News that El Salvador is adopting Bitcoin as a national currency may have reached your ears. But this made me laugh:
The law passed by El Salvador’s legislative assembly makes no mention of mining. But during a live conversation on Twitter Spaces on Tuesday night, Bukele announced an idea that had suddenly occurred to him: El Salvador’s volcanoes could be used as a renewable source of geothermal energy.
“Every day is going to be a new idea,” Bukele told the audience of over 25,000, according to Coindesk. The following day, he announced on Twitter that he had directed the country’s state-owned geothermal electricity company to develop a plan that would allow bitcoin miners to tap into “very cheap, 100% clean, 100% renewable, 0 emissions energy from our volcanoes.”
Hours later, Bukele said that engineers had already dug a new well that would become the center of a new bitcoin mining hub, and shared a video of the steam pouring out. [WaPo]
As El Salvadoran wealth transfers from American dollars, the other national currency, into bitcoin, I’d view that as being at increasing risk. If things go south, will Bukele survive? People hate it when their wealth disappears after trusting the word of their leader.
And, weirdly, this all reminds me of the Internet bubble of 2000. Things became downright bizarre just before the big meltdown. Just a word to those who remember.
