Jack Dorsey’s Block backs bitcoin mining company that wants to bring 25-cent electricity to rural Africa
The three co-founders of Gridless at one of their mining sites in Kenya.
Erik Hersman
ACCRA, GHANA — Up until February, Janet Maingi didn’t think much about bitcoin. Born and raised in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Maingi had instead spent more than twenty years focused on trying to solve one of Africa’s biggest problems: connectivity. To that end, she spent more than 20 years working in operations in the telecom industry, in companies specializing in internet and wireless networks to cable and satellite television. But earlier this year, the 45-year-old mother decided to take on the continent’s second-biggest issue: Its energy problem.
Africa is a renewable energy mecca. There’s an estimated 10 terawatts of solar capacity, 350 gigawatts of hydro, and another 110 gigawatts of wind, according to data from Energy, Capital & Power, an investment platform focused on Africa’s energy sector.
Some of this renewable energy is being harnessed already, but a lot of it isn’t, because it is expensive to build the kind of specialized infrastructure necessary to capture it. Even though Africa boasts 60% of the best solar resources globally, the continent only has 1% installed solar PV capacity, according to the International Energy Agency.
“When you sit back and look at rural Africa and rural Kenya, one of the things that is very prevalent in the homes — I am talking about the 50% that are not electrified — is children have to do their assignments using either paraffin lamps or candles,” Maingi told CNBC on the sidelines of the Africa Bitcoin Conference in Accra.
“Think of their eyesight, think of their health,” she said.
Gridless
Maingi was frustrated by the divide between generation and capacity, given that 43% of Africa’s population, or 600 million people, lack access to electricity. So in February, she began spitballing creative solutions with two friends, and the three of them landed on a sort-of counterintuitive idea: bitcoin mining.
Mining for the world’s biggest cryptocurrency is a process known as proof-of-work. Miners around the world run high-powered computers that collectively validate transactions and simultaneously create new tokens. The process requires a lot of electricity, and because this is the only variable cost in a low-margin industry, miners tend to seek out the world’s lowest-cost sources of power.
Philip Walton, Gridless co-founder and CFO, setting up a mini grid hydro site to mine with 20 kilowatts of power in Kenya.
Erik Hersman
Bitcoin gets a bad rap for the amount of energy it consumes, but it can also help to unlock these trapped renewable sources of energy. Bitcoin miners are essentially energy buyers, and when they co-locate with renewables, it creates a financial incentive for buildout and improves the core economics of renewable power production. The IEA says that in rural areas “where over 80% of the electricity-deprived live, mini-grids and stand-alone systems, mostly solar based, are the most viable solutions.”
By May, Maingi and her two colleagues decided to try it out. They founded a venture called Gridless to see whether the additional demand of bitcoin miners on these semi-stranded assets could make renewables in Africa economically viable — and crucially, whether the additional source of energy could power communities previously out of reach of microgrids that electrify parts of Africa.
Gridless also has plans to expand into other parts of Africa with the help of a fresh injection of cash.
Jack Dorsey’s digital payments firm Block and Alyse Killeen’s bitcoin-focused venture firm Stillmark, have led a $2 million seed investment into the company, which Gridless says it plans to use to open new mines.
Maingi is the chief operations officer, and her two friends turned co-founders, chief executive Erik Hersman, and chief financial officer Philip Walton, have spent the last several months launching pilots across Kenya in which they work with mini-grid hydro and solar generators to use their excess capacity to mine.
“We had spent years building internet connectivity infrastructure in rural and urban Africa, and realized that you cannot have a 21st-century economy without both power and connectivity together,” Hersman told CNBC.
The new 533 kilowatt site in Kenya where 300 kilowatts will be used for bitcoin mining.
Erik Hersman
“As we looked at the next problem to solve, we realized that bitcoin mining solved a major problem for renewable mini grid energy developers, in that we could be their industrial off-taker for stranded power, no matter where they were located, thereby making them more sustainable and increasing electrification across Africa,” continued Hersman.
Gridless currently has three operational pilot sites in Murang’a, a rural town that’s a 90-minute drive northeast of Nairobi. Each mine runs on hydroelectric power from HydroBox, an energy company based on the continent. Two of the mines have about 50 kilowatts of capacity, and by Thursday, the third mine will expand to 300 kilowatts.
To put those numbers into perspective, 30 kilowatts would power about 500 households. 50 kilowatts is closer to 800 households.
In January, Gridless plans to launch another 50-kilowatt hydromine in Malawi and its first solar-powered site in West Africa that will have a 30 kilowatt capacity.
Lowering energy costs
So far, the economics make a lot of sense for everyone involved. Gridless serves as a sort of anchor tenant. The company finances construction and manages the operation of data centers in rural communities where traditional industrial or commercial customers are not available, according to a company statement released Tuesday.
Gridless launching a new solar-powered mine in January 2023 in West Africa.
