One Canadian crypto startup has been criticized for opening a Bitcoin mine in the poor Navajo Nation.
Vice reports that the mine is located on land belonging to the Navajos outside Shiprock, New Mexico. WestBlock Capital, an Alberta-based crypto company, owns and runs the operation. It mines between 23 to 25 bitcoins per month. This is equivalent to between $1.4 million and $1.6million.
Grist reports that despite all the revenue generated, many residents living around the mine live in poverty, without running water or electricity. Critics claim that the company is engaging in "crypto colonialism", which involves exploiting land, resources and people to mine crypto.
Vice spoke with Tyler Puente, a member from the Navajo Nation. He said that he believes Bitcoin companies prey upon communities like mine. "My view is that we are being used."
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The problem lies at the core of the matter: WestBlock can take advantage of cheap electricity while residents are left without. The CEO of the company insists everything he does is right and it's actually helping his community because it uses power that would otherwise go unused.
Vice spoke with Ken MacLean (CEO of WestBlock), who said that picking up the offload solved a problem. According to him, the mine charges just 6 percent tax for its power and services while employing six to 10 full-time employees.
MacLean said, "It's not huge amounts of numbers but it's something." "That's just the nature of our business."
Vice reports that the Navajo Nation has so far received approximately $48,000 in tax revenue from WestBlock over the three years it has used its electricity. Vice also reported that the Navajo Nation has gotten land lease revenue of about $60,000.
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Some residents feel that this is not enough to justify the operation.
Vice spoke with Carol Davis, a leader in the community and director of Dine Citizens Against Ruining our Environment Navajo, to explain that even the Bitcoin project is energy-intensive.
She said that outsiders have "reached the benefits for half-a century." All the developments have left our water depleted and contaminated. We don't even own our resources. We are fighting for this.
READ MORE: Financial Colonialism": A Bitcoin Mine in Navajo Nation Fights Tensions [Vice]
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