The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the third largest of Pakistan’s four semi-autonomous provinces, is building two state-backed bitcoin mining operations, local media reported last week.
Ziaullah Bangash, advisor to KP’s prime minister for science and information technology, said the provincial parliament passed a law allowing the KP government to use its own money to build the mining facilities.
The province, which has since legalized crypto mining, will profitably mine Bitcoin (BTC), reported BOL News, a local media organization. No information was given about the capacity of the mining operations or the funds that the state intends to invest in the project. This particular province has previously advocated friendly crypto laws in Pakistan.
According to Bangash, the KP Assembly has also passed a separate certificate without objection that allows individuals to mine cryptocurrency and issue their own digital assets. Development coincided with the start of a private bitcoin mining farm by Waqar Zaka, a longtime crypto enthusiast who worked on developing the Pakistani crypto industry.
“After years of struggle, I am starting the largest crypto mining farm in KPK that you can all invest and earn,” Zaka said in a tweet. He thanked Bangash for his legal assistance. In his response, Bangash stated that “in the future, Waqar Zaka’s assistance will be enlisted in the KP administration’s crypto-mining plans”.
Profits from Bitcoin mining may help prop up the troubled Pakistani economy, but KP must first overcome the country’s long-running electricity crisis. Pakistan is facing a major power outage, with power outages being common.
Last Saturday the whole country was thrown into darkness, reports the Financial Times. The authorities blamed a “major failure” in one of the country’s main power stations in the south for the blackouts. Pakistan only began to partially restore power on Sunday.
Now, BTC mining – the process by which new bitcoins are created using sophisticated supercomputers – is not only an energy-intensive endeavor, but also a business that requires a consistent power supply. Located in northwestern Pakistan, a mountainous, cool region on the border with Afghanistan, KP has possibly the best weather for bitcoin mining. But will it have enough energy to keep it running profitably?
What do you think of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s Bitcoin mining plans? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
