified operating performance, realized returns, or the availability of new power contracts.
Investment in facilities and permission to secure additional electricity are separate questions. A company may acquire equipment or existing infrastructure without that proving a stable long-term supply, a current right to expand, or unchanged government policy.
Is Ethiopia a lasting crypto haven?
“Haven” describes the attraction miners saw in the conditions reported in 2024; it should not be read as a promise of permanent low-cost electricity or policy stability. Hydropower capacity does not automatically mean surplus supply, a fixed rate reported in 2024 is not a current quote, and the 2025 pause reports show that domestic priorities can change access to new agreements.
For a miner, the practical question is not just whether a country once offered a compelling tariff. It is whether a specific site has a valid power contract, dependable supply, permission to import and operate equipment, viable cooling and operating costs, and a policy environment that will remain workable. The cited reports do not establish those conditions for a prospective operator in Ethiopia in 2026.
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