While one might not associate bitcoin mining with sustainable development in Africa, some are predicting that the industry will help people across the continent.
Africa is the least developed continent on Earth, with millions still without access to electricity. Bitcoin mining, the process of minting new bitcoins, could help to build up Africa’s power grids and provide electricity to rural communities.
To understand the situation and how it could affect Africa, there needs to be a basic understanding of how bitcoin mining works.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam – over a mile long and 145 metres high could generate more than 6,000 megawatts.
(Yirga Mengistu/dpa/Picture-Alliance/Newscom)
To “mine” for bitcoin, high-powered computers are used to verify virtual coin transactions. Bitcoin operates on what is known as a blockchain, essentially a public ledger, which contains the history of every transaction. The miners’ computers
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