Bitdeer has started raising funding for Green Bitcoin Fund, a fund focused on investing in Bhutan’s mining industry. This was reported by reporter Colin Wu.
Source: X
The firm, in partnership with sovereign wealth fund operator Druk Holding & Investments (DHI), aims to build a 600MW facility with an estimated hash rate of around 20 EH/s.
The investment term for the structure is six years, with a minimum investment of $5m. The project is expected to raise $80m in the first phase.
Bitdeer and DHI in May announced the launch of a fund to organise cryptocurrency mining in the kingdom. The parties assumed that its volume will amount to $500 million.
DHI CEO Ujjival Deep Dahal admitted to the media at the time that the company got into mining “a few years ago” when bitcoin was worth around $5,000. The digital gold was trading at that level in April 2019.
In spring 2023, it became known that Bhutan’s sovereign wealth fund turned out to be a client of bankrupt BlockFi and Celsius. Deep Dahal assured journalists that the structure did not suffer any financial losses.
Experts interviewed by Forbes confirmed the presence of favourable factors for the development of bitcoin mining in the country. Among them, the experts named a cool climate and an excess of available electricity.
However, all generation in Bhutan falls on hydroelectric power plants and drops significantly in the winter dry period due to the shallowing of rivers. The country is shifting from energy exports to imports.
The interlocutors of the publication also noted that earlier the joint mining project of DHI and Singapore Bhutan Association did not reach the stage of realisation. According to them, the authorities were against the participation of private business. Another obstacle was logistics: the mountainous country is landlocked, which greatly complicates the delivery, maintenance and repair of equipment.
As a reminder, Bitdeer became a public company in April through a reverse merger with SPAC Blue Safari Group Acquisition Corp.
In its May earnings report, the firm announced plans to launch a 100MW mining data centre in Bhutan with a capacity of 3.3 EH/s hash rate.