The noise is deafening in this room of a building in Caracas where machines "mine" bitcoins. Taking advantage of the ridiculous price of electricity, many Venezuelans have embarked on the creation of cryptocurrencies.
Cooled by fans, some 80 computers - the size of a shoebox - are constantly running. Each of the machines generates around US $ 125 per month. The electricity bill: "it does not exceed US $ 10 per month," shouts Theodoro Toukoumidis, explaining how the devices work.
His Doctor Miner company sets up bitcoin "mining farms" and sells the devices to individuals wishing to embark on the adventure.
Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin operate through a decentralized network with independent computers that validate transactions across the world.
Participants, or "miners," use powerful processors to make complex equations that prove their participation and automatically receive bitcoins in return. But this activity is very energy intensive.
According to the Cambridge bitcoin electricity consumption index (CBECI), bitcoin mines would consume around 114 TWh (terawatt-hour) on an annualized basis, or 0.5% of global electricity production, or slightly more than the consumption of Netherlands.
An oil-producing country, Venezuela has for years been providing electricity at a ridiculous price to its inhabitants. In a country which is going through a serious economic crisis, the calculations are therefore quickly done: with a current so inexpensive, it takes a few months to depreciate a machine and earn money when the salary of a civil servant is two dollars. Americans.
“We have found a way to generate passive income (…) by transforming energy into money”, affirms Mr. Toukoumidis.
Mining is "profitable because one of the fundamental variables is the price of electricity", explains Aaron Olmos, economist and researcher specializing in cryptocurrencies, and this despite the frequent cuts and the low bandwidth of the internet, one of the weakest in the world.
“To mine, you don't need a high speed, but a stable speed,” he emphasizes.
Venezuela has become a sort of cryptocurrency El Dorado with hundreds of miners eager to benefit from the vein. Gold fever ...
"I sold my car to buy myself a machine and my partner traded in his motorcycle" in 2016, remembers Mr. Toukoumidis. At first, they set up the machines in their dining room, to prepare them for mining and sell them.
“People didn't understand anything, but said 'We want one',” he says.
Under the radars
Venezuela has seen its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fall by 80% since 2013, mainly due to the political crisis. 65% of households live in poverty. Hyperinflation was around 3,000% in 2020.
Pedro - not her real name - has been riding the wave. In 2017, he bought two video cards (which can be mined with) worth US $ 800. After three months he had got his money back. He estimates his earnings today at US $ 20,000.
“Cryptocurrencies are a way out of hyperinflation (…) One of the tools that can help face the crisis,” said Mr. Olmos.
The LocalBitcoin.com site assures that the equivalent of US $ 303 million was exchanged there in 2019 in this currency in Venezuela, when hyperinflation was peaking. In 2021, with a dollarized economy and slowed hyperinflation (70% over six months), bitcoin exchanges are hovering around US $ 100 million.
The socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro itself launched a cryptocurrency, the Petro, in 2018. Officially backed by the Venezuelan subsoil (oil and minerals), the Petro has not had the success expected by the authorities to turn into a sort of unit of account.
If bitcoin is not official, however, since 2018 there has been a cryptocurrency regulatory body (Sunacrip) which since 2020 has listed official miners like Mr. Toukoumidis who fulfill all legal obligations.
However, many "minors" work outside any legal framework that does not declare their assets.
In September, the police confiscated 17 machines from a woman and the seizures in the provinces exceeded a hundred in 2021.
Pedro continues to operate under the radar. "It is better not to talk about it".
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