Bhutan: Home to the world's largest Bitcoin mining mine
Haebom
1
???: It is the completion of a world where everyone is ‘happy’.
Bhutan is making headlines by secretly building a Bitcoin mine, one of the world’s largest state-owned Bitcoin mines.
These mines are hidden in the mountains south of Thimphu, where millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin mining machines are mining the valuable currency. The Bhutanese government has not disclosed the location or size of these mines, but the satellite imagery has revealed their exact location and approximate size.
The reason why Bhutan started mining Bitcoin is because Bhutan's economy is heavily dependent on tourism, and in addition, it actually sells energy (electricity) to sustain the national economy. However, with the decrease in tourism revenue due to the coronavirus, the Bhutanese government had to make urgent adjustments to its economic plan.
In fact, the news that Bhutan was mining Bitcoin began to surface in 2020. It was about the country mining Bitcoin on its main road, and at the time, it was treated as fake news, but it was revealed that Bhutan imported $220 million (about 286.5 billion won) worth of Bitcoin mining chips from China between 2021 and 2022, and this was proven true. In addition, since this period, Bhutan's industrial electricity consumption has increased by 63% (as of 2022).
The Bitcoin mine is located south of Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. In fact, this place was supposed to be the site of a huge infrastructure project worth 1 billion dollars, a government mega project under the guise of an “education city” led by the Bhutanese government. However, the project was abandoned in 2014 due to political scandals and corruption of officials who had unfairly purchased the land and made profits. Since then, the site has been left behind in turmoil, and the roads, bridges, water facilities, and power lines left by the project have provided the foundation for the Bitcoin mine.
Bhutan’s investment in digital assets is now an open secret, and while the Bhutanese government has not officially acknowledged the existence of these mines, their impact is clear. These mines are likely to play a significant role in resolving Bhutan’s economic and political crises, and this shift signals Bhutan’s deeper engagement with the digital world.
Recently, El Salvador, Argentina, etc. have also been talking about officially mining Bitcoin and making it an official currency, and Bitcoin is emerging as a national currency. Whether it is from an investment perspective or something else, Bitcoin has established itself as an important axis of the economy of the country called Bhutan.
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