Amidst a notable diplomatic engagement between the US and Iraq, latest statements by Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Tamim have stirred hypothesis within the Bitcoin group concerning Iraq’s potential entry into BTC mining at a nation-state stage.
Will Iraq Begin Mining Bitcoin?
Throughout a press convention with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Deputy Prime Minister Tamim mentioned a spread of initiatives geared toward modernizing Iraq’s vitality sector and diversifying its economic system. Among the many matters addressed was the utilization of recent applied sciences to seize flare gasoline, a byproduct of oil extraction that’s typically burned off and wasted.
Flared gasoline capturing is a major focal point for the Bitcoin group, as this extra gasoline may be transformed to electrical energy and used to energy mining operations. This course of not solely offers an economically viable resolution to a waste drawback but in addition aligns with international efforts to cut back environmental air pollution—a problem highlighted by Tamim in his speech.
“The Authorities of Iraq is working for the prosperity of the Iraqi folks, on the identical time to pay their money owed of the Iraqi nation, particularly relating to the totally different phases of the vitality sector and use new applied sciences and modernization of the vitality sector to cut back air pollution. The Authorities is widening its partnership and conducting agreements so it is going to be in a position to, for instance, use applied sciences to seize flare gasoline,” Tamim mentioned, emphasizing the shift in direction of revolutionary and sustainable vitality options.
This improvement has prompted Joe Kerr, a famous Bitcoin pundit identified on X as @Boomstick44, to counsel that Iraq could be shifting in direction of adopting BTC mining on a big scale. Kerr tweeted, “Inform me your nation goes to begin mining Bitcoin for the US with out telling me.” Kerr cited Tamim’s assertion and noticed it as proof that solely BTC mining may very well be meant whereas the Iraqi official was making an attempt to keep away from the usage of the phrase.
Inform me your nation goes to begin mining #Bitcoin for the U.S. with out telling me…
Iraq’s deputy prime minister:
‘The Authorities of Iraq is working for the prosperity of the Iraqi folks, on the identical time to pay their money owed of the Iraqi nation, particularly when it comes… https://t.co/S4gxAdHrLb
— Joe Kerr⚡ (@Boomstick44) April 15, 2024
Along with the potential environmental and financial advantages, Deputy Prime Minister Tamim additionally touched on enhancing tourism, following a playbook much like El Salvador, which has built-in BTC into its economic system, enhancing its enchantment to a worldwide viewers thinking about BTC.
El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as authorized tender has certainly sparked curiosity in its tourism sector, suggesting a possible path for Iraq to hyperlink technological innovation with financial diversification.
Whereas official affirmation from the Iraqi authorities concerning the beginning of Bitcoin mining operations is pending and pure hypothesis for the time being, the connections drawn by Kerr between Deputy Prime Minister Tamim’s feedback are noteworthy and underscore a rising pattern of countries leveraging BTC to handle financial and environmental challenges.
As Bitcoinist reported, already six nations formally mine Bitcoin on a nation-state stage. These embrace El Salvador, the Kingdom of Bhutan, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Ethiopia. For instance, Bhutan has secretly spent thousands and thousands constructing a nationwide Bitcoin mining operation to avert an financial disaster.
At press time, BTC traded at $63,353
Featured picture created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com
