Analysis

July 3, 2019

Can Iceland handle the repeated boom and bust of Bitcoin mining?

Iceland's cryptocurrency miners use 90% of the data centres' power consumption – but how volatile is the business?


Mimi Billing

6 min read

Cryptocurrency mining operators are big consumers of energy and in Iceland that comes from geothermal power plants.

In December 2018, cryptocurrency mining hit a new low. The price of the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, fell to $3,200 — the lowest in a year and a half. Other currencies followed and most of the cryptocurrency miners suffered a heavy financial setback.

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Image of Daniel Jonsson, a large scale cryptocurrency mining specialist at Eldar mining in Reykjavik
Daniel Jonsson is large scale cryptocurrency mining specialist at Eldar mining in Reykjavik.
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Graph showing the how the profitability of Bitcoin mining plummeted during 2018
Shows how the profitability of mining operations completely vanished during 2018.
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Mimi Billing

Mimi Billing is Sifted's Europe editor, based in Stockholm. She covers the Nordics and can be found on X and LinkedIn

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