Bitcoin
El Salvador mines 474 BTC with volcanic geothermal energy
El Salvador’s foray into the world of cryptocurrencies is heating up, literally. The Central American country has apparently mined more than 474 bitcoins from the Tecapa volcano over the past three years, harnessing its geothermal energy.
This green strategy has significantly increased the state of El Salvador’s crypto reserves, currently valued at around $354 million. President Nayib Bukele’s administration has recruited 300 specialized processors to harness 1.5 MW of the volcano’s 102 MW geothermal capacity for mining, equivalent to 5% of the total geothermal capacity used for the same purpose.
This radical approach has generated an additional $29 million since 2021. El Salvador now has national bitcoin reserves that have reached 5,750 bitcoins, a considerable number.
However, this ongoing trend was preceded by a heated debate in 2021 over the decision to make bitcoin legal tender alongside the US dollar. The IMF opposed this decision due to the volatility of cryptocurrency.
El Salvador’s volcanic bitcoin experiment raises interesting questions about the future of cryptocurrency mining. Is the use of geothermal energy paving the way for a greener crypto industry?
Although El Salvador has a clean energy source for its mining, the environmental impact of large-scale crypto mining elsewhere remains a significant concern.
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