El Salvador is the only country with Bhutan having the good idea to mine bitcoins. His harvest now reaches nearly 500 BTC.
Bitcoin, the currency of El Salvador
El Salvador has mined 474 bitcoins since 2021. And this, without coal or gas. The energy comes from a geothermal plant powered by the imposing Tecapa volcano.
Of the 102 megawatts (MW) produced by the public power plant, 1.5 MW are devoted to the production of electricity dedicated to its small mining installation (300 minors).
The government holds the equivalent of $354 million in BTC. The small Central American nation can boast of now having 5,750 BTC. They were transferred to a cold wallet itself stored in a safe located on national territory.
El Salvador has been buying one bitcoin per day since 2022 and President Nayib Bukele recently reaffirmed that these purchases will continue until bitcoin “becomes unaffordable”.
The country obtains its bitcoins through daily purchases, mining, but also through the sale of passports and other government services. The country has considerably increased its bitcoin holdings, which were estimated at less than 3,000 BTC just a few months ago.
El Salvador's attraction to bitcoin dates from September 2021, when it officially made it a legal tender. And despite the fall of bitcoin, criticism and pressure from the International Monetary Fund, the Bitcoin strategy remained steadfast.
Bhutan also uses its excess hydropower for mining. More recently, it was the Ethiopian government which rolled out the red carpet for miners. Texas is not left out with close collaboration between miners, authorities and the local power grid.
All nations with green electricity surpluses would do well to emulate the Salvadoran strategy. Unfortunately, many governments still perceive bitcoin as a threat. Let's hope that BlackRock's endorsement through the launch of its ETF in January will make this anathema disappear once and for all.
In the same vein, all multinationals should also emulate Microstrategy's strategy. The Japanese firm Metaplanet has just done just that by publishing entirely rational reasons for holding your cash in bitcoins.
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