Oman mandates state-backed Bitcoin mining pool in $700M sovereign push

Oman became the first petrostate to mandate a government-supervised Bitcoin mining pool, requiring all licensed miners to route hashrate through a single national operation.

Oman launched Omanhash.om on June 17, a mandatory national Bitcoin mining pool that requires all licensed miners in the sultanate to route their hashrate through a single government-supervised operation, consolidating roughly 10 exahashes per second of computing power under state oversight.

"This is our second sovereign mandate, and it validates the model we have been building since Kazakhstan," Olzhas Amirov, chief business development officer at Enegix Global, said in a statement. Enegix built the technology platform and liquidity infrastructure behind Omanhash.

The pool operates under the oversight of Oman's Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and is managed locally by Frontier Technologies LLC. Enegix, which previously built Kazakhstan's state-backed btcpool.kz under a 2023 digital assets law requiring licensed miners to operate through government-accredited pools, now runs roughly 25 EH/s across three sovereign pools with a stated target of 30 EH/s.

Omanhash is one piece of a national mining infrastructure investment exceeding $700 million, anchored to Oman Vision 2040, the country's strategic plan to reduce petroleum dependency. The structure gives Omani authorities direct visibility into mining metrics — hashrate contributions, revenue generation and energy consumption — all flowing through a single chokepoint, raising questions about miner autonomy and geographic diversification for publicly traded mining companies.

The $370 Million Salalah Facility

The largest single project within Oman's mining push is a 150-megawatt hydro-cooled facility in Salalah representing a $370 million investment, more than half of the total national infrastructure spend. Alps Blockchain, an Italian firm, brought the facility to full operation in mid-2025. Other licensed operators active in the country include Exahertz and Green Data City.

What the Mandate Means for Global Mining

For publicly traded mining companies and their investors, the mandatory pool structure eliminates the ability to pool-shop for better fee structures or payout terms — a competitive disadvantage compared to miners in jurisdictions like the United States or Canada where pool selection remains voluntary. Companies that operate or plan to operate in countries with state-backed pool mandates effectively lose that flexibility.

Oman's approach stands in contrast to jurisdictions that have pushed back against mining with outright bans or heavy tax burdens. Instead, the sultanate has embedded mining within a broader economic diversification strategy, adding a layer of centralized control that keeps Bitcoin production inside the country's regulatory reach.

The key question now is how Oman defines the approved regulatory framework around licensed mining companies. If the country can combine low-cost energy, policy clarity and reliable settlement infrastructure, Omanhash could become a serious regional mining venue. If rules are too restrictive, some miners may prefer more flexible jurisdictions.

Either way, the announcement shows that Bitcoin mining is no longer just a race for machines and power contracts. It is increasingly becoming a policy race, with governments deciding how much control they want over the infrastructure behind the world's largest digital asset.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.