Forbes: Field work for Bitcoin mining facilities began in 2020

An investigation by the American business magazine Forbes has uncovered secret Bitcoin production facilities belonging to the Kingdom of Bhutan.

According to satellite imagery from Planet Labs, Satellite Vu, and Google Earth, as well as sources familiar with Bhutan's crypto investments, there are four crypto mining facilities that have never been publicly disclosed.

Currently, El Salvador is the only country in the world with publicly acknowledged state-owned crypto mines. However, the evidence presented indicates that the Kingdom of Bhutan has also entered this business.

Satellite images reveal long, rectangular mining units and data center cooling systems hidden among the dense forests and mountainous terrain of the Himalayan country.

Other images show high-capacity power lines and transformers extending from Bhutan's hydroelectric plants to the mining sites.

One of the sites is located near the Dochula Pass, a sacred area containing 108 memorial stupas. Others were identified in Trongsa, a mountainous town in the center of the country; in Dagana in the south; and in the Education City, a failed $1 billion government project launched to boost the economy.

CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN 2020, ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION SOARED

Tracking excavation and building construction, Forbes stated that work at the sites began in 2020.

The kingdom's investment arm, Druk Holdings & Investment (DHI), confirmed the existence of the mines. In a statement to Forbes, it was said, “The locations of the facilities related to Bitcoin mining in Bhutan were chosen based on the logistical needs of the operations, such as power supply and various other factors.”

Bhutan's crypto mining operations have caused the country's energy imports and usage to increase in recent years. The kingdom, which previously sold its surplus hydroelectric power to India, purchased $20.7 million worth of electricity in 2023.

THE KING IS A CRYPTO ENTHUSIAST

Bhutan's monarch, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, has long been an admirer of crypto and hopes that cryptocurrencies will benefit the economy of the mountainous country, which is home to fewer than 800,000 people.

While Bhutan suffered from declining tourism during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is also facing rising youth unemployment and a brain drain triggered by increasing migration rates.

News Source: 12punto