Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus Dmitry Astakhov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Cointelegraph reported that the president of Belarus asked his government to use abandoned industrial sites for crypto mining.
Alexander Lukashenko said his country has enough energy resources to power the electricity-intensive activity.
This prompt comes as crypto mining is being criticized for its negative impact on the environment.
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Alexander Lukashenko is the president of Belarus and has asked his government to make use of abandoned industrial sites in Belarus to mine cryptocurrency, rather than sending people overseas for low-paying agricultural jobs. Cointelegraph reported that Cointelegraph cited Russian media.
Lukashenko said his country has enough energy resources to power the electricity-intensive activity that China has famously banned in June.
During the August 27th opening of the Petrikovsky processing and mining plant, the 66-year old authoritarian leader pointed out the locations where Belarusians could mine digital assets.
He told Russian media RBC that "we must understand, they don't wait for us [...] Make something based upon electricity." "After all, you can start mining cryptocurrency or whatever it's called. There's enough electricity in the country.
Lukashenko's prompt comes at a time when cryptocurrency mining is being criticized for its negative impact on the environment.
Bitcoin mining's energy costs have caused bitcoin to lose nearly half its value since its April high.
Industry experts claim that the ban on mining by China, an Asian superpower, was one of the most significant moves to affect the bitcoin network. As a result, miners in China had to move their operations to other countries.
Lukashenko was elected president in 1994. He has supported cryptocurrency mining for some time. Cointelegraph reported that Lukashenko proposed using excess energy from his country's nuclear power plant to mine cryptocurrency.
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