By
Steve Muchoki
April 25th, 2024
While the renewable energy option of mining Bitcoin by El Salvador has been largely commended across the board, the overall approach of the country’s BTC adoption has continuously been faulted.
Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador has given a hint about the commencement of the country’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations. Taking to his official Twitter account, the self-proclaimed “coolest dictator in the world” shared screenshots detailing how much Bitcoin has been mined thus far. Per his tweet, a total of 0.01083155 BTC has been mined coming off to a total of approximately $512 per the current price of Bitcoin which is pegged at $47,293.16 according to CoinMarketCap.
In a follow-up tweet, President Bukele pointed out that the installation and testing of the miners are still underway, however, he noted this endeavor is the first Bitcoin mining operation from a Volcanode.
We’re still testing and installing, but this is officially the first #Bitcoin mining from the #volcanode 🌋
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) October 1, 2021
The plans by President Bukele to push his Bitcoin (BTC) adoption agenda extend beyond just making it a legal tender in the country. The highly vocal leader has often gushed about his plans to bridge the gap in Bitcoin mining by using the country’s rich geothermal energy from its many active volcanoes.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining has come under intense scrutiny in the past months as its impact on environmental degradation was brought to the fore by critics and the Chinese government. With the incessant clamor and the ensuing crackdown on Bitcoin mining from China in what was the major zone for the bulk of the BTC computing power, the industry has had a reset, with a move to adopt cleaner energy sources.
President Bukele has touted the Volcanic energy source as being a “very cheap, 100% clean, 100% renewable, 0 emissions energy” option. The shift to the power source comes off as convenient as the country’s energy corporation had already been researching on how to tap the power from the Volcanoes for some time now.
El Salvador Bitcoin Adoption: Appraise for Mining, Critics for Approach
While the renewable energy option of mining Bitcoin by El Salvador has been largely commended across the board, the overall approach of the country’s BTC adoption has continuously been faulted.
While it is apparent that many citizens are displeased with Bitcoin as a legal tender move, as shown through violent protests in the past week, observers are also displeased with the model of enforcement amongst businesses in the Central American nation.
“The government has harassed big business and small business alike. They’ve sent government agents to inspect businesses to ensure they are following labor regulations just because C-level executives have said negative things about the Bitcoin Law,” one local businessperson told Decrypt on condition of anonymity.
What goes on behind the scenes for the storage of keys on the Chivo wallet is also a major source of concern that many notes are more akin to centralization. This obviously is notably against the core ethics of Bitcoin’s decentralization. Additionally, experts have faulted the BTC buying approach of the President as many believe the decisions may not receive unanimous backing from the primary stakeholders in the country.
Despite all these, the Chivo wallet has continued to see increased adoption with more than 2.1 million signups already.