Seeding: Finding and Helping New Bitcoin Miners
There are a number of Africans across the continent who are interested in both small- and large-scale bitcoin mining. Many of them lack the knowledge of the suppliers necessary to get started, understanding of the laws in their own country, and possible sources of energy to put their mining operations to work on. GAMA seeks to solve this by creating a central point for people to come, join, and find out about what it takes to become active in this industry.
The Seed Program
Working with the GAMA members and associated larger global miners, a way for someone interested in Bitcoin mining to get started. There will be an application form and a vetting process, and upon completion of this the new miner will get access to 5 used, but tested and reliable, ASICs to begin mining. They will still have to pay for these miners, but at a heavy discount, and will also have to pay for shipping and clearing to their own location. Upon proof of hashrate for a minimum of 3 months, they will be given access to up to 10 more ASICs at the same discounted rate.
Blueprints: Practical Knowledge, Open Sourced
To date the following has been released to the community:
- Thesis (link) Gridless - why energy and bitcoin mining is necessary to expand electricity in Africa
- Dynamics of Bitcoin Mining (link) QRB Labs - a mathematical analysis paper
- Bitcoin mining container plans (link) Gridless - digital design assets (CAD, SOPs) to build your own mining container locally
- Colocation agreement (link) QRB Labs - a template for colocation agreements
- Modular data center power requirements and simulation (link) QRB Labs - Specify high-level power system requirements and simulation of modular data centers in an electrical substation.
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) (link) Gridless - SOPs for Miner Installation, Hashboard Replacement, and Repair and Maintenance.
Gathering: Coming Together as a Community
It had become increasingly clear that there was a need for the members of GAMA to come together. That an event for miners by miners, focused on Africa, would help each of the members as well as accelerate the community. This idea began to grow and more African miners were invited to join, as well as manufacturers. This led to people hearing about it and wanting to be a part of the event, which was called the Africa Bitcoin Mining Summit. It was kept strictly to those involved with Bitcoin mining, and limited to forty people.
Instead of a talk-shop, the program was designed to be more interactive with discussions, workshops, visiting a bitcoin mining site, and plenty of social networking events.
While this first event was hosted by Gridless in Nairobi, Kenya, future events will be hosted by other members in the community. ABMS 2024 is tentatively scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.