Bloomberg Línea — Bitcoin (XBT) has seen a price recovery in 2023, gaining almost 60% from December 2022 to date, but it remains 61% below its all-time high of $67,734.04. However, the low cost of energy in some Latin American countries allows home mining of the most popular cryptocurrency to continue to be profitable in some countries.
According to information published by crypto data aggregator Coingecko regarding how much money has to be spent mining to obtain a bitcoin in different global locations.
Coingecko estimates that a lone miner needs an average of 266,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity to mine a single bitcoin. This process would take approximately seven years to complete, which would amount to a monthly electricity consumption of about 143 kWh. From this, it took the cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for each country (using global oil prices as a source, with prices updated to December 2022) to estimate how much it costs to mine this cryptocurrency.
In which countries is it profitable to mine bitcoin?
To August 23, 2023, one bitcoin cost $26,592. In which countries of Latin America is it possible to mine below that price?
- Cuba: $7,989
- Argentina: $9,040
- Venezuela: $12,240
- Paraguay: $14,630
The margin is so high that, even with price readjustments, it is most likely that with bitcoin close to $27,000 in all these countries home mining will continue to be profitable.
In Mexico, for example, the price of energy ($26,340 to mine a bitcoin) is practically at the same value as the cost of mining, so it would not make sense to do so, unless there is a significant rise in the price of the cryptocurrency. Something similar occurs in Ecuador ($25,540 per bitcoin mined).
In contrast, in Uruguay energy costs mean each bitcoin would cost $67,300 to mine, meaning that it would make no sense to do so unless the crypto currency returns to its all-time high.
How much would it cost to mine bitcoin in other Latin American countries?
- Chile: $49,210
- Colombia: $47,610
- Brazil: $45,490
- Dominican Republic: $32,720
The world’s cheapest countries for bitcoin mining
While energy subsidies in some Latin American countries make mining profitable, nothing compares to Lebanon, where mining one bitcoin can cost as little as $266.02, according to Coingecko’s data.
In Iran, too, it is a profitable business, as the cost of energy makes mining the most popular crypto unit cost $532.04.
In Syria it would cost $1,330.10, with the following countries also profitable markets for mining:
- Ethiopia: $1,596.12
- Sudan: $2,128.17
- Libya: $2,660.21
- Kyrgyzstan: $2,660.21
- Angola: $3,724.29
- Zimbabwe: $3,990.31
- Bhutan: $4,256.33