Iceland, its volcanoes, its geysers ... and its bitcoins
Romandie AFP / 25 March 2018
In the heart of the Icelandic lava fields, stands one of the largest bitcoin factories in the world. Hightech workshop that produces virtual gold, the site is ultra-secure and its precise location is kept secret to avoid greed.
Thanks to its basements soaked in hot water which provide abundant electricity at a good price, Iceland has become a haven for "miners" of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, issued by servers as powerful as energy intensive.
Unlike the dollar or the euro, bitcoin is not issued by central banks but "mined", or created in computer "farms".
In the Icelandic volcanic desert, an innocuous-looking silver-tin shed houses machinery, nearly four other buildings to which will soon be added two brand new warehouses. This "farm" of the company Genesis Mining bears the dubious name of the first cipher machine, Enigma, used by the Nazis during the Second World War.
Inside the hangar, tens of thousands of "mining rigs" line up over 400 m2, creating a dizzying hum similar to that of a jumbo jet taking off.
A "mining rig" is a kind of central unit equipped with a motherboard, a RAM memory, a hard disk, a processor and six graphics cards.
His role? Execute complex algorithms allowing to record a succession of authenticated and encrypted transactions. This technology called "blockchain" is often described as the digital equivalent of an account book that would be tamper-proof and tamper-proof. In total, 12,5 bitcoins are created every 10 minutes in mining farms.
Computer CPUs running complex algorithms to record a series of authenticated and encrypted transactions in a bitcoin factory, near Reykjavik on 16 March 2018 / © AFP / Archives / Halldor KOLBEINS
- Polar wind -
"Anyone can do this at home, without any (legal) hindrance or technical limitation," explains Philip Salter, Genesis Mining representative in Iceland. Were it not for the colossal investment, the costs of production and maintenance on an industrial scale - the only one capable of creating a bitcoin economy worthy of the name -, specifies the young German engineer of 25 years.
Because the machines, connected to the sector, turn 7 days on 7 and 24h / 24.
Of the approximately 17 million bitcoins in circulation in the world, a still modest part is "made in Iceland" but the small island in the North Atlantic intends to gain strength and recover the benefits of the war launched by the Chinese authorities against this. virual currency.
Iceland offers world-unique conditions for the production of cryptocurrencies, because of its inexpensive geothermal energy and 100% renewable.
The kWh excluding taxes (0,065 euro) is on average half as much as in the European Union (0,114 euro), according to Eurostat data for 2016, which makes Iceland one of the most Europe behind Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia.
And the average annual temperature on the island is about 5 ° C. Which is ideal to avoid overheating, and perfect to mechanically limit the need for energy consumption.
The polar wind is drawn in by a battery of fans, then filtered and mixed with the heat generated by the computers - up to 80 ° C - and keeps the temperature of the mining stations between 5 ° C and 25 ° C.
- Iceland full poster -
Previously Genesis Mining, created end 2013, was installed in Bosnia, its major competitors being in China or the United States.
Like her, many IT "farm" companies are keen on a place in Iceland.
"Demand has grown exponentially, especially in the last three months," says Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson, development manager at electrician HS Orka.
And this despite the volatility of bitcoin, which is currently evolving around the 10.000 dollars after approaching the 20.000 dollars in December and dropped below the 6.000 dollars in early February.
"The price of bitcoin is not a very good indicator of the performance of the mining industry," said Philip Salter, who said he was more concerned about competition in a booming industry.
According to HS Orka estimates, the three largest companies that own data centers and cryptocurrency "farms" should consume more electricity in 2018 than the 350.000 inhabitants of the island.
Demand today is greater than the supply of energy.
Victim of their own success, Icelandic bitcoin "farms" are the target of well-organized thieves. Between December and January, 600 "mining stations" disappeared for a booty estimated at 200 million crowns (1,6 million euros).
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