The9 sets up block reward mining shop in Kazakhstan

China has long been the world’s epicenter of BTC mining. Due to recent government crackdowns on the sector, a mass exodus has begun with block reward miners looking for friendlier jurisdictions to set up shop in. 

This week, block reward miner The9 Ltd (NASDAQ: NCTY) added its name to the long list of China-based miners seeking greener pastures.

The Nasdaq-listed company sent out a press release announcing its wholly-owned subsidiary NBTC Limited signed a non-binding term sheet with KazDigital Ltd to set up a joint venture company in Kazakhstan to build a digital currency mining facility. The site will have a capacity of 100MW and house the9’s blockchain mining machines along with potential other third-parties. 

Block reward mining is an energy-intensive process that distributes BTC tokens and maintains a log of all transactions on the BTC network. Chinese authorities are seeking to banish the industry from within its borders. 

Per the terms of the agreement, both sides will invest their own assets to establish the joint venture with KazDigital bringing assets related to construction and infrastructure of the mining site and The9 investing cash or mining machines. A third-party impartial institution will evaluate the assets to confirm they are fair value and ensure that both parties invest equivalent assets.

Construction of the facility will be completed over four stages. The first stage of 25MW was finished on August 1, with the remaining 75MW gradually spread out to be completed in the third and fourth quarters of this year and the first quarter of 2022. 

KazDigital will run the operation and management of the joint venture submitting relevant reports to The9. The9 will transport 1,000 mining machines to Kazakhstan for trial operation. Both parties agreed to a six-month exclusivity period regarding the development of similar cooperation in Kazakhstan. 

“We believe that we should capture the current unique opportunity of the rapidly changing cryptocurrency mining environment and should accelerate the deployment of our mining machines,” stated Cai Zhifang, Chief Executive Officer of NBTC Limited. 

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