Bitcoin Miners Became Ethiopia’s Best Power Customers. Then Their Supply Was Cut to 23%.

Bitcoin miners brought in 35% of Ethiopia’s state power utility’s revenue.

Then drought hit—and their power allocation fell to just 23% of contracted supply.

Their biggest selling point suddenly became painful: they’re easy to switch off.

The machines stop. Debt payments keep coming. Hardware keeps aging.

Bitcoin can survive miners disappearing. Can the miners survive being expendable?

Ethiopia just exposed the hidden price of Bitcoin mining’s flexibility—and why being a valuable customer doesn’t guarantee you’ll keep the power.