🇸🇻 Diario El Salvador Article: SBI Crypto and Wiz & Associates Explore Investing in Bitcoin Mining in El Salvador Nick Vitalis, CEO of SBI Crypto, a subsidiary of the Japanese financial company SBI Holdings, confirmed that the company is exploring investment opportunities in the country alongside Wiz & Associates. El Salvador has once again landed on the radar of major financial and technological conglomerates in the Bitcoin (BTC) world. This week, Nick Vitalis, CEO of SBI Crypto—the unit specializing in digital assets and mining of the Japanese group SBI Holdings—visited the country with Wiz, CEO of Wiz & Associates, to explore investment projects in BTC mining using geothermal energy from Salvadoran volcanoes. Both executives toured the Ahuachapán geothermal power plant last Sunday, accompanied by Mario Flamenco, director of the National Artificial Intelligence Agency (ANIA), who works in coordination with the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) on strategic projects in energy, computing, and emerging technologies. The technical visit allowed them to evaluate firsthand the potential of the country's energy infrastructure to host industrial-scale mining operations of the leading digital asset. “SBI Crypto is a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial conglomerate with more than 25 years of history. We started about eight years ago focused on cryptocurrency mining, and today we operate one of the ten largest mining pools in the world, with clients in more than 60 countries,” explained Vitalis. In addition to mining, SBI has built a complete ecosystem that includes exchanges, investments, funds, and advisory services in digital assets. “Our vision is comprehensive: from mining to trading, investment, and fund management,” he added. This financial and technological strength is precisely what could be channeled into El Salvador. Vitalis confirmed that his presence in the country is due to the search for new strategic investment opportunities. “This is my second visit to El Salvador. The first was last year, when we celebrated 90 years of relations between Japan and El Salvador.” “Since then, we have had very positive conversations with Ambassador Diego Alejandro Rosales, and now we are here to see firsthand how the country has progressed and what opportunities exist,” he said. One of the points that most impressed the Japanese executive was the Ahuachapán geothermal power plant. “It’s a facility built 50 years ago, and it looks like it’s brand new: clean, efficient, and producing large amounts of energy. It’s an extraordinary asset for the country,” he stated. For Vitalis, energy is the central axis of El Salvador's economic future, not only for Bitcoin mining, but also for artificial intelligence and other computationally intensive services. In this context, the project led by Wiz, CEO of Wiz & Associates and Mempool Holdings, companies that are already registered in the country, comes into play. The businessman confirmed that he is already in talks with the National Bitcoin Office to install a first mining container within the Ahuachapán geothermal power plant as a proof of concept. “The idea is to start with one mining container at the geothermal plant, test the technical, logistical, and economic viability, and then scale up from there,” he explained. Vitalis indicated that SBI Crypto will evaluate participating in this initial phase. “We are interested in evaluating this project as a feasibility study. If it works, it opens the door to something much bigger,” he said. For the executive, it makes perfect sense for a country that already buys Bitcoin on the market to also produce it. “If El Salvador is so committed to Bitcoin, why not mine it below market price using volcanic energy? Mining is the foundation of the ecosystem,” he emphasized. Benefits for the country In this scheme, the executives also suggested that the country could directly participate in the benefits of mining. Wiz explained that, although the initial project will be a private pilot, “it would be excellent to be able to share part of what is generated with the government,” as a way to demonstrate the potential of the model. He added that, although the container will function as a proof of concept, "there is the possibility that in the future, schemes will be structured in which the state participates in the profits," which would open the door to bitcoin mining with a sovereign impact for El Salvador. The model being explored aims not only to generate bitcoin but also to strengthen the national power grid. According to the executives, the mining operation can function as a "curtailment" mechanism, that is, a flexible demand that absorbs energy when there are surpluses and shuts down when the grid needs to supply power to homes or industries. “At night, when demand is low, the miners can use that energy. During the day, if the country needs more electricity, the equipment is turned off and the power is returned to the grid. That makes the system more efficient and resilient,” Wiz explained, citing the case of Texas as a reference. ...