before this week , the small Central American republic of El Salvadorwent down in historyas the first land in the world to accept Bitcoin as sound tender .
Now , in a move that sounds straight out of aBond film , President Nayib Bukele has announced an innovative plan to capitalize ( get it ? ) on the new national currency : volcano .
In a tweet posted within hours of the country ’s acceptation of the cryptocurrency , Bukele tell the world that he had instructed the foreland of the state - owned geothermal electric society to set up facilities for volcano - power Bitcoin minelaying .
El Salvador may be the low commonwealth in Central America , but it isone of the populace championsof geothermic vigour production . That ’s because it sits right in the centre of theCentral American Volcanic Arc : a 1,500 - kilometer - long ( 930 miles ) string of hundreds of volcanoes that stretch all the direction from Guatemala to Panama . By harnessing the thermal energy of its 23 activevolcanoes , El Salvador is able to renewably produce around one - quarter of its national big businessman pulmonary tuberculosis through steam - powered turbine .
That ’s important because push use is a big problem with Bitcoin . To obtain the cyber currency , computer users must “ mine ” it – in other words , they use the processing office of their machines to lick complex maths problems . These solutions are used to avow previous minutes , and some Bitcoin is create on the side for the miner .
But unlike normal money , there ’s a circumscribed amount of Bitcoin – once it ’s all been “ mined ” , that ’s it , no quantitative relief or inflation allowed . And that is why the damage has rocket of late , result ingraphics card game , and somewhat soona whole lot of other things , going extinct . In terms of state , Bitcoin mining is now responsible for more power consumption thanArgentina , and it’scatching upon the Czech Republic .
While this environmental impact is alarming , not everybody is convinced , with many Bitcoin fan say that the up-to-dateness ’s popularity will invigorate renewable energy technology . El Salvador ’s plan volcano mine , which comes only a couple of week after the creation of the Elon Musk - blessedBitcoin Mining Council , is one bright jot that they may be veracious .
“ Our engine driver just informed me that they dig a unexampled well , that will provide around 95MW of 100 % clean , 0 emission geothermal vigour from our volcanos , ” Bukeletweeted , along with a video which he said was a squirt of pure water vapour being ejected from a pipeline . “ Starting to plan a full # Bitcoin mining hub around it . ”
