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- Bhutan operates a state-owned Bitcoin mine utilizing its hydroelectric resources.
- The earnings are to subsidize power and hardware costs.
- Bhutan is in talks with Bitdeer to secure 100 MW of power access.
Bhutan, a tiny kingdom in the Himalayas, reportedly uses its vast hydroelectric resources to power a state-owned Bitcoin mine, making it one of the few countries with a sovereign mining operation.
This development was captured in a recent Forbes publication, noting that Bhutan sought to harness its hydroelectric plants to power racks of mining machines that solve complex mathematical problems to earn Bitcoin rewards.
The report noted that it is unclear when the mining began, where it is located, and whether the operation has turned a profit. However, a government representative confirmed to a local newspaper that the country had begun mining “a few years ago as one of the early entrants when the price of Bitcoin was around $5,000.”
Notably, Bhutan is reportedly in talks with mining company Bitdeer to secure access to 100 megawatts of power for a Bitcoin mining data center. If successful, the partnership would increase Bitdeer’s mining capacity by 12%, adding to its data centers in Washington, Texas, and Norway.
The report quoted one former international advisor who lamented the secrecy of Bhutan’s mining activities. The statement read:
“It’s concerning that Bhutan’s resources have been invested in a secretive manner in a highly volatile and risky investment which has a big environmental burden”
Last month, the New York Times identified 34 large-scale Bitcoin mines in the US, all using enormous amounts of electricity to perform trillions of calculations per second. The NYT estimated that the operations could require as much electricity as a small city, with some using enough energy to power over 100,000 homes.
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