Sweden and Norway have taken the top spots for bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining. Both countries have endured long and wet weather – some of the wettest of the past 20 years. This has given both regions the rainwater they needed to ensure they possess strong, hydroelectric power, which remains some of the cheapest in the world. As a result, many crypto miners are looking at these regions as the top places to set up operations.Sweden and Norway Are the Top Mining NationsAs it stands, much of the world’s bitcoins are mined in areas like China, Canada and Kazakhstan. These three nations often boast particularly high energy prices, and the costs of mining bitcoin or other forms of digital currencies can run up hefty bills. Sweden and Norway are looking to provide new miners with alternatives
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Nick Marinoff considers the following as important: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Mining, Bitcoin News, Mine Bitcoin, News, Norway, Sweden
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Sweden and Norway have taken the top spots for bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining. Both countries have endured long and wet weather – some of the wettest of the past 20 years. This has given both regions the rainwater they needed to ensure they possess strong, hydroelectric power, which remains some of the cheapest in the world. As a result, many crypto miners are looking at these regions as the top places to set up operations.
Sweden and Norway Are the Top Mining Nations
As it stands, much of the world’s bitcoins are mined in areas like China, Canada and Kazakhstan. These three nations often boast particularly high energy prices, and the costs of mining bitcoin or other forms of digital currencies can run up hefty bills. Sweden and Norway are looking to provide new miners with alternatives and money-saving routes to help them garner all the new coins they’ll need to keep their businesses up and active.
Philip Salter – head of operations at Hong Kong-based Genesis Mining Ltd. – says that over the last three years, things have been rather difficult for miners all over the world. The costs of extracting new currency units were too much to bear during the tough times of 2018 and 2019, but now that the price of bitcoin has skyrocketed, all those who stuck around are doing quite well.
He mentions:
The ones that stayed through the difficult period, like us, are quite happy now. There were times we were not making a profit at all, but during the last year, our profitability has more than tripled.
As it stands, the biggest energy market in all of Europe is Germany. However, Sweden and Norway are averaging prices roughly one-third of those in old Bavaria. The constant rain has given both regions a chance to boost production of hydro reservoirs. More have been built in recent months, and now both countries have more hydroelectric power stations than they can count.
In fact, Norway has even beaten out Iceland, which up until now has been a serious crypto haven for serious miners. Tor Reier Lilleholt – head of analysis at the Norwegian consulting firm Wattsight AS – explained in a statement:
These prices are some of the lowest you can find in the world if you disregard fees and taxes. What we saw this summer was that the low levels registered over such a long time.
The added benefit is that hydroelectric power is carbon free. This has long been a concern for those who feel bitcoin mining should be halted given the amount of energy it consumes and the heavy loads of CO2 it allegedly releases back into the environment.
Trying to Keep Things Safe for All
Salter adds:
There is a rather important strategic shift away from mining in China to mining in western countries like Sweden as bitcoin investors become more public and want more stability and critical safety.