Erik Hersman
Because the power supplier benefits from selling energy that previously had been discarded, the energy plants will sometimes lower costs for the end user. At one of their pilot sites in Kenya, for example, the hydro plant dropped the price of power from 35 cents per kilowatt hour to 25 cents.
The buildout of capacity is also electrifying households. Gridless says they’ve already seen this translate to containerized cold storage for local farmers, battery charging stations for electric motorcycles and public WiFi points.
Once those types of needs are met, Gridless said in a statement that the remaining electricity capacity is used to power the bitcoin mine.
“Bitcoin and mining is really the tool. We’re not doing bitcoin for bitcoin,” said the lead for bitcoin mining and wallet at Block, Thomas Templeton. “The whole objective is really to empower these villages. Bitcoin is a means to that end.”
Block previously announced in April it would be teaming up with Blockstream to break ground on a solar- and battery-powered bitcoin mine in Texas that uses solar and storage technology from Tesla.
Block is also working on a project to make bitcoin mining more distributed and efficient.
Making the mining process more accessible has to do with more than just creating new bitcoin, according to Templeton. Instead, he says the company sees it as a long-term need for a future that is fully decentralized and permissionless.
The company is solving one major barrier to entry: Mining rigs are hard to find, expensive and delivery can be unpredictable. Block says it is looking into making a new ASIC, which is the specialized gear used to mine bitcoin.
Democratizing access to the mining process is big for Block. Right now, Africa accounts for around 0.2% of the global bitcoin hashrate (an industry term used to describe the collective computing power of the entire network), according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. The bulk sum of the hashpower shifted from China to the U.S. over the last 18 months after Beijing banned crypto mining. Many in the industry tell CNBC that this kind of centralization is a problem.
“Decentralized mining is essential for the resiliency of bitcoin,” said Templeton, who added that Block kicked off its mining initiative to make mining more accessible, user-friendly and reliable, so that more people can mine.
It was a sentiment echoed by Dorsey in Accra on Tuesday morning. The Block CEO, who said he still plans to move to Africa for six months, added that Block wants to partner with other companies on the continent to make it easier to onboard people into bitcoin.
“We’re working on a hardware miner to make it more, hopefully, accessible and more efficient for people around the world and especially on the continent to participate in securing the network and making it even more resilient in the form of something that’s also useful for other things, not just mining.”
Supporting the rise of bitcoin mining across Africa also translates to another big goal for Block: Helping to accelerate global renewable hashrate.
“Gridless represents a close strategic alignment with our vision of ensuring the bitcoin network increasingly leverages clean energy, in combination with bitcoin computational centers around the world,” said Templeton.
The Kia EV5 has officially arrived in the UK. Boasting up to 329 miles of range, Kia opened orders for the new Sportage-sized electric SUV on Monday. Here’s a breakdown of Kia EV5 prices, range, and other specs for the UK market.
Kia EV5 prices and range in the UK
Kia calls the EV5 “a cornerstone” of its electrification strategy. The midsize electric SUV is about the size of a Tesla Model Y and loaded with Kia’s latest tech, software, and sleek new styling.
After opening EV5 orders in the UK on Monday, Kia now offers an SUV across every powertrain in Europe’s most competitive segment.
The EV5 is available in three trims: Air, GT-Line, and GT-Line S. All three variants are powered by an 81.4 kWh battery, offering a range of up to 329 miles. Based on a 400V platform, Kia said the electric SUV can recharge from 10% to 80% in about 30 minutes.
All three are powered by a single front-mounted electric motor, capable of producing up to 214 horsepower (160 kW) and 295 Nm of torque. The EV5 can go from 0 to 62 mph in 8.4 seconds.
The interior features Kia’s new Connected Car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC), which includes a three-screen infotainment system.
Kia’s ccNC infotainment features dual 12.3″ driver display and navigation screens with Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a 5.3″ climate control display. A customizable 12.3″ Head-Up Display (HUD) is available on higher trim options.
At 1,875 mm wide, 4,610 mm long, 1,675 mm tall, and a wheelbase of 2,750mm, the EV5 is 10mm wider, 70mm longer, and 30mm taller than the Sportage.
Prices for the base Kia EV5 Air start at £39,295 ($53,000), on-the-road (OTR). Upgrading to the sporty GT-Line model, which gains exclusive trim exterior and interior design elements, is priced from £42,595 ($57,800). The range-topping GT-Line S starts at £47,095 ($63,700).
| Starting Price (OTR) |
Driving Range (WLTP) |
|
| Kia EV5 Air | £39,295 ($53,000) | 329 miles |
| Kia EV5 GT-Line | £42,595 ($57,800) | 313 miles |
| Kia EV5 GT-Line S | £47,095 ($63,700) | 313 miles |
The EV5 joins the EV3, EV4, EV6, and EV9 as Kia expands its electric vehicle lineup in the UK. Kia’s EV3 was the best-selling retail EV in the UK in the first half of 2025.
