Bhutan, located in South Asia, has been mining bitcoins since the cryptocurrency was worth about $5.000.
Ujjwal Deep Dahal, CEO of Druk Holding & Investments, told The Bhutanese that the country located in South Asia, in the Himalayan mountain range, has been mining bitcoins sustainably for years.
Bitcoin mining is carried out by the company Druk Holding & Investments (DHI) which, among other things, is dedicated to the extraction of cryptocurrencies from networks from the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Although these operations have been carried out unnoticed by the crypto community at large, the CEO of Druk Holding & Investments (DHI) assured that his company uses hydroelectric energy to power and keep its miners connected to the network.
“DHI is not buying and selling digital currency, but is primarily mining Bitcoin at a relatively low cost using green energy”, Deep Dahal said.
Druk Holding & Investments is the commercial and investment arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan.
A long term investment
According to Deep Dahal, the state-owned company entered the crypto industry several years ago, when the price of Bitcoin was around $5.000 per unit.
Bhutan holds the bitcoins mined from the network as a long-term investment. In his statements, Deep Dahal said that his company only sells the bitcoins needed to cover its operating expenses and perform maintenance. The rest of the bitcoins that the company has mined are held for the long term, trusting in the potential for the cryptocurrency to appreciate in the market.
On the other hand, the Kingdom of Bhutan has an ideal climate and geography for Bitcoin mining, as well as water resources that guarantee clean and sustainable energy at low cost. On this, the CEO of DHI also stated that the country has no need to interrupt the energy supply to the population or local industries, but rather that it uses all the surplus energy produced by its hydroelectric facilities to power the operations of crypto miners.
As in states such as Texas (United States), Bitcoin miners disconnect from the network in the winter months to guarantee energy supply to the population, industries and the private sector.
Bhutan has mined bitcoins and some ethers too
In addition to mining bitcoins, the Kingdom of Bhutan also managed to mine some ethers when the Ethereum network was operating under the Proof of Work consensus protocol.
Bhutan is maintaining a primary focus on Bitcoin and digital assets to boost its technological development and improve the quality of life of its people.
DHI had requested a multi-million-dollar loan backed by crypto assets from the BlockFi and Celsius Network platforms, both of which have since declared bankruptcy. According to Deep Dahal, the loan was paid in full and settled without any fees.
Continue reading: The energy used for Bitcoin mining is getting cleaner every day
