I clicked on the link thinking. "Oh, some country is using Bitcoin as a reserve currency. That could be interesting."
But no. Georgia is allowing an American company mine Bitcoin at scale. It uses a lot of power and a lot of infrastructure. But isn't a huge bet or anything interesting.
I'd love to see a government experiment with having its central bank issue a dollar-backed stablecoin.
I mean, fundamentally the issue is that the rise in digital payments puts most of the money supply in bank ledgers... if the money supply was on a public ledger, individuals could still deposit it with a bank, but they could also send it peer-to-peer if they so chose.
> Georgia provided land and cheap electricity so Bitfury, an American company, could set up a Bitcoin mining center in Tbilisi.
I hope they realize the digital currency doesn't necessarily "stay" in Georgia. Either way, the prime minister provided a loan out of his own investment fund, and it's been paid back. Not sure they are betting big on crypto, but they are using 10% of their electricity for it...
>The governing Georgian Dream party sold 45 acres for $1 for Bitfury to set up shop.
yes this looks like textbook corruption: the government just "gives" land and energy to cryptocurrenncy mining operations? seems very probably that not the government but those in government who set it up are getting crypto bribes in return...
I have some friends who started working on interesting projects in the crypto space after Bitcoin 'died'. It seems to me there is still some potential for innovation in this area, as evidenced by the market sizing. Just need to cut some of the ICO/marketing cruft away and be realistic about its usecases.
Nice touch on referring to Georgia as a "former Soviet Republic". The article must have then described Bitfury as a company from a former British colony :)
Might have been the editors hoping that Georgia wouldn't be confused with the US state. Perhaps it was a bit more clear? Though it did force me to open the article..
Referring to Georgia as a "former Soviet Republic" is similar in tone to calling Ukraine "a historic part of Russia".
There were both what they've been called, sure, but given the current state of relationship between Russia and any of the two countries, it's like looking for trouble.
Meh, I wouldn't read too much into it. Depending on the country in question, I could easily imagine headlines about "one African dictatorship", "one South American country", "one Eastern European country". True that "former Soviet Republic" is not really relevant, but it's a common (cliched, even) phrase to use once you've decided you need need a descriptor.
No, it has been meandering around $3600 for a month or so (around the average electricity cost to mine one[1]). To put that in perspective, at that price the total value of all bitcoins that will ever exist is about $75 billion. That's close to the total value of Swiss Francs or Mexican Pesos in circulation[2], which still seems insane to me given that you probably can't even use it to buy lunch.
[+] [-] wscott|7 years ago|reply
But no. Georgia is allowing an American company mine Bitcoin at scale. It uses a lot of power and a lot of infrastructure. But isn't a huge bet or anything interesting.
[+] [-] cal5k|7 years ago|reply
I mean, fundamentally the issue is that the rise in digital payments puts most of the money supply in bank ledgers... if the money supply was on a public ledger, individuals could still deposit it with a bank, but they could also send it peer-to-peer if they so chose.
[+] [-] kuhhk|7 years ago|reply
I hope they realize the digital currency doesn't necessarily "stay" in Georgia. Either way, the prime minister provided a loan out of his own investment fund, and it's been paid back. Not sure they are betting big on crypto, but they are using 10% of their electricity for it...
[+] [-] DoctorOetker|7 years ago|reply
yes this looks like textbook corruption: the government just "gives" land and energy to cryptocurrenncy mining operations? seems very probably that not the government but those in government who set it up are getting crypto bribes in return...
[+] [-] granaldo|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] simias|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Mengkudulangsat|7 years ago|reply
If Bitcoin is using locally underutilized electricity, I don't see anything wrong with this adventure.
[+] [-] quantumwoke|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sauliusm|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kuhhk|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pjc50|7 years ago|reply
Heck, the Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia had that as its official name until very recently resolving the dispute with Greek irridentists.
[+] [-] MarsAscendant|7 years ago|reply
There were both what they've been called, sure, but given the current state of relationship between Russia and any of the two countries, it's like looking for trouble.
EDIT: what?
[+] [-] bmm6o|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lightedman|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] PhasmaFelis|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] username223|7 years ago|reply
[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-much-it-costs-to...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circulation_%28currency%29
[+] [-] bdcravens|7 years ago|reply