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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @KenyaCoin 13 Jan 2023 \ on: Virunga National Park saved by Bitcoin mining. bitcoin
after a group of gorillas were killed and photos of their execution-style murders caused international outrage.
Ummm.... murder specifically is a term for killing of another human, in violation of a law.
This was a tragedy, but it was not "murder".
Then, partway through construction, one of the park’s biggest benefactors, Howard Buffett (son of Warren), ended his donations over a disagreement with de Merode about how funds were being spent. Buffett, who co-funded other park projects, calls de Merode “an amazing guy” but says funds intended for power plants were used to build a network to deliver that power to the provincial capital of Goma instead.
Ha! So Warren Buffet benefited from bitcoin in this instance. The project that was started thanks to his money was eventually completed only because bitcoin mining provided the revenue needed to justify the investment.
Today there are 10 containers powered directly by the plant’s four-meter turbines. Each container holds 250 to 500 rigs. Virunga owns three containers, with all the proceeds going to fund various park services. The other seven are Gouspillou’s. He pays Virunga for the electricity to run his servers, and whatever he mines belongs to him and his investors.
And cashing in on the popularity of digital apes, the park teamed up with the NFT project CyberKongz, which auctioned gorilla NFTs through Christie’s, providing another $1.2 million for the park. Some of that money was used to buy two of the three park-owned containers.
Cool, so they figured out how to get mEth heads to pay for some bitcoin mining rigs!!!
According to de Merode, power from Virunga’s hydro plants has created over 12,000 jobs;
Wow!
So is this a good model? No. They should use the hydropower for something useful.”
[Peter Howson] would rather have seen the hydroelectric project fail without funding to complete the construction (and thus those 12,000 jobs would not have been created) than for it to have been built but then serve a bitcoin mining op -- a 100% clean, renewable, off-grid electric consumer, as one of its customers.
This is typical with these central bankers, academics and others if the unproductive class (using the term Marty Bent prefers, over the "global elite") -- It's not about what's best for the people (i.e., those in DR Congo), but what keeps the unproductive class in power. Bitcoin forces the unproductive class to yield some a not insignificant amount of their power and therefore they will go against bitcoin even if it results in a negative outcome for those among the poorest in the world.
Since then, a hydro plant has been hit by artillery and a high-voltage line to Goma has been struck. The M23 has continued its bloody campaign in Rutshuru and in October seized Rumangabo, leaving de Merode and staff reliving an occupation that feels eerily reminiscent of what captivated viewers of Virunga a decade ago.
Crikey. And those miners in North Dakota think they are the toughest because they survived a blizzard while keeping the mining op producing!
That was a well written, balanced article about an (needlessly) divisive topic and an inspirational story.
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