At least 150 clients, all local, are those receiving benefits from the plant, called Data Center CR. The hydroelectric plant invested USD 500,000 to house the Bitcoin miners.

Bitcoin (BTC) mining is now reaching more safe ports. The good thing is that many of these miners are settling in Latin America. The new paradise is in Costa Rica, where hydroelectric energy has made it possible to carry out the activity.

Leaning on the Poás River, some 650 miners that belong to 150 clients operate non-stop every day. The machines got installed in eight containers and the electricity gets collected from the hydroelectric plant that is right next to the tributary.

The plant, named Data Center CR, rehabilitated itself after at least 30 years of operation, and digital mining was the market niche that boosted its activities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of that Central American country stopped acquiring energy from it since surpluses in the electricity supply got reported.

In a report made by the Reuters news agency, the president of that family business that covers some 60 hectares, Eduardo Kooper, affirmed that activities ceased for nine months until he discovered about Bitcoin mining.

Kooper expressed that they had to stop the activity for at least nine months, and exactly one year ago, they found out about Bitcoin, blockchain, and digital mining.

The hydroelectric plant, which gets based on three plants with a capacity of 3MW, invested USD 500,000, which is enough to host cryptocurrency miners.

Kooper also explained that Bitcoin miners from other nations became interested in cheap, clean energy and a stable internet connection. Costa Rica, he said, counts on all these benefits. However, he warned that the State promotes the activity with the sole intention of attracting more investors.

More Profitable than at Home

Reuters interviewed a Bitcoin miner, who works from Data Center CR, where most of the connected customers are essentially local to the country. Although digital mining in Costa Rica is not a prohibited activity, it needs regulations, as does the rest of the market. In October, the president of the Central Bank, Rodrigo Cubero Brealey, expressed that this new economy had to be regulated.

The head of the Costa Rican monetary entity said at the time that they had an attitude of vigilant tolerance, and do believe it is vital to allow the fintech industry and the use of cryptocurrencies to evolve.

The fact is that Bitcoin has already gained a spot in that country, to the point where radio stations are already dedicating space to the cryptocurrency environment.

IFinex Said Yes to the Use of Natural Resources to Mine Bitcoin

In the same context of Costa Rican mining, the CTO of IFinex, Paolo Ardoino, received the activity with arms wide open. He gladly welcomed the activity after assessing that “a small river in Costa Rica can bring energy to a hydroelectric plant that now feeds hundreds of computers linked to the cryptocurrency mining business.”

According to Paolo Ardoino, natural resources and environmentally friendly alternatives to boost and improve bitcoin mining will become more popular in the years to come.

By: Jenson Nuñez

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