Volcanoes, Geese and Bitcoin

After arriving in Costa Rica, I visited the jungle-clad Poás volcano where Bitcoin had saved 150 acres of rainforest from leaving the family after 5 generations How did this happen? - let's find out!

Meet Eduardo.

Many years ago, he’d had the smart idea to build a renewable microhydro station, using the untapped power of the river running through his property to sell power back to the grid for a steady profit each year Everything was going well until...

COVID hit.

As businesses shut down, so did the demand for power Without warning, ICE, the country’s Energy Utility contacted him to say “We are permanently ending our power purchase agreements with all private electricity generators, effective immediately.”

Overnight, a cash cow turned into a white elephant. See, Micro-hydro operations are capital intensive, and he still owed the bank. But he now had no revenue to pay the monthly interest repayments.

After months of rising debt, he put the keys to property on his bank manager’s desk saying “I cannot repay this loan. I am forfeiting my property, dwellings and hydro-station you."

The bank manager arranged a mortgage holiday. But this was only a 3-month stay of execution.

One day, 3 months later, with still no prospect of paying off his debt, Eduardo was talking to his son-in-law. “Have you considered Bitcoin?” He said.

Eduardo’s reaction was the same as many people, when they first hear of Bitcoin:

“What, that Ponzi scheme? Forget it!”

But his son-in-law persisted “Bitcoin miners need a lot of energy, and they can locate anywhere” he said A lightbulb went off in Eduardo’s head.

Within days, he had bought a 2nd hand S19 mining rig and hooked it up to the power Two days later, he was sitting in a café eating lunch. The café accepted Bitcoin. So he paid for it using the Bitcoin he’d just mined. He ran some numbers, and realized he’d found the answer.

Excited, he shared the revenue projections with his manager and incredibly was able to negotiate another loan for an onsite "data center" 2 months later, he had 4 mining huts up, and several hundred bitcoin mining rigs turning surplus hydropower into Bitcoin.

With the profits from bitcoin mining Eduardo started a new ecotourism business on his property employing 40 people Hiking trails and zip lines traverse through the jungle Migratory birds rest on the resevoir on their journey south The land is organic and grows its own food.

As we roamed his property together I asked "What would've happened without Bitcoin mining?” He paused to regard a free-range goose roaming the property and said "Well, we'd have no staff. A rusting hydro plant. And I'd have lost this property of 5 generations to the bank."

Eduardo’s story is not an anomaly. Half way around the world, a similar story emerged from Virunga National Park As Eduardo said to me, “Everything is energy” The choice we have is do we waste that energy or do we steer it towards doing something that benefits people.

It’s good to remember that around the world there are many more Eduardos, quietly getting on with changing the world for the better You won’t read about them in the media. That’s why their stories so important.

Please share his story.

This story was first published in my Newsletter in Oct '24. To get more stories like this, you can subscribe (it's free and you can opt out any time).

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Daniel Batten,

Climatetech Investor