Following the digital asset becoming legal tender in the country, President Nayib Bukele declared that the Government will look at mining BTC using volcanoes.

El Salvador was one of the first countries to pass legislation making bitcoin legal tender within its borders.

Today, President Bukele's initiative, which he spearheaded earlier this week, was approved. Following a congressional vote of 62 in favor out of 84 votes, the bill was passed.

The law appears to be on track to establish BTC as a form of payment that may be transacted using the direct exchange rate to the US dollar. Residents will be able to pay taxes with BTC as well.

Sustainable mining

Following the verdict, President Bukele immediately contacted LaGeo, the state-owned geothermal energy firm. El Salvador aims to use the company "to offer facilities for Bitcoin mining with extremely inexpensive, 100% pure, 100% renewable, zero-emissions electricity from our volcanoes," according to a tweet from the president. “This is going to evolve quickly!” he said.

Mining issues in the past

El Salvador's decision to offer sustainable BTC mining options comes after China took steps to restrict BTC mining within the country. China has expressed its goal to “resolutely prohibit the transfer of individual risks to society” in the past.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has also expressed his opinion on the long-term viability of Bitcoin mining. Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin payments for new vehicle orders, according to the billionaire. The explanation was based on the negative impact that BTC mining has on the environment.

El Salvador is the first country to recognize Bitcoin as legal money. Also, the country could be the first in the world to offer a new and practical technique of mining BTC using volcanoes.