Bhutan Running Secret, State-Owned Bitcoin Mining Facilities in Himalayas

• Forbes has announced that it has identified the locations of four secret state-run Bitcoin mining facilities in Bhutan.
• This publication used satellite imagery to locate the site.
• El Salvador is the only other country known to operate state-run Bitcoin mining facilities.

The Kingdom of Bhutan has secretly developed a series of Bitcoin mining facilities. forbes This was revealed through an investigation.

Using satellite imagery from Planet Labs, Satellite Vu, and Google Earth, as well as sources familiar with crypto investing in Bhutan, the magazine discovered four previously undisclosed suspected crypto mining sites. said.

Satellite images reveal long, rectangular mining units and data center cooling systems hidden in dense forests and mountain ranges across the Himalayas. Other images also show large power lines and transformers running from Bhutan’s hydroelectric power plant to the mine site, Forbes reported.

One site is near the Dochula Pass, a sacred area with 108 monumental shrines; others are in the mountain town of Trongsa in the center of the country, Dagana in the south, and in an area known as the “Education City”. was identified. A $1 billion government project to revive the economy has failed.

Forbes magazine tracked earthmoving and construction work and said work on the site likely began in 2020.

Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process that consumes approximately 91 terawatt-hours of electricity per year, more than many countries, and Bhutan’s crypto mining operations have led to a surge in the country’s energy imports and usage in recent years. There is. Saudi Arabia has historically sold excess hydropower to India, where it purchased $20.7 million worth of power. 2023.

Bhutan’s monarch, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, has long had a strong interest in cryptocurrencies, and is hoping to save the remote, biodiverse, mountainous country of less than 800,000 people from falling into economic crisis. We hope that this virtual currency will help prevent this.

Bhutan, dubbed the “last Shangri-La,” is suffering from a decline in tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic, while also facing a brain drain due to rising youth unemployment and soaring immigration rates.

El Salvador is currently the only country in the world known to operate a state-run cryptocurrency mine.