The race to build a crypto community

Dubai-based Mining Grid is an all-in-one mining experience, offering a full suite for miners from a selection of top-of-the-line devices to verified hosting services.

The Crypto Radio caught up with Solaiman Al-Rifai, Founder and Board Member, and Rami Alsridi, Founder and CEO at the Mining Grid at its new showroom.

“Bitcoin and blockchain is about community, and we wanted this showroom to be like a community center, where people can come and gather, discuss topics and trends. Also introduce the mining journey of Bitcoin, visualize it and see the mining machines and how the mining is done,” said Solaiman Al-Rifai.

Upstairs is an impressive auditorium where classes take place regularly to help educate people on crypto and blockchain. There are many walk-ins who see the showroom and want to find out more.

At the Mining Grid store, it sells multiple devices and mining-related equipment with prices ranging from $2,000 to $7,000 depending on the speed of the machine.  

Mining Race

But the Mining Grid is not just about selling hardware. One of its key missions is make mining easier while creating a community and bring like-minded people together. So it set up the Mining Race as an app to help simplify the process and to show how you can start mining “in just a few minutes” with the right set-up.

Generally, people tend not to mine by themselves. Instead, the join a community or connect to a mining farm. “We can sell you the machine. And there's the 15 steps that you need to go through. And some of those steps are very technical. It's not easy to understand, and especially if you don't have the technical background to do that,” added Al-Rifai.

The Mining Race is a global aggregator program to connect the providers of mining farms to the users while automating the process. “The whole Bitcoin movement, and industry, is all about transparency and trust. So what we have done is create an app which is decentralized, and also a trusted wallet,” said Rami Alsridi.

Mining Grid differs in its fee structure. With most mining farms, there is usually a 90/10 approach - 90% is how much you receive, and 10% is paid in fees. “What we have done is take this 10% and not charge it as a fee, but make a redistribution system that the whole community could benefit from. So that 10% which goes back into the community,” explained Al-Rifai.

Members are spread across more than 100 countries, including Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. Currently, the Mining Race has around four or five locations globally, and is regularly negotiating to get the best offer from farms. The Mining Grid is also big on sustainability, and keeps a portion of its revenue to offset carbon emissions.

Managing expectations

For those who think they can achieve big profits from day one, think again. “We always make it clear that you cannot get rich fast. You have to start building your knowledge, your know-how, and understanding of how Bitcoin could add value towards your future goals and making money. It is something that is sustainable and that can help you diversify your investment portfolio,” said Al-Rifai.

The Crypto Radio was keen to find out how much Bitcoin the Mining Grid was looking to mine. “We want to be the first aggregator for mining global and we are growing very fast with more than 20 - 30% month-over-month growth for the number of downloads for our application user,” said said Alsridi.

“So our goal is to source indirectly more than 15% to 20% from global mining through our application. That doesn't mean that we are owning or operating these farms, but we are working with the farms for them to focus on their core expertise by providing the mining and operating it.”

The Mining Grid has created a concept called ‘Proof of Hash Power’ (PoHP). “We always try to simplify the terminology and make sure an average person can understand. So when we say Proof of Hash Power, and people ask ‘what does that mean?’ we open the app, we show them, ‘now your app is green’, which means this power is connected to your app”.

The founders talked about the long-term prospects of Bitcoin, and how trading crypto is only one side of the coin. “It's a store of value. So you need to look at longer term. It's changing the underlying technology global. And hopefully that will be good for everyone,” added
Alsridi.