Canaan’s Japan deal marks first state-linked bitcoin mining project in the country
Quick Take The Canaan deal follows TEPCO’s 2024 bitcoin-mining experiments using surplus renewable energy and grid efficiency. Japan has now joined the list of countries where bitcoin mining involves government-linked entities, bringing the global count to 11.
Canaan inked a deal on Thursday to supply bitcoin mining rigs to a major Japanese utility for a grid-stability research project, marking the country’s first publicly disclosed state-linked mining initiative.
While Canaan did not identify the partner, the move follows earlier reports that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Japan’s largest utility, had previously experimented with bitcoin mining through a subsidiary using surplus renewable energy.
Matthew Sigel, VanEck's head of digital assets, pointed out that all 10 of Japan’s regional utilities have partial government ownership, meaning the new project effectively brings bitcoin mining under state-aligned infrastructure for the first time in the country.
Sigel noted that Canaan’s announcement “adds Japan to our list of countries mining Bitcoin with government resources,” bringing the global count to 11, excluding the United States.
In a follow-up reply on X, he said he couldn’t be certain the deal involved TEPCO but maintained that the project nevertheless qualifies as state-aligned mining activity.
The Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest national dailies, first reported in September 2024 that TEPCO’s wholly owned subsidiary Agile Energy X had been testing small-scale mining sites in Gunma and Tochigi prefectures to “prevent renewable energy from being wasted.” The company sought to convert surplus solar and wind generation into bitcoin rather than curtail output during periods of low demand.
The Block reached out to TEPCO for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
Canaan said in its Thursday release that its hydro-cooled Avalon A1566HA servers will be used to “stabilize regional power-grid load through controlled overclocking and underclocking,” dynamically adjusting hashrate and voltage to balance energy use in real time. The facility, led by the unnamed major regional utility, is expected to begin operations by the end of 2025.
The company framed the project as part of a broader push into energy-efficient, grid-interactive computing. “Utilities can leverage bitcoin mining as a digital load balancer,” CEO Nangeng Zhang said in the release , adding that Canaan expects to expand similar deployments across Asia, North America, and Europe in 2026.
The initiative also dovetails with Japan’s ongoing digital-asset reforms , which include proposals to reclassify cryptocurrencies as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and introduce a flat 20% capital-gains tax on digital assets.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
The AI boom may follow the path of the 19th-century railway bubble, and builders may not be the ultimate winners
Goldman Sachs analyst Bobby Molavi compared the current situation to the 19th-century British railway mania: 500 companies spent more than the nation's annual income building 8,000 miles of railway, with most early investors losing out, while the real beneficiaries were the later "passengers." He pointed out that the current AI craze is driven by both debt and momentum, and that the S&P 500’s forward P/E ratio of 18x is only "a bit cheaper." Whether the builders can retain value is uncertain, and history does not offer an optimistic answer.
If Anthropic's IPO goes smoothly and the stock price rises next week, then everything remains the same for AI. Otherwise, some companies will go bankrupt.
The shrinking valuations of two major giants have triggered a chain reaction—investors are adopting more conservative revenue multiples for AI startups and are directly halting high-valuation financing for companies with zero revenue. Multiple venture capital firms have advised their portfolio companies to lower valuation expectations and to quickly build up cash reserves. Market participants warn that the outcome of Anthropic’s IPO will be a barometer for the industry: if successful, the boom will continue; if it fails, some companies may face elimination.
After the Brazilian election, political discount deepens; Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Petrobras (PBR.US), focusing on fuel pricing and dividends
Morgan Stanley still maintains its most optimistic "Overweight" rating, but has lowered its year-end 2027 target price from $31 to $25.
Corning (GLW.US) receives initial "Buy" rating from Jefferies! AI factories driving a fiber optic rush, with a potential global supply gap of up to 30%
For Corning, the recent profit growth mainly comes from the expansion of AI clusters. As the number of optical links crossing cabinets and campuses increases, customers need to deploy more optical fibers within limited conduit and cabinet space, thus driving demand for high-density optical cables and connection systems.
Crypto prices
More
