Marathon, Zero Two Agree on Establishing BTC Mining Sites in UAE

American Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Zero Two Company, a digital asset infrastructure firm backed by Abu Dhabi holding company (ADQ), announced their plan to establish the first large-scale immersion Bitcoin-mining facility in Abu Dhabi.

The Bitcoin-mining facility will include two mining sites; in the sustainability hub of Abu Dhabi, Masdar City, with a capacity of 200 megawatts and Mina Zayed Port Zone, with a capacity of 50 megawatts, according to Cointelegraph.

Marathon and Zero Two said they will power these mining sites from Abu Dhabi’s electricity grid after boosting its base load and sustainability.

Marathon pointed to the infeasibility of crypto mining in the UAE because of the desert climate in Abu Dhabi, however, it noted that it managed to develop a custom-built immersion solution to cool the crypto rigs at the facilities.

It is worth mentioning that the two firms launched a pilot program to test the effectiveness of building a large-scale digital asset mining operation in Abu Dhabi.

“For this project, our team successfully co-developed and implemented a full immersion solution, as well as developed proprietary mining software from the ground up to provide flexibility, resilience, and optimization,” Marathon Digital Chair and CEO Fred Thiel said.

Regarding the ownership of the project, the two companies will divide the cost between them but not equally. Zero Two will own 80% of the project, while Marathon will own 20%. The project is set to be completed by 2024 and produce a combined hash rate of roughly 7 EH/s.

In this regard, Chief Executive Officer of Zero Two Ahmed Al Hameli lauded the strategic partnership with Marathon as a milestone for the blockchain and digital assets industry in Abu Dhabi, adding this partnership will unleash his company’s regional expertise, expansive relationships, and growing blockchain infrastructure development and operational capabilities, with Marathon’s technical prowess in developing digital asset sites and innovative mining technologies.