Important facts:
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During testing, they have mined $200,000 to $250,000 worth of Bitcoin.
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Argentina is emerging as a country that could welcome Bitcoin miners post-halving.
Latin America is emerging as a region where Bitcoin miners can explore and obtain very low-cost energy resources, especially in countries like Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. At least that’s what two bitcoiners who run Giga Energy, a Texas, US-based company that launched a pilot project to mine bitcoins in Argentina in December last year, think.
Giga Energy’s project is clear: to obtain electrical energy by converting methane gas produced as surplus from oil or gas platforms into electricity, which is the main input for Bitcoin mining. Giga Energy chose Argentina’s Mendoza province, located on the slopes of the Andes, Where the country’s largest shale gas reserve is located, Vaca Muerta.
Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh, both graduates of Texas A&M University, have been mining Bitcoin in the oil fields of East Texas since 2019, where they founded Giga Energy. The company, which also operates in Shanghai, is partnering with Phoenix Global Resources, an oil and gas company with operations in Mendoza, and Axa Tech, a company specializing in information technology, to launch a two-bit Bitcoin mine. MW Muerta in Vaca.
“By capturing trapped natural gas to power modular data centers for energy-intensive computing, Giga is actively contributing to reducing global methane emissions.” Said Whitehead told CNBC in an interview.
Giga plans to divert unused natural gas that would normally be flaked or flowed into generators that convert the gas into electricity. This energy will power a Bitcoin mining rig located in a container.
According to Crusoe Energy Systems, another company that is entering the Vaca Muerta process, as reported by CryptoNoticias, Reduces CO2 equivalent emissions by approximately 63% Compared to continuously burning unused gas. Additionally, wasted energy becomes a valuable asset for oil and gas producers.
Giga Projects Bitcoin Mining Farm The facility will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 30,000 tons per year, once completed. The site is also designed to sell any excess energy to the Argentine grid, as a way to generate revenue and curb operational redundancies.
The Giga Mining Farm is not intended to be profitable yet, as it is a small pilot. The company first wants to ensure that it can successfully import all the necessary equipment before expanding operations. As Lohstroh explains, the farm has been operating on a test basis since December and it is estimated that the site Between USD 200,000 and USD 250,000 in Bitcoins have been mined.
It’s not the only company that has recently set its sights on Vaca Muerta. CriptoNoticias reported in December that Unblock Computos is running a project together with Crusoe Energia, Pampa Energia and Petroquio with an initial investment of US$15 million.
