{"id":13528,"date":"2024-05-15T13:33:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T10:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/el-salvador-mines-nearly-474-btc-in-three-years\/"},"modified":"2024-05-15T13:33:17","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T10:33:17","slug":"el-salvador-mines-nearly-474-btc-in-three-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/el-salvador-mines-nearly-474-btc-in-three-years\/","title":{"rendered":"El Salvador Mines Nearly 474 BTC in Three Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Since 2021, El Salvador has mined 473.5 BTC, valued at approximately $29 million, at a state-run geothermal power plant harnessing volcanic energy, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/el-salvador-mined-nearly-474-bitcoins-adding-state-crypto-holding-last-three-2024-05-14\/\">Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The country&#8217;s national Bitcoin office announced the launch of its own space in the Bitcoin mempool, allowing real-time tracking of the cryptocurrency balance in the state treasury. At the time of writing, the government holds ~5748 BTC, valued at $352.3 million.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">El Salvador now has its own <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mempool?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mempool<\/a> space where anyone can check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bitcoin?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#bitcoin<\/a> treasury holdings.<\/p>\n<p>See details in the next post. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PEpVemHoFO\">pic.twitter.com\/PEpVemHoFO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Bitcoin Office (@bitcoinofficesv) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bitcoinofficesv\/status\/1789788632070431046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>El Salvador began test mining Bitcoin in October 2021, roughly a month after the law recognizing the first cryptocurrency as legal tender came into effect.<\/p>\n<p>In June 2023, authorities announced the Volcano Energy project with a capacity of 241 MW, aimed at using renewable energy sources for mining digital gold.<\/p>\n<p>The total cost of the enterprise was stated to be $1 billion, with the state holding a 23% stake. Tether, the company issuing the USDT stablecoin, announced its participation in the first $250 million funding round for Volcano Energy, though it did not disclose its share.<\/p>\n<p>According to Reuters, all Bitcoins mined by El Salvador were generated at a small 102 MW geothermal power plant located near the Tecapa volcano. To power 300 mining rigs, 1.5 MW is utilized.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the use of the popular Antminer S19 series devices in recent years, the estimated hash rate of the facility is 0.042 EH\/s. For comparison, the largest American public miner, Marathon Digital, had 29.9 EH\/s at the end of April 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In October 2023, El Salvador announced the launch of its own mining pool, Lava Pool.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">El Salvador Continues Its Bitcoin Strategy<\/h2>\n<p>In February 2024, the country&#8217;s presidential election saw the victory of incumbent President Nayib Bukele, the main proponent of adopting the first cryptocurrency. Before his re-election, he <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/el-salvadors-president-to-maintain-bitcoin-strategy-following-re-election\">promised to maintain<\/a> the existing Bitcoin strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Amid the rise of digital gold&#8217;s price <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/bitcoin-surpasses-64000-as-ethereum-soars-above-3500\">above $60,000<\/a>, Bukele <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/el-salvadors-unrealized-bitcoin-gains-reach-41-million\">reported<\/a> that El Salvador&#8217;s &#8220;paper&#8221; profit from investments in the asset amounted to 40% or about $41.6 million.<\/p>\n<p>He clarified that the figure was calculated solely based on &#8220;market purchases,&#8221; while the total volume of reserves is also formed from other sources such as mining or &#8220;Bitcoin freedom visas.&#8221; Launched at the end of 2023, the initiative allows obtaining residency and a chance for a local passport for investments of $1 million through BTC or USDT.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In February 2022, the government announced the issuance of the world&#8217;s first Bitcoin bonds worth $1 billion. The partner for the project was the platform for trading tokenized securities, Bitfinex Securities, with plans to use the Liquid Network sidechain for placement.<\/p>\n<p>The launch of the bonds was postponed several times, with officials citing &#8220;unfavorable conditions&#8221; among other reasons.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2023, the parliament passed a law providing a legal framework for issuing digital assets, including bonds based on the first cryptocurrency. In December, El Salvador&#8217;s Digital Assets Commission approved the placement of such papers, Volcano Bond, for $1 billion in Q1 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2024, Bitfinex Securities <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/bitfinex-to-tokenize-hotel-construction-in-el-salvador\">announced<\/a> the issuance of tokenized debt obligations for the construction of a hotel complex under the Hampton by Hilton brand at El Salvador&#8217;s international airport.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inverlaghotels.com\/\">description<\/a>, the five-level infrastructure includes 80 rooms, five commercial spaces, a pool, restaurants, gyms, and other amenities.<\/p>\n<p>The placement of digital bonds on the Liquid Network began on May 15. The maturity period is five years, with investors promised a 5% annual return.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The first capital raise in El Salvador on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Liquid_BTC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Liquid_BTC<\/a> is now live on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BFXSecurities?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@BFXSecurities<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And so begins a new era of capital markets for El Salvador. <\/p>\n<p>It is a small, exciting start to many big things to come for us, so stay tuned.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, more details on this project ?? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/weGbno1ZAO\">pic.twitter.com\/weGbno1ZAO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Bitcoin Office (@bitcoinofficesv) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bitcoinofficesv\/status\/1790544187340763273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Previously, the government emphasized the role of Bitcoin adoption in helping the country emerge from crisis and boosting tourism.<\/p>\n<p>Critics of El Salvador&#8217;s decision to legalize cryptocurrency, including the <span data-descr=\"International Monetary Fund\" class=\"old_tooltip\">IMF<\/span>, acknowledged that the associated risks &#8220;did not materialize,&#8221; thanks to its &#8220;limited&#8221; spread.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since 2021, El Salvador has mined 473.5 BTC, valued at approximately $29 million, at a state-run geothermal power plant harnessing volcanic energy, according to Reuters. The country&#8217;s national Bitcoin office announced the launch of its own space in the Bitcoin mempool, allowing real-time tracking of the cryptocurrency balance in the state treasury. At the time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"","news_style_id":"","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1431,1137,1278,1150],"class_list":["post-13528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bonds","tag-cryptocurrency-mining","tag-el-salvador","tag-news-plus"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"39","promo_type":"","layout_type":"","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}