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Qareeb Partners With Pantheon For GCC Bitcoin Mining Expansion
The edge data center provider has teamed with the Bitcoin mining leader in a bid to expand regional mining facilities and strengthen digital infrastructure.
The Middle East’s first edge data center provider, Qareeb, has joined forces with Pantheon, a global leader in Bitcoin mining services, to expand mining operations across the GCC. The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), laying the groundwork for a strategic collaboration that will also strengthen the region’s digital infrastructure.
Under the agreement, Qareeb will take the lead in securing prime locations for Pantheon’s Bitcoin mining facilities, strategically placing them near Qareeb’s existing and upcoming data center sites. Beyond site acquisition, Qareeb will also handle the construction and operational setup of the facilities, ensuring they are fully equipped and supported with engineering, security, and facility management services.
Annemarie van Zadelhoff, Chief Strategy Officer at Qareeb, highlighted the significance of this partnership: “Partnering with Pantheon represents a significant opportunity for Qareeb. By leveraging our expertise in turnkey project management, site acquisition, permitting, and operations, we are proud to ensure Pantheon’s facilities are fully fitted, operational, and supported by our 24/7 regional team. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to building a future-ready digital infrastructure and setting new standards for innovation and resilience in the region”.
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Nick van Houtrijve, COO and Founder of Pantheon, emphasized the strategic nature of this expansion: “Pantheon’s expansion into the GCC is a strategic milestone as we continue to set new benchmarks for operational efficiency and performance. This partnership with Qareeb enables us to establish robust infrastructure in one of the fastest-growing Bitcoin mining markets globally”.
Finally, Jim Niemeijer, Head of Business Development at Pantheon, added: “With Qareeb’s unparalleled regional expertise and our capabilities, we are confident in delivering value to our investors and clients. Together, we’re creating a blueprint for the future of digital finance”.
The Qareeb and Pantheon collaboration marks a significant step in advancing Bitcoin mining capabilities in the Middle East, and will certainly help GCC countries to position themselves as global Bitcoin and crypto mining hubs.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
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The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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