AirNet Technology Inc., a firm formerly focused on the in-flight technology sector, has announced plans for a 130MW Bitcoin mining data center in Kazakhstan.

AirNet’s recently announced partnership with LLP STH Corp, a Kazakhstan company, paves the way for the construction of a 130MW mining site at an unspecified location in Kazakhstan.

Part of the facility will be powered by the national grid (70MW) and part will be powered by a natural gas self-generation facility (60MW). It will also utilize liquid-cooling technology.

AirNet (formerly known as AirMedia Group Inc.) diversified into Ethereum mining in 2021 following the negative impact of Covid-19 on the commercial flight industry, which impacted its core in-flight technology business.

But after Ethereum moved from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) on September 15, 2022, the hardware that AirNet had used for Ethereum mining, such as GPU rigs and Ethereum-specific ASIC miners, became obsolete.

Now, AirNet has announced plans to re-enter the cryptocurrency mining space by switching its focus to Bitcoin mining, which, unlike Ethereum, still utilizes a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism.

At this point, the plans are still non-binding and will only progress after AirNet conducts full legal and business due diligence of LLP STH Corp. Despite this, the share price of AirNet Technology Inc. jumped 25 percent on the day of the announcement, before reverting back to previous levels.

AirNet saw its Ethereum-mining revenues dwindle following the Ethereum network’s switch to Proof-of-Stake in 2022. The mining and sale of cryptocurrencies generated revenues of $2.6 million for AirNet in 2021, $200,000 in 2022, and $0 in 2023.

By March 2024, AirNet had completely exited mining operations under its subsidiary Blockchain Dynamics Limited.

But just a couple of months later, AirNet sought to re-enter the cryptocurrency mining sector after recognizing the rising fortunes of the crypto market at the time - this time focusing on Bitcoin.

By May 2024, the firm had acquired Bitcoin mining hardware, and recently entered into an agreement with BTC KZ to host mining servers at the latter's Almaty data center in Kazakhstan.

Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work consensus relies on a global network of miners who utilize specific mining hardware to compete to solve an arbitrary mathematical puzzle, securing the network and validating transactions. The successful miner is rewarded with block rewards as an incentive (currently set at 3.125 BTC).

Up until September 2022, Ethereum used the same consensus mechanism. Now, Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake consensus relies upon holders of the ETH crypto token staking their coins on the network to validate transactions, secure the network, and earn rewards based on the number of coins that are staked.