BIT Mining expands with new operations in Ethiopia

BIT Mining, a cryptocurrency mining company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, announced steps to expand its mining operations with new acquisitions in Ethiopia.

The company announced on December 9 that it has completed the first phase of its plan to purchase data centers and Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment in Ethiopia.

In its initial announcement, BIT Mining said it planned to purchase a data center and BTC mining machine worth up to $14.2 million. The deal will see the miner have an additional 51 megawatts in data centers and 17,869 Bitcoin mining machines. BIT wrote that the first phase of the agreement has been completed.

The cash and stock transaction included $2.265 million in cash and 369,031,800 Class A common shares to acquire a 35 MW crypto mining data center. BIT Mining also added 17,869 Bitcoin mining machines to its operations.

The next phase of expansion is expected to be completed in March or April 2025, with a focus on acquiring the remaining data centers. The deal is expected to be completed with the new data centers becoming operational in late first quarter or early second quarter of 2025. If successful, the company plans to issue up to 45,278,600 BTCM shares to fund the expansion.

Earlier this month, BIT Mining announced that it would proceed with merging its Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) mines. The company attributed this to the huge profits it made from self-mining operations of both LTC and DOGE last year.

As of November 27, 2024, BIT has mined a total of 84,485.42 LTC and 227,908,250.38 DOGE.

BIT Mining’s chief economist and deputy Dr. “The recent rally in Litecoin and Dogecoin, fueled in part by Elon Musk’s influence and the changing regulatory environment in the US after Trump’s victory, has had a huge impact on mining profitability,” Youwei Yang said. The President of Mining said the following in his statement.

LTC and DOGE prices have increased by 73% and 117% respectively in the last 30 days. Bitcoin, which recently exceeded $100,000, gained 31 percent in value in the same period and increased by 126 percent last year. BTCM shares, meanwhile, rose 29% last week.