Bitcoin miners in China are preparing to move to Paraguay in masses. Reports claim that there might be up to half a million rigs online in the country in three years if regulators do not curb the miners’ progress. Some industrial players are already camping in the South American country.
According to Criptonoticias, at least eight Chinese fintech companies expressed a solid interest in transferring their mining activities to Paraguay. This is according to Digital Assets’ (Paraguayan mining firm) CEO Juanjo Benítez Rickmann.
Additionally, Rickmann claimed that larger consortiums from different regions are interested in moving to Paraguay, with Taiwan firms mostly keen.
On June 23, Digital Assets’ CEO claimed that he had a great chat with Alfredo Shu, Taiwanese Embassy’s Economic Advisor in Paraguay. They had spoken about Bitcoin mining and a draft bill before parliament to regulate and institutionalize cryptocurrency mining in Paraguay.
Many international observers claimed to be unimpressed by the bill that Digital Assets co-authored. However, some observers in the Paraguay cryptocurrency community are prudently optimistic that its fairly conservative nature might give policymakers in the country food for thought.
The Taiwanese Embassy in Paraguay claimed it was talking about bitcoin with Digital Assets and discussed a new business strategy that could generate many opportunities and becoming more recognized in Paraguay.
Miners have been eyeing Paraguay’s hydroelectric dams with huge potential; Itaipú and Yacyretá can generate up to 8,500 MW. Unfortunately, most of this power currently goes to waste, as the nation only consumes about 3,300 MW.
Media firms stated that mining institutions that did not reveal their identities were in contact with Paraguayan miners, most of whom were part of creating the bill in recent weeks. The Chinese organizations are very keen on learning how the draft bill is moving ahead in parliament.
However, other interested parties are not waiting to see what parliament comes up with. Rickmann claimed that a Chinese mining group had already arrived in Paraguay. The group will move to get around 90,000 rigs online in the following months.
