🇱🇦 Laos Embraces Crypto Mining as Debts Mount From Hydropower Boom

Laos’ decades-long push to become the “battery of Southeast Asia” has left it with a mix of surplus hydropower and crushing debt. Having built dozens of dams across the Mekong and its tributaries, the landlocked nation has plenty of electricity but limited ways to sell it, especially with transmission bottlenecks and seasonal output swings. Now, the government is turning to cryptocurrency mining as a way to monetize its excess power.

Officials have begun licensing local crypto exchanges and mining ventures, presenting digital assets as a long-term economic opportunity. The move comes amid stubborn inflation, a weakening kip, and fresh US tariffs that further squeeze the fragile economy.

Advocates see mining as a chance to convert unused electricity into revenue, while critics argue it reflects deeper failures in Laos’ energy policy, which has displaced communities, harmed rivers and fisheries, and locked the country into heavy Chinese debt.

Despite environmental and financial concerns, Laos is pressing ahead with plans to position itself as a digital economy by 2030. Its crypto ambitions are also attracting attention from displaced Chinese miners seeking cheap power, pushing the government to bring once-grey market activity under official oversight.

For a country on the cusp of graduating from “least developed” status, crypto mining offers both hope and risk, a potential revenue stream to manage debt, but also a reminder of the costs of an unsustainable hydropower boom.

🦢 Sam Tabar Says Sovereigns Will Crush Private Bitcoin Miners After Next Halving

Bit Digital CEO Sam Tabar has delivered one of the starkest warnings yet for the commercial Bitcoin mining industry, predicting it will be “dead in two years.” Speaking to Magazine, Tabar argued that private mining firms won’t survive another halving once sovereign nations step in with access to abundant, low-cost electricity. “The hashrate will go through the roof,” he said, adding that governments with state-owned power generation will outcompete miners struggling with costs well over $100,000 per Bitcoin.

He pointed to Bhutan and Ethiopia as examples of how nations are already scaling operations at a fraction of commercial costs, with Ethiopia producing Bitcoin at just $20,000 per coin thanks to surplus hydropower. Tabar believes this dynamic makes the long-running debate about Bitcoin’s long-term security budget irrelevant, as nation-states will secure the network directly.

While some in the industry push back, noting that stranded energy and flare gas remain underutilized, Tabar insists the economics are unforgiving. Even Michael Saylor, according to Tabar, admitted that “the Bitcoin mining business is terrible.”

Bit Digital has already acted on this view, shutting down its Bitcoin mining fleet across the US, Canada, and Iceland to focus on Ethereum. The firm has accumulated 120,300 ETH worth around half a billion dollars, making it the fourth-largest Ether treasury. For Tabar, Ethereum treasuries are simply a “much better business”, with no halvings, no hardware arms race, and no reliance on securing cheap electricity.

🗞️ In the News

• 🇨🇦 HIVE expands BUZZ AI footprint with Toronto data center acquisition
  HIVE Digital Technologies has acquired a 7.2 MW facility in Toronto for $12.5m, upgrading it from Tier 1 to Tier 3 to support BUZZ’s high-performance computing and AI growth. The move builds on its Bell Canada partnership and highlights HIVE’s dual-engine strategy: scaling Bitcoin mining to 25 EH/s by year-end while transforming former mining sites into AI-ready infrastructure.

• 🇺🇸 Bitcoin mining stocks surge as investors back AI pivots
  Shares of Cipher, Terawulf, Iris Energy, Hive, and Bitfarms rallied 73–124% in September, sharply outperforming Bitcoin’s 3% drop. Despite tightening mining economics and record hashrates, investors are rewarding miners shifting into AI and HPC. Miners are also boosting BTC treasuries, with balances rising for three straight weeks to the highest net inflows since October 2023.

• 🇺🇸 Proto challenges China in Bitcoin mining chip race
  Jack Dorsey says US-based Proto has surpassed Chinese rivals in ASIC design, marking a turning point after China’s 2025 mining ban. Proto’s energy-efficient chips could cut costs, boost sustainability, and reduce US miners’ reliance on foreign hardware.

• 🇧🇹 Bhutan shifts $107M in Bitcoin after Fed rate cut
  The Royal Government of Bhutan transferred 913 BTC (~$107m) into two new wallets, sparking concerns over potential sell pressure. Its main wallet still holds 9,652 BTC ($1.1b). The move coincided with whale activity, including a dormant address moving $116m BTC acquired in 2012.

• 🇺🇸 US lawmakers, crypto execs discuss Bitcoin reserve, market rules
  Congressional roundtables with Michael Saylor, Brian Armstrong and others focused on the BITCOIN Act to create a 1m BTC reserve and a market structure bill clarifying regulatory oversight. Senate Republicans are advancing their own version following the House’s July approval.