As the crypto market goes green so is crypto mining investment in the UAE. For the first time in the MENA region, a UAE home grown crypto mining entity Phoenix Group has carried out a successful IPO 33 times oversubscribed with retail clients being the biggest investors.
The IPO which started on November 16th 2023 for two days, floated $370 million worth of stocks equivalent to 17.64 per cent of it stock. Prior to that 10% of Phoenix Group shares were sold to UAE Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding Company’s subsidiary boosting the IPO given that IHC is a well-known entity.
Phoenix Group offered each share at the price of 0.41 cents (1.5 AED). Retail investors were required to invest a minimum of $1360 (AED5,000) to participate in the IPO, which allocated 6.67% (or 60.48 million shares) to them. The IPO witnessed a 33 time over subscription
As per the press release, the company’s offer of 907,323,529 shares saw overwhelming demand, particularly from retail investors who oversubscribed by 180 times while professional investors contributed to a 22-fold oversubscription.
Munaf Ali, Co-Founder & Group MD of Phoenix Group PLC, commented on this milestone, “The exceptional oversubscription during our offer period is a clear indicator of the market’s endorsement of Phoenix Group as a leader in Cryptocurrency Mining and Blockchain Technology. As we prepare for our listing on ADX on December 4, 2023, under the trading symbol PHX, we are more committed than ever to enhancing our mining capabilities and driving tech innovations forward.”
With this, Phoenix Group shares will be listed on Abu Dhabi’s ADX exchange on December 4th 2023 trading under the symbol PHX.
Noteworthy Phoenix Group is also the owner of the soon to be officially launched UAE based M2 crypto exchange. M2 has to date obtained a license from The Securities Commission of Bahamas (SCB) as a Digital Assets Business and M2 Limited and M2 Custody Limited (M2 ADGM) a Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of UAE free zone and regulator ADGM as a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) and for Providing Custody.
Marathon Digital joint venture in UAE
This is not the first sign that crypto mining in the UAE is seen positively. Marathon Digital Holding, which launched a joint mining facility with UAE Zero Two in Abu Dhabi, recently announce that it had mined 18 Bitcoin with 2.3 exahashes online in Abu Dhabi in October 2023 after inaugurating its 200 MW facility. Marathon Digital added that it expects to have online 7 exahashes in Abu Dhabi by end of 2023.
The figures were published in its unaudited Bitcoin BTC production and miner installation updates for October 2023. Fried Thiel, Marathon Digital’s Chairman and CEO stated, “In terms of the operation in UAE, by increasing our hash rate and continuing to improve our operations at the facility in McCamey, Texas and elsewhere, we earned 4.0% of the total Bitcoin network’s available miner rewards and produced 1,202 Bitcoin in October. This total includes 18 Bitcoin from our 20% share of the JV in Abu Dhabi. We now have 2.3 exahashes online in Abu Dhabi as our second, larger facility in Masdar City has begun powering up. We continue to expect the full 7.0 exahashes in the UAE to be online by year-end.”
Oman a growing crypto mining Hub
Just as the UAE has shown its interest in crypto mining, both through the recent Pheonix Group IPO as well as the joint company with Marathon Digital where UAE two Zer own 80 percent of the shares, Oman is also investing heavily in crypto mining facilities.
China’s Bitcoin crypto mining and Blockchain hardware manufacturer, Canaan, signed a crypto mining agreement with Oman’s Green Data city to pilot phase of a new crypto mining operation in Oman. The new site will be installed in the facility of Green Data City, and under the agreement, Canaan has the option to expand the total capacity to up to 100MW. The crypto mining operations in Oman will start in Q4 of 2023.
While back in August 2023 Oman’s Green Data City and Phoenix Group signed an agreement to develop a 150MW crypto-mining farm in Oman. The new farm will be set up in Green Data City was noted that it will be operational by Q2 2024, becoming one of the largest crypto-mining data centers in the region.
In addition Exahertz Blockchain Data Centre also set up in Oman with investment value of $348 million on an area of 312,000 square meters. According to Sam Ferdos, CEO of Moonwalk Systems and Strategic Partner of Exahertz International, a wider network of blockchain-based data centers are planned in the Sultanate of Oman, starting with a pilot in Salalah. The pilot started with 11 megawatts of power and over 2,000 machines and ramped up to 15,000 in October 2023.
So wherever one looks in the MENA region, UAE or Oman, investments in crypto mining and blockchain datacenters are growing. The future of crypto mining looks bright.
