Bitcoin mining has come a long way since the blockchain's invention in 2009.
Back then, the Bitcoin network was still so small that miners could use their personal computers to "prove their work" and get some Bitcoin as mining rewards.
Fast-forward to today when the Bitcoin network is now the largest decentralized network in the world.
Proof Of Work has become impossible with everyday computers, leading to the use of larger and faster computers (called GPUs).
These computers consume large amounts of power yearly. And as a result, Bitcoin has been criticized heavily for how much fossil fuel mining operations burn, and for the environmental impact of mining activities.
However, that is all changing… More quickly than anyone realizes
Today, the Bitcoin mining landscape has shifted so quickly, that we now have fewer carbon-intensive mining pools.
Countries like China and the US now have solar-powered mining rigs, where solar panels are used to generate electricity which then power the GPUs and mining rigs.
Others like Iceland and Norway have perfected wind-powered Bitcoin mining using electricity generated from wind turbines.
However, there is a new player in town with a new kind of Bitcoin mining operation:
El Salvador was one of the first countries to adopt and begin accepting Bitcoin as legal tender.
However, according to new reports, El Salvador has taken another major step forward in its Bitcoin adoption efforts.
Sources mention that the country has launched Lava Pool, the country's first Bitcoin mining pool.
Lava Pool is a collaboration between Volcano Energy, a renewable energy-focused Bitcoin mining company, and Luxor Technologies, a Bitcoin mining tech company.
In detail, Lava Pool will be powered by Volcano Energy's 241-megawatt (MW) renewable energy mining facility in Metapan (a city in El Salvador), which is currently under construction.
Reports state that the facility will also use photovoltaic (solar) and eolic (wind) energy to power its Bitcoin mining operations.
El Salvador's launch of Lava Pool is another step towards its goal of building a self-sustaining Bitcoin company, according to Volcano Energy's CSO Gerson Martinez.
In detail, Martinez stated that Lava Pool is an "example of El Salvador's first mover advantage as a nation-state in the Bitcoin ecosystem."
Martinez also explained that another advantage that El Salvador enjoys from this Bitcoin mining pool is clear regulations (unlike the complaints about the US and its Securities and Exchange Commission).
As mentioned earlier, El Salvador is the only country in the world that has made Bitcoin legal tender.
The new Bitcoin Mining Pool is expected to pay its own bills, in that Volcano Energy intends to pay 23% of its net income to the Salvadoran government.
Part of this income will also be used to rebuild the country's power grid.
Overall, the launch of Lava Pool is a huge leap for El Salvador and Bitcoin mining as a whole.
It goes to show El Salvador's commitment to mining Bitcoin safely and using renewable energy.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $27,400 with a -1.92% kick to the head over the last 24 hours, and a 1.8% price increase from last week's low.
Overall in the chart, Bitcoin's rebound from $24,980 remains valid despite the current market downturn.
8 Bitcoin oscillators show a neutral stance on the cryptocurrency, while another 8 moving averages show a semi-strong buy on the cryptocurrency.
In all, the total outlook for Bitcoin is a semi-strong buy, with 7 indicators showing a sell verdict, 9 showing a neutral stance, and the last 10 showing a buy signal.
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