Argentina’s largest electricity company, YPF Luz, has entered into an agreement with Genesis Digital Assets Limited (GDA). The partnership will establish a new Bitcoin (BTC) mining facility in the Bajo del Toro Thermal Power Plant, with 1,200 mining machines that use stranded gas for power generation.
According to YPF Luz CEO Martín Mandarano—as reported by Forbes on May 7—the company has been generating electricity from mining since 2022. In this new partnership, the facility will have a total capacity of 7 MW, with an additional 1 MW backup. GDA Executive President Abdumalik Mirakhmedov stated that Argentina’s pro-innovation climate for crypto has never been stronger.
Furthermore, Mirakhmedov highlighted the significant portion of Argentina’s population that already uses cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as inflation hedges.
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“Although we’ve been considering expanding to Argentina for years, the political and pro-innovation climate the country has fostered for crypto – and Bitcoin specifically – has never been stronger than today. There’s also a large percentage of the population in Argentina that already uses cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to hedge against high inflation. The bottom line is that crypto is a solution to these problems, and we’re seeing that fact recognized by countries throughout Central and South America.”
Abdumalik Mirakhmedov
Bitcoin mining potential in Argentina
Writing for Forbes, Javier Bastardo believes the new facility demonstrates Bitcoin mining’s potential to mitigate the environmental impact of stranded gas while generating valuable returns. Importantly, according to the report, this initiative will not compromise the electricity needed for Argentina’s internal demand.
“The new facility showcases two important elements of bitcoin mining’s potential. On one hand, it helps mitigate the direct impact of stranded gas on the environment. However, other mitigation techniques don’t include the second element: using these wasted resources to make some valuable return, in this case, through BTC. What is more significant in terms of the scalability of this kind of initiative is that it won’t compromise the electricity needed to cover Argentina’s internal demand.”
– Javier Bastardo for Forbes
In addition, GDA sees Argentina as an ideal starting point for its regional expansion in Latin America. The company is actively seeking more countries in the region to expand to, citing attractive electricity prices, temperature, development potential, and sustainable energy sources as key factors. Since Javier Milei took power in late 2023, Argentina’s Bitcoin and crypto industry has grown significantly.
So far, the public sector is working on regulating the activity to comply with international standards and requirements. Meanwhile, companies, startups, and users are exploring ways to maintain the country’s increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies. GDA’s announcement underscores the importance Argentina may have for the Bitcoin mining industry in the coming years.
Low revenue to mine Bitcoin
On the other hand, Bitcoin miners have been facing record-low revenue due to the block subsidy halving on April 20. Essentially, mining companies now receive half the amount of BTC for the same production cost.
However, the production cost has also increased, making the situation even worse for smaller players willing to mine Bitcoin.
Therefore, electricity giants like YPF Luz, operating in low-cost environments like Argentina, have competitive advantages over other industry participants. For this reason, this reported partnership is paramount for Bitcoin’s network security sustainability under these current challenges.
