Nikolas Sargeant
Oman has just opened its second cryptocurrency mining center within the last year. This new facility is a major development for the country's growing cryptocurrency industry.
The Oman Daily Observer reported that a new data hosting and cryptocurrency mining center has been launched in the Salalah Free Zone. This zone offers low corporate taxes and is a special economic zone in Oman. The center will be operated by a local company called Exahertz, in collaboration with Moonwalk Systems, a blockchain company based in Dubai.
According to reports, the construction of the center was quite expensive, with a cost of around 135 million Omani rials ($350 million). The center will be equipped with the latest hardware from Bitmain Technologies and has plans to install 15,000 machines by October 2023. Currently, the center is in a pilot phase and has 2,000 machines operating online, consuming 11 megawatts of power.
Oman is accelerating its digitalization plan by opening a mining facility, aiming to diversify its economy heavily reliant on oil exports. In November 2022, another mining center launched with a price tag of 150 million Omani rials ($389 million). It's worth noting that in 2022, business operators in Oman paid electricity prices of 0.064 rials ($0.166) per kilowatt hour.
The government of Oman recently released a consultation paper on a national crypto framework on July 27. Under this framework, digital asset providers may need to set up a local office in Oman. They might also have to hold a smaller portion of their assets in hot wallets and perform audits to ensure the security of these assets. Furthermore, they may be required to provide evidence of reserves.
Cointelegraph reached out to the Omani Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technology and the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones, but they have not responded at this time.
