A wealthy expat Salvadoran is set to fund a USD 200m solar-powered Bitcoin (BTC) mining facility – and appears to have the backing of the government.
Per ElSalvador.com, the website of the newspaper El Diario de Hoy, Milena Mayorga, El Salvador’s Ambassador to the United States, has spoken about the plan, which was masterminded by Josue López. The latter was described as a Salvadoran who is currently living in Switzerland.
López, Mayorga explained, manages a “multi-million dollar” fund that he wants to use to “invest USD 200 million in a project that includes a facility that mines bitcoin and a photovoltaic plant.”
The facility would, if López gets his way, be based in Nueva Concepción, in the Northern Salvadoran town of Chalatenango.
Mayorga claimed that work on the facility’s “infrastructure” began yesterday and that the construction effort would take some eight months to complete.
The Ambassador added that the plant would provide the town with “more renewable energy,” but would also be used to power a new “bitcoin mining facility.”
However, she did not add any details about the generation capacity of the solar power plant. Nor did she provide any detail about the scale of the proposed BTC mining facility. The media outlet also noted that “details about López’s company” were also scant.
López, meanwhile, hinted that he had state support for the project.
He was quoted as stating that it was “an honor to be able to direct this project” with “the help of the government of El Salvador.”
López added:
“I owe everything to El Salvador, and all the investments made by my fund will be for the purpose of benefiting our beautiful country.”
The media has been scathing about the government’s bitcoin adoption plans in the wake of the recent market crunch.
Regardless, President Nayib Bukele has urged citizens and supporters to have faith in his project. Bukele has also ordered the development of a BTC mining facility near a geothermal power plant. The plant generates electricity from the nation’s volcanoes – and Bukele has dubbed the facility the “volcanode.”
Source: Cryptonews
