Venezuela has one edge in the very competitive field of crypto mining: it offers incredibly inexpensive electricity. Mining cryptocurrency is proving to be incredibly profitable for one Caracas-based entrepreneur, with energy prices as low as 0.06 cents per kilowatt/hour in a country plagued by economic insecurity and some of the world’s highest rates of hyperinflation.
Doctor Miner, a mining company, has a bank of 80 shoebox-sized computers that cost roughly €340 each and mine Bitcoin 24 hours a day, making €8,500 in the token per month.
Theodoro Toukoumidis, the company’s president, claimed the company began mining Ethereum from employees’ homes in 2016, before establishing the Bitcoin-focused grid of computers. “Any old-gen, mid-gen, or next-gen mining machine is profitable in Venezuela,” he told AFP.
“I had to sell my automobile to get a computer, and I had to walk everywhere to get my first computer.
And my companion traded in his motorcycle for a computer, and the two of us continued on foot, putting our entire faith in technology “Added he.
Blackouts and slow internet
While power outages and sluggish internet speeds are common in Venezuela, they are insufficient to halt the growth of the cryptomining business. The bolivar, Venezuela’s currency, has been plagued by hyperinflation for several years.
The country’s central bank has said that starting October 1, it will remove six zeros from the currency to prevent it from depreciating further against the US dollar. Since 2008, the bank has removed eight zeros from the bolivar.
Cryptocurrencies are “a way out of Venezuela’s hyperinflation for many individuals,” according to Venezuelan economist Aaron Olmos. “In Venezuela, a kilowatt-hour costs as little as 0.06 cents. As a result, verifying a blockchain or mining a cryptocurrency in Venezuela is far more profitable than in any other country “he stated
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro established the ‘Petro’ cryptocurrency in 2017, claiming that it would be used to circumvent the United States’ “financial embargo” of the country. Despite Maduro’s efforts to expand its use, it has yet to gain consumer or investor trust.