El Salvador, a leader in embracing Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender, has taken a significant step forward in launching its first local Bitcoin mining pool “Lava Pool”. This step marks a pivotal landmark for the country, in its ambitions to harness renewable energy sources for cryptocurrency mining.

El Salvador’s Latest Bitcoin Mining Pool

El Salvador‘s Bitcoin mining pool Lava Pool will be spearheaded by Volcano Energy in conjunction with Luxor Technologies – a firm well known for its expertise in providing Bitcoin mining software and services.

The Lava Pool project will make use of Luxor’s Hashrate Forward Marketplace to automate risk management techniques now employed by other significant Bitcoin mining companies to reduce market volatility.

For starters, Volcano Energy’s project will involve the construction of a 241 MegaWatt (MW) renewable energy park in Metapan. These include 169 MegaWattS (MW) of photovoltaic solar energy and 72 megawatts (MW) of wind power. However, the project’s long-term goal is to take on abundant geothermal energy in the country.

Due to the project’s public-private partnership, Volcano Energy will have to contribute 23% of its net income from mining operations to El Salvador’s government. In addition, the mining profits made will also be reinvested into energy transmission and infrastructure projects to stimulate economic and technological build-up in the Central American nation.

El Salvador’s renewable energy sources initiative first made headlines in early 2023. Stablecoin issuer Tether was one of the companies that invested in the country’s $1 billion renewable energy project to power future Bitcoin mining operations in the country.

According to an interview, Tether’s Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino stated that the firm’s investment was targeted at diversifying its interests into energy production while making use of renewable energy to mine BTC.

Volcano’s Energy Mining Pool “Lava Pool”

Bitcoin pools are varieties of Bitcoin miners operating together to have their hash rate accumulated to enhance their chances of earning BTC through the activity.

Lava Pool is El Salvador’s new Bitcoin mining strategy. The project was created to offer the lowest-cost mining pool option for small-scale miners.

The Lava Pool’s payment will be Full Per Share, that is to say, the payment will be distributed based on the miner’s hash power contribution to the pool. 

Volcano Energy noted that the Lava Pool aims to decentralize Bitcoin mining and take advantage of the regulatory clarity in El Salvador, to strengthen the country’s infrastructure.

“We decided to launch one from El Salvador, the only country with the regulatory clarity and the business climate that provides stability and predictability for Bitcoin businesses,” Volcano Energy’s Chief Strategy Officer, Gerson Martínez stated.

Volcano Energy revealed in an announcement on X that Lava Pool is officially running and the mining pool is ready to receive miners.