Bitcoin Volcano Mining Could Earn El Salvador 20,000 Bitcoin a Year

El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender has undoubtedly been one of crypto’s top stories in 2021. Following the historic move, President Nayib Bukele has shifted his focus on unleashing the nation’s abundant geothermal energy to mine Bitcoin, which, based on its current price, could return over A$1 billion per year.

100% Green Energy Bitcoin Mining

In early June, Bukele announced his intention to mine 100 percent eco-friendly Bitcoin, signalling that plans were afoot:

While the latest details remain unclear, the President recently took the opportunity to discuss the matter with Peter McCormack of the What Bitcoin Did podcast:

Volcanoes – An Economic Windfall?

So-called volcano mining (correctly referred to as mining using geothermal energy) has captured the imagination of the crypto community. Since the announcement, various analysts have estimated the potential financial impact of mining Bitcoin using the country’s geothermal energy resources.

Conservative estimates suggest that El Salvador could generate approximately 20,000 BTC per year, with some suggesting it may indeed prove to be one of the most profitable projects on record:

If El Salvador is successful in its effort and if the price of BTC reaches US$100,000, El Salvador may be able to increase its GDP by almost 10 percent. As always, the devil is in the detail and for the time being at least, we will need to wait and see how things play out.