According to Odaily, Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated that the country's Caribbean coast has the potential to become a Bitcoin mining hub, leveraging its surplus renewable energy to attract foreign investment and stimulate economic development.
Petro posted on X on Tuesday that the Caribbean cities of Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and Rio Acha could build Bitcoin mining facilities and utilize the country’s clean energy, following the practices of Venezuela and Paraguay in recent years.
According to Jaran Mellerud, managing partner of Hashlabs, a Bitcoin mining analyst, the industry could have a significant economic impact on emerging countries looking to convert previously unused electricity into cash flow.
As U.S. commercial miners continue to expand into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing in search of higher profit opportunities, countries with low electricity costs also have the opportunity to gain a larger share of the Bitcoin network's computing power.
Petro's remarks were a response to a post by Alessandro Cecere of Luxor Technology. Cecere pointed out that Paraguay's share of Bitcoin hashrate has risen to 4.3% since it began utilizing hydroelectric power from its Itaipu Dam. This small, landlocked South American nation is now the fourth-largest Bitcoin mining nation after the United States, Russia, and China. (Cointelegraph)
