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21 sats \ 1 reply \ @south_korea_ln 2 Sep
Electricity is tiered in South Korea. The more you consume, the higher you pay per kWh. These prices seem to be based on the lowest Tier 1. But if you use more than 400 kWh (inevitable for mining 1 Bitcoin), Tier 3, you'll end up paying more than double what is reported here. You can likely brush off 20% of that by getting an industrial contract instead of using residential tariffs, but even then, it likely won't be profitable. And I'm very skeptical you'll get an industrial contract and rates to mine Bitcoin.
There's been a recent study on Bitcoin mining by the Korean Electric Power corporation (KEPCO) to leverage surplus electricity: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.00303, but not sure where that actually stands in terms of implementation.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Tony OP 2 Sep
100%. AFAIK, it’s the same for most (if not all) countries. I actually mentioned it here #1203129.
So end of the day the infographic author chose the simplest (and least accurate) approach by taking lowest available tariffs in each country and adjusting those numbers assuming one uses energy at those prices to mine 1 bitcoin (maybe taking probability into consideration).
We need to conduct proper research, take actual cost of electricity for the job (account for higher consumption) and consider other variables. That would be truly informative. Now the question is who’s gonna do it? 😅
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @flat24 3 Sep
If the vision does not fail me. Russia and China are among the least expensive. Which easily means that they already have Bitcoin and are under secret for a long time. Now it is even more understood because the United States disappointed the "government bitcoinists" with the "Bitcoin strategic reserve" that was never carried out. (At least for now)
I understand that this word sounds stupid and I can vacation confusion, since "bitcoin" and "government" should not be words capable of combining between them.
But I define in this way, for those who use and have Bitcoin. and that they fervently wanted that the government adopted Bitcoin and says that it will make a "BSR"
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Tony OP 3 Sep
I believe you’re right. It’s fairly easy to conceal bitcoin mining by setting it up next to a nuclear plant or some resource intensive production. Plus countries you mentioned do strike me as ones to do something quietly, without giving any hints to the competitors or their citizens.
End of the day it’s all nothing but a strategy.
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0 sats \ 4 replies \ @OT 1 Sep
Iran mining a Bitcoin for less than $2k can't be right.
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21 sats \ 3 replies \ @Tony OP 1 Sep
It actually is quite accurate. Outages and government restrictions for some residential areas are not accounted for here, but reported prices seem to match the infographic.
https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Iran/electricity_prices/
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @OT 1 Sep
I guess their people will wake up sooner or later.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Tony OP 1 Sep
Well, “normal” people there don’t really have an opportunity to mine, and consequences for disobeying higher leadership directives are very strict. While mining is legal on paper, it requires a separate license, which is quite costly + miners face higher energy tariffs.
This actually is where the infographic is faulty — the author seems to have taken the reported minimum kWh price for a household in each country and used that to calculate the price of mining one bitcoin. It does not account for peculiarities of each country’s laws.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 1 Sep
Yeah, there's a reason most miners are now set up in the US. Security.
Still having such a big difference in costs I'm sure there will be some people trying it. Maybe not in Iran, but also Cuba or Ethiopia. Pay a small militia to protect the hardware and arbitrage that sh$t!
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