A startup, Stax Capital Partners based in Wasilla, is proposing a significant Bitcoin mining operation on Alaska’s North Slope, aiming to utilize the region’s abundant natural gas as its power source.
This project is touted to be the first of its kind for Alaska and could pave the way for what the company hopes will become the largest Bitcoin mining operation in the United States.
Sparrow Mahoney, the chief executive of Stax, expressed enthusiasm about establishing a new standard for sustainable and large-scale Bitcoin mining in Alaska.
She emphasizes that Alaska represents a unique opportunity for this industry in the long term.
In an application submitted to state land managers, Stax seeks permission to set up shipping container-like pods, which would house natural gas generators alongside computers.
These facilities would be located approximately 30 miles south of the Prudhoe Bay oil field, utilizing the basin’s “stranded” natural gas — gas that lacks a pipeline connection to potential customers.
While Bitcoin mining is considered a digital process with less environmental impact than traditional hard rock mining, it has not escaped scrutiny as operations flourish nationwide, particularly regarding their electricity consumption and spatial demands in urban areas of the Lower 48.
Alaska’s policymakers have been actively promoting the state’s vast unsettled lands to attract businesses, along with the potential to leverage stranded gas reserves from the North Slope’s oil fields, which are otherwise usually reinjected underground.
Despite the promising outlook, establishing new industries in the North Slope is fraught with challenges due to its remote location and high construction costs.
Historically, oil companies in this region have not supplied substantial volumes of gas for local data centers or Bitcoin mining ventures, raising concerns about whether their rates would be competitive enough to counterbalance the elevated expenses tied to building and operating infrastructure in the Arctic.
The gas generators proposed by Stax are projected to generate 50 megawatts of electricity, equivalent to the output of Alaska’s largest coal plant located in Healy.
Mahoney stated that the company is currently engaged in discussions with multiple potential natural gas suppliers on the North Slope, but has yet to finalize any contracts.
In hindsight, the scale of Stax’s operation notably surpasses another Bitcoin mining initiative proposed last year, a 1.4-megawatt project conceived through a partnership between Hilcorp and a small infrastructure firm.
While Mahoney refrained from disclosing the specific costs involved in Stax’s ambitious endeavor, she confirmed that it would exceed $10 million.
The logistics concerning the transportation of natural gas from the oil fields to the Franklin Bluffs pad, where the mining facility would be situated, remain unresolved.
One potential solution could involve utilizing an existing gas line that parallels the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, primarily used to transport fuel for the pumps associated with the oil pipeline.
The proposed Bitcoin mining operation emerges in the context of Alaska lawmakers simultaneously advocating for an extensive gas export project that would link the North Slope oil fields with a port on the Kenai Peninsula for liquefaction and shipment to barges bound for buyers in Asia.
Despite renewed backing from political figures, including the Trump administration, this export initiative has struggled to attract investors, especially given its staggering estimated cost of $44 billion.
According to Phil Wight, an energy historian from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Stax’s Bitcoin mining project is “innovative” as it attempts to profit from North Slope gas without necessitating the lengthy and expensive construction of the proposed export project.
However, concerns grow about the potential ramifications associated with further industrialization of the delicate Arctic environment, including the carbon emissions resulting from the combustion of natural gas.
Wight warned of a complex dilemma emerging from the project, suggesting that burning gas that would typically remain untapped could hinder efforts toward an energy transition.
In response to these concerns, Mahoney reassured that her project would not involve “new drilling,” with its strategic location chosen to minimize additional air pollution in proximity to the active North Slope oil fields.
Sparrow Mahoney brings a personal connection to Alaska, having grown up in the state, graduated from Wasilla High School, and even working for Frank Murkowski during his tenure as a U.S. Senator.
Stax Capital Partners is a relatively new entity in the field, having been established only a year ago, but it is striving to collaborate with various established players in Alaska’s energy landscape.
Mahoney mentioned that McKinley Alaska Private Investment has committed the requisite funds to initiate the pilot project, with Brian Murkowski, an energy consultant and sibling of current U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, serving as an advisor.
Jim Shine, a former high-ranking official in the state’s land management agency, is guiding some of the permitting aspects of the operation.
Stax Capital intends to commence construction by the end of 2025, and if the pilot project yields positive results, plans are set for expansion, targeting a power generation capacity of one gigawatt — a scale twenty times that of the initial project.
Even the pilot phase’s prospective 50-megawatt output would constitute a formidable undertaking in the Lower 48, where a recent analysis by The New York Times documented 34 of the nation’s largest Bitcoin mines, all exceeding 40 megawatts.
Currently, the largest mining operation stands at 700 megawatts, situated in Texas and operated by Riot Platforms.
Mahoney believes that Alaska could stand to gain significantly from Stax’s proposed operation, highlighting the potential for the state to profit by providing its own gas to the company, which holds a royalty share of 12.5% minimum from gas produced by companies on the North Slope.
In her own words, Mahoney emphasized, “What we’re doing is showing that there’s a large, viable, commercial opportunity based on infrastructure and resources that exist today.”
She concluded, “We can monetize this together, today, and it represents an opportunity of tremendous magnitude for the state and for everyone.”
image source from：https://alaskapublic.org/news/economy/energy/2025-06-03/new-alaska-bitcoin-mine-would-use-as-much-power-as-the-states-largest-coal-plant-produces
