Oman centralizes mining: all licensed pools are required to operate through a national hub
A sovereign approach to cryptocurrency mining is taking on a new form: Oman has officially launched a national mining pool, which all licensed digital asset miners in the country are required to join. This decision radically changes the industry landscape in the region, transforming mining from a decentralized activity into a centrally managed state resource.
The project was implemented by Oman's Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology in partnership with Frontier Technologies. The key technology partner was Enegix Global, which provided the pool management platform and liquidity infrastructure. In the initial phase, the pool is expected to consolidate about 10 EH/s of computing power — comparable to the capacities of mid-sized global mining companies.
Since 2022, Oman has been actively increasing investments in mining and data centers. In the Salalah Free Zone, total investments have exceeded $700 million. Particularly noteworthy is a hydro-cooled mining facility worth $370 million — one of the largest such facilities in the Middle East.
Expert Analysis
Such centralization of mining under the auspices of the state is a double-edged sword. On one hand, a unified pool increases transparency and allows authorities to effectively monitor regulatory compliance. On the other hand, it is a direct step toward the nationalization of Bitcoin mining, which contradicts its fundamental ideology of decentralization. Additionally, the concentration of power in a single pool increases the risks of transaction censorship and potential pressure on the network. In my view, this precedent will be closely studied by other Gulf countries, but it is unlikely to become a widespread trend — independent miners are unlikely to voluntarily relinquish sovereignty over their hashrates.