El Salvador is rapidly becoming a global hub for cryptocurrency mining by leveraging the country’s naturally abundant and renewable geothermal energy sources. Two recent partnerships bringing the spotlight to El Salvador’s ambitions in this arena.
First the state owned geothermal electric company LaGeo has partnered with crypto mining firms Luxor Technology and Marathon Digital Holdings. Allowing LaGeo to provide energy from its geothermal power plants to power both Luxor and Marathon’s Bitcoin mining operations in the country.
Second, in partnership with Luxor Technology, a Salvadoran renewable energy and mining firm recently launched a new Bitcoin mining facility in El Salvador called Lava Pool. This marks the first mining pool in El Salvador which pledges to allocate around 23% of its net income to El Salvador’s government. This financial contribution is one part of a much larger public-private partnership initiative to strengthen the nation’s growing economy.
President Nayib Bukele strongly advocates transforming El Salvador into a cryptocurrency and blockchain hub using the country’s renewable energy. Aiming to make El Salvador the ‘crypto mining capital of the world.” The President passed legislation in 2021 to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, making the country the first to do so.
Currently El Salvador only utilizes around 10% of it’s potential geothermal reserves, however with the new mining facilities and pools, the country will have plenty of potential to tap into this clean energy resource to further expand it’s cryptocurrency operations.
Proponents argue crypto mining will bring additional revenue, jobs, and investments to El Salvador. Meanwhile, opponents of the move claim that renewable energy would be better used for other industries or providing electricity access. President Bukele remains confident that combining geothermal power and crypto mining will ultimately benefit El Salvador.
These new partnerships along with the opening of Lava Pool reinforce El Salvador’s commitment to position itself at the forefront of cryptocurrency adoption. By harnessing its volcanic geothermal energy, the country aims to power Bitcoin mining sustainably while becoming an emerging leader in the space.
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