Odaily Planet Daily reports that Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated that the country’s Caribbean coast has the potential to become a Bitcoin mining hub, leveraging its excess renewable energy to attract foreign investment and stimulate economic growth.
On Tuesday, Petro posted on X that the Caribbean cities of Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and Riohacha could build Bitcoin mining facilities and leverage 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 seeking to convert otherwise unused electricity into cash flow.
As U.S. commercial miners continue to expand into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing to pursue higher-profit opportunities, countries with lower electricity costs also have the chance to capture a larger share of the Bitcoin network's hash power.
Petra’s remarks were a response to a post by Alessandro Cecere of Luxor Technology. Cecere noted that since Paraguay began utilizing hydropower from the Itaipu Dam, its share of Bitcoin hashing power has risen to 4.3%. This small landlocked country in South America is now the fourth-largest Bitcoin mining nation, following the United States, Russia, and China. (Cointelegraph)