Colombian President Gustavo Petro said 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 Riohacha could host bitcoin mining facilities, using the country's clean energy, following the examples of Venezuela and Paraguay in recent years.
Bitcoin mining analysts, such as Jaran Mellerud, managing partner at Hashlabs, say the industry can have a significant economic impact on emerging nations looking to convert otherwise unused electricity into cash flow.
As US 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 a chance to capture a larger share of the Bitcoin network's hashrate.
Petro's remarks were in response to a post by Alessandro Cecere of Luxor Technology. Cecere noted that since Paraguay utilized the hydroelectric power from its Itaipu Dam, the country's share of Bitcoin hashrate has risen to 4.3%. The small landlocked South American nation is now the fourth-largest bitcoin mining country after the United States, Russia, and China. (Cointelegraph)