Volcano Energy and Luxor Launch El Salvador's First Renewable Energy Powered Bitcoin Mining Pool

The collaboration supports El Salvador's efforts to integrate Bitcoin into its energy infrastructure, harnessing renewable resources to boost economic projects

  • Published:
  • 10/10/2023 01:05 PM

Image: Shutterstock

Volcano Energy and Luxor Technology Corporation unveiled El Salvador’s first Bitcoin mining pool powered by renewable geothermal energy. The first Salvadorian Bitcoin mining pool is named ‘Lava Pool’.

The infrastructure will mine profitably in and out of El Salvador. The project’s first phase involves the construction of a 241-megawatt (MW) renewable energy park in Metapán, consisting of 169 MW of solar photovoltaic energy and 72 MW of wind energy. The project’s long-term goal is to harness the abundant geothermal energy in the country.

The pool is an outcome of a strategic collaboration between Volcano Energy, a renewable energy-focused Bitcoin mining company and Luxor Technologies, a Bitcoin mining tech company.

Luxor, which operates one of the top ten Bitcoin mining pools, will offer Lava Pool participants Bitcoin hedging strategies to reduce losses due to market volatility. Luxor will receive a nominal fee from Lava Pool for its services.

Luxor’s Chief Operating Officer(COO), Ethan Vera, expressed his support for the mission, “The ethos of Bitcoin mining revolves around geographical decentralisation, and the development of mining pool infrastructure in El Salvador will contribute to this goal”, he said. 

Volcano Energy’s Chief Strategy Officer(CSO), Gerson Martinez, also shared his vision: “Our vision is to create a vertically integrated energy and Bitcoin mining company whose value is accretive to investors and to all Salvadoran citizens. We are thrilled to launch Lava Pool in partnership with Luxor Technology, an industry leader in developing Bitcoin mining products and services for miners—from plebs to nation states.”

According to a declaration by Volcano Energy, they plan to give 23% of their net income from mining operations to the El Salvador government. Some of the profits will be used to revitalise the country’s current power transmission and distribution infrastructure.

In 2021, El Salvador captivated the attention of the global crypto community by becoming the first country to recognise Bitcoin as a legal tender. As underlined by Martinez, “Lava Pool is another example of El Salvador’s first mover advantage as a nation-state in the Bitcoin ecosystem.”

With the launch of its first Bitcoin mining pool, El Salvador now leads the way in harnessing the potential of Bitcoin mining and renewable energy. This presents an opportunity for other countries with ample renewable energy sources to use Bitcoin mining to improve the economics of their new energy projects.

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash