Nayib Bukele kept his promise and started to venture into Bitcoin mining and said that his country is volcano enriched and he will use these volcanoes to produce energy sources and then utilize that energy for Bitcoin mining. Engineers in El Salvador have already begun their work and have developed a well at a volcano site that will provide 95-megawatt clean geothermal electricity.
While the world is confused and much criticism has been aimed towards the Bitcoin mining process, yet El Salvador has come up with a solution.
It was recently, when Nayib Bukele, the head of state of El Salvador showed his interest in Bitcoin mining. He said that he will legalize Bitcoin mining and will lend support to foreign investors for establishing their mining facilities in El Salvador. But while making that statement, Bukele offended International Monetary Fund (IMF), from which El Salvador was seeking a US$ 1 billion loan. IMF was of the considered view that venturing into Bitcoin mining would worsen the economic and financial conditions of El Salvador. Being concerned, IMF has scheduled a meeting with the President for discussing the matter in detail.
In the meanwhile, President Bukele went on to tweet that he has initiated the work of the Bitcoin mining facility. President informed that he had issued instructions to the President of a government-owned electric company. The company had been given the task to start exploring the possibility of producing cheap and carbon-free energy sources. For this task, the President has asked the company to utilize the sites of volcanoes to produce electricity to be consumed by the mining industry.
Later on, another tweet was shared by President Bukele informing that the engineers have developed a well at a volcano site. The engineers have informed that the well is capable of producing 95-megawatt electricity which is good for running a mining facility. The next phase will be to establish a mining facility at the site where the well has been dug up. The President also stated that the well is full of water vapor which will be used to produce cheap and clean electricity.
Within the crypto and Bitcoin communities, President Bukele has been appreciated for thinking out of the box. People are exclaiming that the move of El Salvador’s President is a landmark move and people should learn from him. One such person was Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO, who said that El Salvador has come up with an amazing solution to end the criticism. People will remember President Bukele for what he did for Bitcoin, said Dorsey.
Michael Saylor of Microstrategy too lauded the efforts of El Salvador and its President for supporting Bitcoin. He said that what you might think as “waste” or “mayhem” could be a reason for bringing in prosperity and this has happened in El Salvador.
Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor opined: “Bitcoin mining is the world’s best technology for converting energy into prosperity.” He added, “Bitcoin incentivizes renewable energy,” tagging Elon musk. Saylor recently hosted a meeting between the Tesla CEO and North American bitcoin miners to discuss mining using renewable energy. The miners agreed to form the Bitcoin Mining Council.
The president first revealed his bitcoin mining plans Wednesday morning on a Twitter Spaces room hosted by Nic Carter as the Salvadoran Congress discussed his bill to make bitcoin legal tender. More than 20,000 people tuned in to listen to the discussions hosted by Carter. The bill subsequently passed with a supermajority.
President Bukele was asked if he had any bitcoin mining plans. He mentioned that the country had plans to expand infrastructure and stimulate development around its source of geothermal energy. “On the outskirts of the plants, we want to promote industrial parks where you can set up your factory and you will receive cheap, clean, renewable [energy],” he described. He then suggested bitcoin miners might find these parks ideal given the close proximity to cheap, clean, electricity.
Morgan Creek Digital partner Anthony Pompliano commented: “The president of El Salvador is reporting that the country’s engineers have already dug a new well for their zero-emissions bitcoin mining facility. This is less than 24 hours since the idea surfaced. Speed kills.”
