{"id":23458,"date":"2021-10-04T12:48:37","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T10:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecryptowolf.net\/2021\/10\/04\/academic-says-bukeles-bitcoin-mining-test-is-bad-business\/"},"modified":"2021-10-04T12:48:37","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T10:48:37","slug":"academic-says-bukeles-bitcoin-mining-test-is-bad-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecryptowolf.net\/2021\/10\/04\/academic-says-bukeles-bitcoin-mining-test-is-bad-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic Says Bukele\u2019s Bitcoin Mining Test Is \u2018Bad Business\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Source: Twitter\/@nayibbukele<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A leading Salvadoran engineering academic has claimed that volcano-powered Bitcoin (BTC)<\/a> mining could be ruinous for the nation\u2019s economy, and says that the government has spent USD 4,672 worth of public funds to mine just USD 269 in BTC.<\/p>\n

Per<\/a> El Diario de Hoy, Carlos Mart\u00ednez, a professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of El Salvador<\/strong> (UES), claimed that in four days of mining so far, the state has managed to mine a total of BTC 0.00599179 (USD 269 at the time). The professor added that if the price of energy were USD 0.13 per kilowatt-hour, and the government was using 100 miner 3.74kW WhatsMiner M31S mining rigs, the state was paying USD 1,168 in costs. \u201cThat\u2019s definitely bad business,\u201d Mart\u00ednez concluded.<\/p>\n

The professor made his calculations based on data released by the government on Friday.<\/p>\n

However, President Nayib Bukele added a caveat to the figures, stating that the government was \u201cstill testing and installing\u201d its new system.<\/p>\n

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Bukele stated that “we are still testing and installing, but this is officially the first Bitcoin mining” of volcano energy.<\/p>\n

Other skeptics continue to express doubts. The same media outlet reported that energy industry insiders \u201cagree that the current facilities at LaGeo<\/strong> (the state-owned geothermal generation company) do not have the capacity to house a Bitcoin mining center,\u201d claiming that BTC mining demands more energy than the firm can produce at the \u201cvolcanode.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez agreed that the nation \u201cdoes not have the installed capacity to meet the demand for electricity,\u201d and warned that if sufficient energy were allocated to a mining center, \u201cthat would raise electricity tariffs for ordinary Salvadorans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The media outlet, which is opposed to Bukele\u2019s rule and his BTC adoption policies, noted that the President has not yet \u201cdetailed the cost of the equipment acquired for the mining project.\u201d Nor, it noted, has it revealed exactly how much energy is being used at the site, how much the facilities cost to construct or the number of government employees involved in the mining project.<\/p>\n

Last week, a prominent NGO, the Foundation for Economic and Social Development <\/strong>(Fusades), stated that mining Bitcoin at scale in El Salvador would \u201ccause shortages and increases in the price of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00c1lvaro Trigueros, the director of the Fusades Department of Economic Studies, was quoted as stating that mining at the \u201cvolcanode\u201d would likely be limited and could not hope to grow to a \u201clarge scale,\u201d as the government was all too aware that intense mining efforts would \u201cgenerate problems in the national electricity market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, on Reddit, many international posters reacted<\/a> with relative enthusiasm, with one writing that they hoped this was \u201cjust growing pains as they ramp up mining and gets some scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another wrote that the report was \u201cjust clickbait,\u201d as it \u201ctakes time to build the hash rate and smooth things out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bukele, meanwhile, has been triumphantly proclaiming the success of the state-issued Chivo app, which he wrote now has 3 million users \u2013 in a country of almost 6.5 million people.<\/p>\n

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But left-leaning mainsteam media outlets continued to claim that the government is riding roughshod over the law in its Chivo adoption drive.<\/p>\n

La Prensa Gr\u00e1fica reported<\/a> that MPs were briefed and trained on how to use the Chivo app in a parliamentary office in the city of Sonsonate. The media outlet and opposition lawmakers from the ARENA party claimed that this represented an improper use of government facilities and a breach of the ethical code.
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Learn more:<\/strong>\u00a0
– Latin America, Caribbean Could Use Thousands Volcanoes To Mine Bitcoin<\/a>
– Bukele Teases Volcano-powered Bitcoin Mining Center as Exchange Arrives\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

– Dominated by Institutions, Bitcoin Mining is also Possible from Home<\/a>
– How Bitcoin Mining Might Help Nations With Domestic Energy Production<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n