Photo: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)
More and more investors and companies are mining bitcoins in Ethiopia. I don't think many people can immediately imagine what Ethiopia is like. Why Ethiopia now?
In a word, it is because a huge hydroelectric dam has been completed and there is a surplus of electricity.
Is that really enough to start mining Bitcoin? Before we look at the situation in Ethiopia, we need to understand what happened in Kazakhstan.
(1) Lessons from Kazakhstan – Bitcoin mining causes power shortages
Before we start mining bitcoins in a new location, we at Rai Lai will consider various aspects of each country's electricity supply and consumption trends, political situation, legal system, etc. Just because there is currently a surplus of electricity and electricity prices are low, it does not mean that this situation will continue forever.
For example, Kazakhstan has attracted many Bitcoin mining investors and companies because of its low electricity prices. We also considered mining in Kazakhstan, but various reports stated that the power infrastructure was aging and weak, so we ultimately decided not to mine there.
Kazakhstan's largest coal-fired power plant "Ekibastuz GRES-1" 
What followed was a severe electricity shortage. This was caused by China banning the mining of virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, prompting many investors and companies from neighboring China to relocate their mining machines to Kazakhstan and start mining all at once. It is said that some miners engaged in illegal practices, such as using stolen electricity or bribing local officials to secure cheaper electricity for their mining operations.
As a result, not only did electricity become tight, but accidents such as fires at power facilities occurred, and power outages became frequent, forcing the government to finally regulate Bitcoin mining in October 2021. It is said that people now have the ultimate two-choice option: pay taxes to mine Bitcoin legally, or go underground/illegal (and of course pay bribes) to mine Bitcoin.
Reference article: Over 100 illegal mining farms were shut down in enforcement raids in Kazakhstan (Cointelegraph article dated March 15, 2022)
Based on these lessons, we considered how long Bitcoin mining in Ethiopia, where we visited this time, can continue. (To be continued next time)