Market News

BY  Abubakar Nur KhalilContributor

I'm a Nigerian Bitcoiner and CEO of Recursive Capital

On Saturday, Nov 18, Trojan Mining, a Nigerian bitcoin mining company, announced their work-in-progress 500KW hydro-powered bitcoin mining facility in Nigeria. This news comes amid the growing number of global bitcoin mining facilities being set up or expanded ahead of the bitcoin halving in April next year.

Bitcoin Mining In Nigeria

Historically, bitcoin mining in Nigeria has been challenging, from the lack of regulatory clarity to difficulty finding a suitable location, expertise, and coarse economic conditions mainly due to inflation that induces volatile prices of local electrical and hardware costs. However, a number of these factors are drastically changing.

Given the recent announcement in June by the Nigerian Federal Government under the Electricity Act that allows state governments to generate their electricity and manage their energy infrastructure independent of the national grid, it is now more convenient and economically viable to set up mining operations in states with abundant energy.

Trojan Mining

Trojan Mining is one of Nigeria's few bitcoin mining companies that launched earlier in 2021 and is a member of the Green Africa Mining Alliance—a collective of African bitcoin miners looking to standardize renewable energy mining practices.

Trojan Mining operates its mining fleet with hydro-power and will expand its setup to accommodate the newly launched hydro-powered 500KW facility. This expansion includes their first locally-built mining container. It will bring in 150 additional ASICs over the next few months and work through the required electrical, hardware, and software upgrades, including the setup of a dedicated transformer.

When asked about their strategy, CEO, Yassar Siyanbola, shared that “our formula is tied around exploring green energy sources and partnering with industrial experts in the bitcoin mining industry."

In building this new facility, Siyanbola cites Gridless as providing important input and help through the process, with Marshall Long, Texan bitcoin mining veteran, providing his support and expertise along the way.

According to Siyanbola, the new hydro-powered facility is one of two he has planned, with the following facility being a 1MW facility near his current operations over the coming months with the help of additional partners from outside Nigeria with expertise in mining and supplies of ASICs. He added, “Trojan mining's plan is to become the leading bitcoin mining farm in Nigeria.”

Further, given Trojan’s location in Nigeria, they also aim to draw in participation from the youths in the local community, teach them about bitcoin mining, and have them directly benefit from their activities, including through employment, to give back to the community.

Trojan's new facility and overall plans over the next few months further sheds light on the growing move from African miners in leading the green future of bitcoin mining.

Moving forward, we should expect more mining projects launched in 2024 across Nigeria as more investors get comfortable supporting mining operations in the country with more local miners fine-tuning their expertise and grasp of the local factors and general bitcoin mining practices.