Wenatchee is a small town located in the state of Washington in the United States of America. This small town became known recently for becoming an attractive destination for cryptocurrency miners.
The town is located on the banks of the river Columbia and now houses a dozen most prominent cryptocurrency miners from the United States. According to CNBC, the town offers cheap electricity, low temperatures and good internet access, all the necessary characteristics for successful cryptocurrency mining.
Steve Wright, the general manager of Chelan County Public Utility District, a local electrical company, said: “We do not only have cheap electricity, but also a good access to internet. People connect these two things and think ‘opportunity for bitcoin’.”
According to Wright, after the huge growth of bitcoin last December, around 75 miners have been investigating the idea of moving to Wenatchee, which became a concern for the locals. Wright said: “We do not want to see people come here to earn money fast at the expense of our cheap electricity and then move out of town and leaving the burden they create to the company and the people of Wenatchee.
The cost of electricity in Wenatchee is between two and three dollar cents per kWh, thanks to the abundance of hydroelectric energy produced by the dams on the river Columbia. Because of this, the energy is not a concern for the cryptocurrency miners residing in the town.
Malachi Salcido is one of the miners living in Wenatchee. He said to CNBC that, despite the cheap electricity, their electrical bills are more than 100,000 dollars per month. Nevertheless, Salcido is mining between five and seven bitcoins per day with the three projects he is managing. His plan is to reach a daily production of 50 bitcoins. To achieve that, he would need around 42 megawatts of power.
Salcido also pointed out the value of the technology behind Bitcoin. He thinks it is the future of the payment systems: “This is a true liquidation technology between peers that, once it becomes mature, will significantly affect the existing markets and will offer new ways to perform direct purchase, because there are no alternative technologies on the market at the moment.”
One of the advantages of Wenatchee when it comes to the cryptocurrency mining is its climate. The average temperature is 10.6 degrees Celsius (51 F). The hottest month is July with 22.9 degrees Celsius (73 F) and the lowest temperature is in January, -2.1 degrees Celsius (28 F). Since we know that the mining rigs generate a lot of heat, the need adequate temperature to eliminate the possibility of overheating and the climate of Wenatchee offers good conditions for the cryptocurrency mining.
The town was the base for the mining project such as Giga Watt, which has the objective to involve everyone in the town in the cryptocurrency mining.
