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Following the recent decline in the value of the leading cryptocurrency bitcoin, debates about the long-term sustainability of the digital currency and its energy use have resurfaced. According to Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University Steve Hanke, the planned Bitcoin City in El Salvador is not fit for purpose, and it is only an attempt by the country’s President, Nayib Bukele, to garner attention via a publicity stunt.
El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele slams Steve Hanke.
American economist Steve Hanke tweeted, “Nayib Bukele’s proposed Bitcoin City is as prepared as Florida is for snow. The advertised power source for the city is an inactive volcano. This is just more attention-grabbing antics from a narcissistic president who is full of hot air.”
President Bukele responded on Twitter to the economist’s criticism of the proposed city and his remark that the volcano is “inactive,” slamming Hanke, an “idiot.” He stated: “This guy. Of course it is an inactive volcano you id10t! Most geothermal power is extracted from wells near INACTIVE VOLCANOES! Why would you build a city below an ACTIVE VOLCANO?
This guy ??
Of course is an inactive volcano you id10t!
Most geothermal power is extracted from wells near INACTIVE VOLCANOES!
Why would you build a city below an ACTIVE VOLCANO? ???? https://t.co/HGh6UGZ0u0
— Nayib Bukele ???? (@nayibbukele) January 7, 2022
El Salvador has made significant progress in the cryptocurrency sector.
The Central American country has made significant progress in the cryptocurrency sector since it became the first country to legally mine Bitcoin using volcanic energy. As reported earlier last year, Bukele said he had directed state-owned geothermal electric company LaGeo to allow Bitcoin miners to plug into the country’s volcanic energy resources. Volcanic energy ushers in a new era of clean mining for an asset that bad headlines have dogged for years because of its carbon footprint. The influence of bitcoin on the environment, for example, has been mentioned as a cause for its outright prohibition by some skeptics.
