- Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir has proposed a review of the electricity distribution plan.
- She called bitcoin a “worldwide problem” because of its high consumption of resources.
- Instead of mining, the country plans to focus on agriculture, housing and other areas.
Iceland plans to revise its electricity distribution plan between different areas of the economy. One of the priority areas will be agriculture rather than bitcoin mining, the Financial Times reports, citing a statement by the country’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir.
According to her, demonstrations by farmers in Europe and disruptions in food supplies have led Icelandic authorities to think about the need to reduce dependence on imports. Despite the fact that much of the country is covered by glaciers, the Prime Minister said it was important to develop agriculture.
The source claims that Jakobsdottir’s efforts to ensure food security are coupled with an attempt to limit the power supply to mining companies.
The politician believes that electricity should be reallocated to other sectors – such as housing. The government’s priority is the energy needs of Iceland’s 375,000 citizens, she said.
“Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, which consume a lot of energy, are not part of our mission. Bitcoin is a problem worldwide,” said Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
Low prices and availability of electricity have made Iceland one of the best destinations for miners, according to experts at Luxor Technologies. According to the report, the country gets it from renewable sources.
At the same time, dozens of mining companies consume 120 MW of electricity. That’s far more than the country’s households, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Read more about how a mining farm works, you can learn from our material:
Recall, on March 14, 2024, the complexity of mining once again updated the historical maximum and reached the mark of 83.95 T. The next recalculation will tentatively take place on March 27.
