Cheap Electricity a Boon for Bitcoin Mining in Cash-Strapped Venezuela

Cheap Electricity a Boon for Bitcoin Mining in Cash-Strapped Venezuela

In Venezuela, a country in recession and contending with the world's highest inflation of nearly 3,000 percent in 2020, crypto mining presents a rare opportunity for making money. Federico PARRA AFP

On a factory floor in Caracas, the din of dozens of computers working non-stop is deafening. This is the sound of a bitcoin mine -- one of several in a country where cheap electricity has made crypto mining a rare profitable endeavor.

At the enterprise called Doctorminer, in eastern Caracas, nearly 80 computers -- worth about $400 apiece and each the size of a shoebox -- generate some $10,000 in bitcoin equivalent per month.

The process produces intense heat, which require the constant cooling power of four large fans, said AFP.

The electricity bill for all this? "I think not even $10 a month," said Theodoro Toukoumidis, CEO of Doctorminer, founded to erect crypto mines countrywide and provide the required machines.

"We have discovered a way to generate income effortlessly... transforming energy into money," he told AFP.

In a country in recession and contending with the world's highest inflation of nearly 3,000 percent in 2020, crypto mining presents an economic opportunity for a lucky few.

This is made possible by one of the world's lowest electricity