By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 22 August 2023
In August 2023, Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology unveiled a $370 million (RO135 million) data hosting and bitcoin mining centre. Developed by Exahertz International, an offshoot of Afaaq for Advanced Technologies, the 312,000-square-metre site was then running more than 2,000 machines on about 11MW, with an aim of 15,000 machines by October 2023. Minister Eng Said Hamoud al Maawali described such centres as “a cornerstone of Oman’s burgeoning digital economy.”
The facility used Bitmain hardware with hydro cooling and followed Oman’s first data centre, Al-Madina Al-Khadraa, opened in November 2022. Sam Ferdos of Moonwalk Systems described a pilot phase for testing and evaluation, and the article reports plans for further sites in Salalah and Al Jabal Al Akhdar. It also notes training and internships for local people, and a Capital Market Authority consultation on digital-asset regulation that closed on 17 August 2023.