Oman has officially launched OmanHash, a state-backed Bitcoin mining pool that all licensed miners must join as the country expands its crypto mining infrastructure. Under Oman's newly established regulatory framework, OmanHash will serve as the exclusive mining pool for authorized operators, creating a centralized structure for the nation's rapidly expanding Bitcoin mining industry. The pool was introduced under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and operates under state oversight rules, making it the only official pool for licensed mining firms where licensed miners are expected to connect to OmanHash rather than route hashrate through outside providers. According to Wu Blockchain, all legal operators are now required to connect their hashrate to this national pool, representing a centralized approach to managing and monitoring the country's growing Bitcoin mining industry. The government plans to use the pool to centrally manage the hash rate of licensed miners and improve transparency across the industry, with the government aiming to directly track mining revenues, energy consumption, and the volume of new Bitcoin produced through this unified structure.
OmanHash is expected to consolidate about 10 EH/s of computing power in its first phase, as reported by crypto.news. EH/s, or exahashes per second, measures the amount of computing work directed toward Bitcoin mining. The pool operates using a Full Pay-Per-Share (FPPS) reward model, allowing miners to receive predictable payouts based on submitted computing power regardless of whether the pool successfully mines a Bitcoin block, with the operator collecting a service fee. The platform was developed by digital infrastructure firm Enegix Global, which provides the technology and liquidity infrastructure, while Frontier Technologies LLC, a Muscat-based blockchain company, oversees day-to-day operations. According to Hashrate Index data, Oman currently controls nearly 30 EH/s, representing almost 3% of Bitcoin's total global hashrate. The combined mining power of approximately 10 EH/s would place Oman among the more significant players in the global mining landscape, though it remains small compared to major hubs like the United States or Kazakhstan.
The launch follows years of mining and data-center investment in Oman, with mining and data-center infrastructure in the Salalah Free Zone attracting more than $700 million since 2022, according to crypto.news. Oman's abundant natural gas reserves provide a relatively low-cost energy source, which is a critical factor for the energy-intensive Bitcoin mining industry. The government has been actively courting international mining firms and technology providers, offering favorable energy rates and regulatory clarity. Since 2022, the Omani government has invested over $700 million in building data centers and cryptocurrency mining infrastructure, including the development of the OmanHash pool. These investments are part of a larger national plan to diversify the economy away from oil and gas and establish the Sultanate as a digital hub in the Middle East. Italy-based Alps Blockchain is set to bring its 150 MW facility in Salalah to full operation by mid-2025, further expanding the country's mining capacity.
Oman becomes only the second country in the world to introduce a sovereign Bitcoin mining pool model after Kazakhstan, where Enegix previously launched btcpool.kz following similar government regulations introduced in 2023. The initiative reflects a growing trend among governments seeking greater oversight of industrial-scale Bitcoin mining while maintaining regulatory compliance. With the addition of OmanHash, Enegix's combined mining pool network-including OmanHash, btcpool.kz, and 21pool.io-now manages approximately 25 EH/s of computing power worldwide. The company has also revealed plans to expand that figure to 30 EH/s, highlighting the growing institutionalization of Bitcoin mining infrastructure as governments increasingly seek greater control over the sector. Oman's approach differs from other Gulf nations, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia also showing interest in blockchain and digital assets, but Oman's decision to create a single, state-sanctioned mining pool represents a more direct form of oversight that allows the government to monitor energy consumption, tax revenue, and compliance with anti-money laundering regulations more effectively.
The mandatory pool structure reduces flexibility for miners but offers a clear, regulated operating environment that may attract institutional investors who prefer jurisdictions with clear rules and government backing. The success of this model could influence how other resource-rich nations approach the regulation of digital asset mining. By centralizing hashrate under a single official pool, the Omani government is signaling its intent to tightly regulate and benefit from the industry while continuing to invest heavily in the underlying infrastructure. The launch represents a notable development in the intersection of state policy and cryptocurrency mining, with the government hoping that consolidating licensed miners under a single pool will improve operational efficiency while strengthening oversight of the country's mining sector, marking another major step in Oman's strategy to become a regional digital infrastructure hub. Company officials also suggested that Oman's approach could serve as a reference model for resource-rich countries seeking similar regulatory frameworks, positioning Oman not only as a mining hub but as a country integrating Bitcoin mining into its broader economic policies.
