For years, Bitcoin has been receiving complaints about its intensive vitality necessities and use of advanced laptop tools. As such, the BTC mining trade is constantly on the lookout for methods to deal with the cryptocurrency’s excessive vitality use with out sacrificing its era.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador might have one sensible consideration for this rising concern: introduce a “rent-a-volcano” program to harness geothermal vitality to energy Bitcoin mining.
Below the proposal, the federal government will enable third events to harness the nation’s geothermal sources. If Bukele’s suggestion is accepted, El Salvador will turn out to be a pioneer in utilizing pure vitality to mine the digital asset.
And with 170 volcanoes…⁰A “hire your volcano to mine Bitcoin” program may truly make sense 🤔 https://t.co/BENtEqher1
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) November 24, 2024
‘Lease A Volcano’ For Bitcoin Mining Makes Sense, Says Bukele
Bitcoin mining is a well-liked matter in El Salvador, one of many first international locations to legitimize Bitcoin as a monetary asset. As a pro-crypto chief, President Bukele has all the time been looking out for initiatives and applications that may improve adoption. And for Bukele, harnessing the nation’s pure vitality sources is a good way to spice up crypto mining.
In reply to a publish about El Salvador’s pure vitality, Bukele acknowledged that renting a volcano to mine Bitcoin is smart. He added that this type of method might push the nation to turn out to be the primary to faucet geothermal vitality for Bitcoin manufacturing.
BTC market cap at the moment at $1.83 trillion. Chart: TradingView.com
Mining Rigs Powered By Geothermal Vitality
El Salvador is without doubt one of the leaders in BTC mining, and it has already mined 474 Bitcoins valued at $46 million since 2021. In a publish on November twenty fifth, Bukele launched the idea of a “hire a volcano” BTC mining program impressed by the success of its geothermal mining services.
🇸🇻 NAYIB BUKELE IS CONSIDERING A PROGRAM TO RENT VOLCANOES TO MINE #BITCOIN:
‘with 170 volcanoes… it would truly make sense’ 🌋 pic.twitter.com/azSU3o9Dco
— The Bitcoin Convention (@TheBitcoinConf) November 25, 2024
Bukele’s publish responded to a different Twitter/X person’s publish on BTC mining utilizing geothermal vitality. The president reacted by saying that with 170 volcanoes, this system to hire out volcanoes is believable.
Ecologists Hit Plan To Set Up Crypto Cities Close to Volcanoes
Nonetheless, not everybody agrees with Bukele’s plan to energy its mining actions with geothermal vitality. For some ecologists, the vitality generated from geothermal crops is probably not sufficient to energy these BTC mining operations.
Ricardo Navarro, a number one ecologist, argued towards Bukele’s plan in 2021. He stated that the president doesn’t perceive the nation’s vitality scenario, and throwing mining into the combo will complicate the nation’s vitality issues.
In September 2021, Bukele launched a plan for a volcano-powered mining facility. Nonetheless, ecologies like Navarro criticized the institution of a “Bitcoin Metropolis” close to a volcano, saying that these are impractical. As well as, some critics say that utilizing geothermal continues to be costly and never sustainable.
Featured picture from Washington Submit, chart from TradingView