VOLCANO ENERGY

Is Volcano Energy Really The Best Fit For El Salvador’s Bitcoin City?
By Lorenzo Vallecchi

On November 20, 2021, El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele announced, in a rock concert-like atmosphere, that his government is planning to build an oceanside “Bitcoin City” at the base of a volcano, which will become the city’s energy source. Although, “volcano energy," as Bukele says, might sound very promising and aesthetic, geothermal energy may not be the best possible fit for the Bitcoin edifice Bukele hopes to spur, at least in terms of their cost and speed.

If compared to solar or wind energy sources, for example, geothermal energy is quite more expensive and time consuming to develop and install. Once in motion, geothermal energy is more reliable, but it is still more expensive to produce. And while the efficiency of solar panels and wind systems keeps improving, geothermal efficiency has been stagnate for years. This article shares the necessary technicalities to demonstrate that a combination of solar and geothermal energy would be a better fit for Bukele’s utopian idea.

A Publicly-Listed Bitcoin Miner Shares Expectations For Intel’s New ASIC Chip
By Shawn Amick

Intel, the market leader in computer chip manufacturing, is entering the bitcoin mining space and will introduce what it claims will be an “ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient bitcoin mining ASIC” in the upcoming International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) on February 23. Some in the space are optimistic about Intel’s entry into the Bitcoin mining market, while others are dubious — but it is safe to say that a giant firm entering the industry could permanently transform it.

In this article, Sue Ennis, a representative of Hut 8 mining, one of North America’s largest and most innovative digital asset miners, shares his view about Intel’s ambition to revolutionize the industry and how this could change the greater landscape of mining. 

📰 THE DAILY BITS

TRUCKIN'

18 Wheels, 21 Million Coins - Bitcoin Keeps Truckin
By Mark Goodwin

The fight for freedom and human rights continues as truckers hold their positions in Ottawa. Despite mainstream tactics to invalidate or portray the movement as a "racist" or "a small fringe minority" the contrasting reality is that an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 trucks are taking part in this movement, beating a Guinness World Record of the longest truck convoy as the previous one was merely 480.

An increasing number of anonymous donors supported the cause and helped to raise ~$10 million Canadian dollars through GoFundMe. This was before the centralizing figures behind the website decided to pause the fund hold the funds hostage, later deciding to give back the money to its original sources.

In this piece, the author illustrates how bitcoin can be used to address this problem. As the truckers stand their ground, new sources of donations emerge — decentralized ones, making the case for bitcoin as a tool for freedom.

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