Can its bigger brother, the EV5, top it? Pre-orders are now open, and Kia plans to deliver the first customer vehicles later this year.
As a sibling to the Sportage, Kia’s global, European, and UK-wide best-selling vehicle, it might actually have a chance. Let us know what you think of it in the comments below.
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Tesla has reduced the price of the Model 3 RWD Long Range, a newly launched version of the popular Model 3, amid a sales slump.
As we reported last week, China has reached a tipping point of EV adoption: the majority of new car sales are electric.
Yet, Tesla, which was once the largest EV company in China, is not benefiting from the surge in EV sales in China.
As of last week, Tesla’s sales in China are down 6.3% year-to-date based on insurance registration data compared to 2024.
Electric vehicle competition is intensifying, and Tesla is struggling to keep up.
Over the last few weeks, Tesla has launched two new versions of the Model 3 and Model Y to help stem the decline in China.
For Model 3, Tesla launched a new Long Range RWD version in early August for 269,500 yuan.
Today, Tesla slashed the price by 10,000 yuan just weeks after the launch – indicating that demand was lower than anticipated.
Furthermore, Tesla is also offering a series of incentives on top of the price reduction:
- Participate in the referral bonus promotion and place an order before September 30th to receive an 8,000 yuan bonus on optional paint.
- Order select models (excluding the High-Performance All-Wheel Drive version) before September 30th to apply for a limited-time 5-year 0% interest financing plan. Order
- select models (excluding the High-Performance All-Wheel Drive version) and receive delivery before September 30th, along with partner insurance, to receive a limited-time subsidy of 8,000 yuan.
Competition in the EV sector is tough in China. New models are being launched every week, and prices are incredibly competitive.
Tesla is still performing well in the premium segment, but its most popular models are, by far, the cheaper Model 3 and Model Y in RWD versions. Meanwhile, Chinese EV automakers have launched numerous vehicles in these segments.
Electrek’s Take
Add this to the numerous red flags regarding Tesla’s declining sales worldwide.
For Tesla, Europe is almost a thing of the past. China is in a steady decline, while the US is expected to experience only slight growth.
The level of competition in China is simply too high, resulting in Tesla selling many vehicles in the market for virtually 0% gross margin.
This is not sustainable and will likely result in Tesla starting to lose money in 2026 without some major changes.
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With just a week left until its official debut, Volkswagen is giving us a sneak peek of its most affordable electric SUV, the ID.2. Here’s our closest look at the new entry-level EV.
The Volkswagen ID.2 is an affordable electric SUV
Volkswagen is revamping its electric car lineup with a new family of entry-level models, starting with the ID.2. The ID.2 is an electric hatch that VW promises is “spacious like a Golf,” yet still “affordable like a Polo.
With a starting price of around € 25,000 ($29,000), the ID.2 will be among the most affordable electric cars on the market.
Shortly after launching the electric hatch, Volkswagen is set to introduce an SUV version of the ID.2, which could be an even bigger hit. The ID.2 SUV will sit below the ID.3 and ID.4 in Volkswagen’s EV lineup as an even more affordable crossover SUV option.
Although we’ve seen the hatch out testing a few times, the SUV version has been mostly kept under wraps outside of a blurry image from December 2023. That is, until now.
Volkswagen’s design boss, Andreas Mindt, offered a closer look at the ID.2 SUV on Monday, releasing a few new teasers. The images reveal a sleek new look from its current ID models, closer in style to the updated T-Roc, which was unveiled last week.
Mindt said the “design speaks for itself.” The ID.2 and SUV versions will be based on a new MEB+ platform, which will underpin Volkswagen’s upcoming lineup of entry-level EVs.
The hatch will be offered with two battery pack options: 38 kWh or 56 kWh, offering a WLTP range of up to 280 miles. Volkswagen has yet to reveal final prices and range for the SUV version.
According to VW’s tech development boss, Kai Grünitz, the brand’s EV lineup is in line for a major refresh. Grünitz told Autocar that “huge improvements” were coming, including updated styling inside and out.
The interior will feature the new design, which includes a 12.9″ infotainment and 10.9″ driver display screens and plenty of physical controls. There will also be a few fun added features like the ability to switch between drive modes that resemble Volkswagen classics, like the Golf or Beetle.
Since the ID.4 starts at around 35,000 euros ($41,000) to 40,000 euros ($47,000), depending on the market, you can expect prices to be slightly lower, likely at around 30,000 euros ($35,000).
Volkswagen will unveil the ID.2 SUV next week at the Munich Motor Show on September 7. The German auto giant claims the ID.2 SUV “is another important step towards bringing affordable electric mobility to the masses.” It’s expected to hit the market next year following the hatch version. We’ll learn more at the event.
Although the ID.2 is not expected to be sold in the US, Volkswagen’s current SUV, the ID.4, is actually already one of the most affordable electric SUVs. Volkswagen is currently offering ID.4 leases as low as $129 per month. That’s even cheaper than a Jetta.
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