State-owned electricity distribution company Électricité du Laos (EDL) has announced that it will suspend electricity supply to crypto mining activities in the country, citing several reasons, including the difficulty of producing enough energy in drought conditions.
According toannouncementLaos experienced drought in the first half of 2023. The extreme heat caused the demand for electricity to increase and hydroelectric power plants had difficulty in producing enough energy..

In addition, EDL stated that hydroelectric power plants produce 95 percent of the country’s electricity and they aim to supply electricity locally and export large amounts to Thailand in 2024. The country’s export capacity will also be affected by the deteriorating conditions.
In an interview he gave Laos TimesAn EDL employee stated that another reason for the suspension of supplies for crypto mining projects is their “inability to pay off outstanding balances.”
On September 11, 2021, the Lao government approved a public-private pilot project to analyze cryptocurrency mining and trading. The strategy aims to take advantage of China’s pressure on mining. caused industrial-scale miners to divert their activities elsewhere. At that time, six companies were licensed to operate mining operations in Laos under the program.
Contextually, the Sultanate of Oman, a country located on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, Launches a $370 million crypto mining center. The center was inaugurated on 22 August in the special economic zone called Salalah Free Zone. A local company, Exahertz, will manage the headquarters together with Dubai-based blockchain firm Moonwalk Systems.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yi, a Chinese official, was sentenced to life imprisonment on August 22 for misconduct and bribery while running his Bitcoin mining business. According to prosecutors, Yi allegedly covered up his mining activities by instructing departments to falsify reports and change reported electricity consumption..

Translation of Walter Rizzo