Oman unites miners into a national pool: a new stage in cryptocurrency mining regulation
The authorities of Oman have taken a decisive step towards centralizing cryptocurrency mining. The country's Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, together with Frontier Technologies, announced the launch of a national mining pool. The key feature is the mandatory connection of all licensed digital asset miners in the sultanate to it. The technological platform and liquidity infrastructure for the project were provided by Enegix Global.
Scale and Investments
At the first stage, the combined computing power of the pool should be about 10 EH/s. This is a significant indicator for the region, given that since 2022, investments in mining and data centers in the Salalah Free Zone have exceeded $700 million. In particular, the infrastructure included a mining facility with hydro-cooling worth $370 million.
Such a policy indicates Oman's desire not only to attract capital but also to strictly control the process of cryptocurrency mining. Mandatory membership in the national pool gives the state transparency of operations and the ability to regulate the distribution of capacities. For miners, this means a loss of some autonomy, but also access to stable infrastructure and liquidity.
Analytical Commentary: Oman demonstrates a unique approach, combining large-scale investments with administrative control. If the project proves successful, it could become a model for other Middle Eastern countries seeking to legalize and simultaneously centralize crypto mining. However, the key question is how this will affect miners' profitability in the context of global competition for hashrate.