Article 3FSNJ How Iceland became the bitcoin miners’ paradise

How Iceland became the bitcoin miners’ paradise

by
Alex Hern
from on (#3FSNJ)

The island nation is the first to use more electricity on mining cryptocurriencies than on its households - thanks in part to its magma-fuelled power plants

Bitcoin's price may be down more than 50% from its highs in December, but no one has told Iceland, where the cryptocurrency and its offspring are reshaping the economy.

According to Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson, an employee of the energy company HS Orka, Icelandic cryptocurrency "mining" is likely to double its energy consumption to about 100 megawatts this year. That is more than households use in the nation of 340,000 people, according to the national energy authority.

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