Ethiopia’s cheap-power bargain for bitcoin miners gets less reliable

Chinese bitcoin miners have been drawn to Ethiopia by cheap electricity. Bloomberg reports that they are now facing power rationing linked to weather conditions, exposing the weak point in that bargain: mining machines generate revenue only when they are running. The disruption does not mean Ethiopia has stopped attracting the industry, but it makes mining output less predictable and complicates planning for firms built around round-the-clock computing. For miners choosing where to locate, cheap power is not enough; the grid also has to deliver it reliably.