Block, a digital payments business owned by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and Stillmark recently invested $2 million in Gridless, a bitcoin mining operation based in Kenya. According to reports, the bitcoin mining company intends to use the money raised to finance its expansion into other African nations.
Utilizing BTC Sales Profits to Help Cover the Cost of Power
Block, a bitcoin-focused venture firm owned by Jack Dorsey, and Stillmark are said to have led a $2 million seed investment in the African cryptocurrency mining company Gridless. According to a report, Gridless, which currently serves rural areas of Kenya, intends to use the money raised to finance its expansion into other African nations.
Gridless uses extra electricity produced by mini-hydropower plants, as reported by Bitcoin.com News in October. The proceeds from the sale of the bitcoin are then used to lower the cost of electricity for customers in Kenya’s rural areas. Gridless claimed to be using power plants that produced less than 100 kilowatts of electricity at the time (KW).
The founders of the cryptocurrency mining company, Erik Hersman, Philip Walton, and Janet Maingi, reportedly spent the past few months launching pilot mining projects, according to a CNBC report. Gridless intends to start up a 50KW hydro-mine in Malawi and a 30KW solar-powered site in West Africa in January 2023.
both connectivity and power
Walton, who also serves as the mining company’s chief financial officer, commented on Gridless’ alleged dual mission of bringing electricity and connectivity to Africa’s rural areas:
“After years of work creating internet connectivity infrastructure in both urban and rural areas of Africa, we came to the conclusion that a 21st-century economy requires both power and connectivity. As we considered our next challenge, we came to the conclusion that bitcoin mining provided a significant solution for the development of renewable mini-grid energy because it allowed us to act as their industrial off-taker for stranded power, regardless of where they were located, making them more sustainable and boosting electrification throughout Africa.
The CNBC report revealed that at one of the pilot sites, a mini hydropower plant had successfully lowered the cost of electricity from 35 cents to 25 cents per kilowatt hour to illustrate the viability of Gridless’ business model.