By Bitcoin पत्रिका - 1 साल पहले - पढ़ने का समय: 8 मिनट
चुनौतियों के बावजूद, नाइजीरियाई Bitcoin खनिक लाभ की ओर अग्रसर हैं
Nigeria is leading Africa in Bitcoin adoption, and miners there are overcoming regulatory and power grid challenges to find economic freedom.
यह एक राय संपादकीय है एमेका उगबाह, host of the “Bitcoin This Blockchain That” podcast based in Rwanda.
Imagine that you are nursing a cup of caffé mocha in a coffee shop in Lower Manhattan. Then you overhear this African-looking fellow — who, from his countenance, confident demeanor and high-energy voice, strikes you as a Nigerian — saying that he is a Bitcoin miner. You would probably try to get a better glimpse of the fellow, because you immediately think that he is one of them — those scammers who slide into DMs, promising mouth-watering ROIs if you invest in their Bitcoin mining schemes. He can’t possibly be legit.
हां, मैं शायद ऐसा ही सोचूंगा अगर मैं आपके साथ बूथ में होता, भले ही मैं नाइजीरियाई हूं।
हम सब वह जानते हैं Nigeria is considered the African nation with the highest adoption rate of bitcoin और क्रिप्टोकरेंसी — a story that I love to tell. However, having Bitcoin's proof-of-work consensus mechanism in mind and how dependent on power it is, as well as the fact that Nigeria isn't a dependable choice when it comes to cheap or stable electricity, यह कल्पना करना कठिन है कि देश से कोई महत्वपूर्ण हैश शक्ति निकल सकती है।
तो, सच में, आप शायद यह सोचने में सही होंगे कि साथी वैध नहीं है। लेकिन चाहिए?
द्वारा फोटो गुस्तावो फ्रिंजObstacles For Mining Bitcoin नाइजीरिया में
विश्वसनीय शक्ति की कमी
नाइजीरिया है भूमाफिया के हिसाब से 14वां सबसे बड़ा अफ्रीकी देशएस और इसके सबसे अधिक आबादी वाला, जिनकी आबादी 200 मिलियन से अधिक है, जिनमें से लगभग 52% शहरी क्षेत्रों में रहते हैं. यह जानकर ताज्जुब होता है कि इन लोगों को एक निराशाजनक पर निर्भर रहना पड़ रहा है 4,000 मेगावाट कि देश का पावर ग्रिड उत्पन्न करने का प्रबंधन करता है।
I used the adjective “depressing” because that is the actual state of the power situation in the country. Homes and businesses — from small scale to larger establishments — are often forced to secure alternative power sources or risk staying in the dark and ceasing operations until power returns. These alternative power sources, from petrol- and diesel-powered generators to solar, are supposed to serve auxiliary power in typical scenarios. But in the case of Nigeria, they have now become the main sources of power for many in the country.
So, it's almost inconceivable that Bitcoin mining can be successful in the country. But it is — Nigeria does indeed contribute to Bitcoin’s global hash rate, and I'll tell you how as we progress with this conversation.
द्वारा फोटो किंडल मीडियाअस्पष्ट, सीमा रेखा-शत्रुतापूर्ण, नियामक लैंडस्केप
As with nation states, Nigeria’s stance on Bitcoin और क्रिप्टोकरेंसी कुछ हद तक जुझारू रहा है.
हम उस भयावह शुक्रवार को स्पष्ट रूप से याद करते हैं, फरवरी 5, 2021, when the apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released a statement warning all financial services providers to discontinue any bitcoin- or cryptocurrency-related transactions. And the warning didn’t end there: banks were also directed to freeze the accounts belonging to any individual or entity that had previously utilized the bank’s infrastructure as an on- or off-ramp into and out of cryptocurrency exchanges.
बाद में निर्देश के अनुसार कई खातों को फ्रीज कर दिया गया था, जो मजबूर नाइजीरियाई मूल्य विनिमय की पीयर-टू-पीयर प्रणाली को तेजी से अपनाएंगे which was, after all, one of the reasons behind the creation of Bitcoin in the first place: the transfer of value from person to person, without the need of a trusted third party.
इस तथ्य के बावजूद कि नाइजीरिया के प्रतिभूति और विनिमय आयोग (एसईसी) हाल ही में जारी किए गए कुछ नियम यह डिजिटल संपत्ति के प्रति थोड़ा कम उत्साही प्रतीत होता है, चीजें काफी हद तक स्पष्ट नहीं हैं कि नियामक खनन के प्रति क्या रुख अपनाएंगे, खासकर क्योंकि खनिक (बेहतर अवधि की कमी के लिए) "मुद्रा प्रिंट करें।"
सेंट्रल बैंक ऑफ नाइजीरिया। स्रोत.विरोधियों के बीच लचीलापन
कई चीजें हैं - महान चीजें - जिनके लिए नाइजीरियाई जाने जाते हैं, हालांकि पहली चीजों में से कुछ यह बात दिमाग में आती है जब बहुत से लोग सोचते हैं कि नाइजीरियाई आत्मविश्वास से कम प्रेरणादायक हो सकते हैं।
फिर भी, यह भी कई लोगों द्वारा जाना जाता है कि एक नाइजीरियाई सबसे कठिन परिस्थितियों में जीवित रह सकता है, और यहां तक कि पनप भी सकता है। यह इस तथ्य से स्पष्ट होता है कि अफ्रीकी मूल के हर पांच में से एक व्यक्ति - दुनिया में कहीं भी पाया जाता है, चाहे वह जगह कितनी भी दुर्गम क्यों न हो - नाइजीरियाई है।
As a Nigerian, I can attest to this resilience. We have this innate ability to adjust and adapt to almost any condition, almost anywhere that we find ourselves. At this point in the conversation, the fact that there are Nigerians who have ventured into Bitcoin mining, damning the debilitating odds, shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, right?
It is challenging to determine when exactly the first ASIC based in Nigeria connected to the Bitcoin network, because miners there are putting a great deal of effort into staying as off-the-radar as possible. And yes, I know that the hash rate generated from the country might not amount to as much as a blip or a pulse in the network. As a matter of fact, a fairly-debated डेटा स्रोत has it that Africa as a whole contributes less than 0.2% of the global Bitcoin hash rate. However, the innovative effort the Nigerian miners are putting into securing the world’s most decentralized, censorship-resistant monetary system shouldn’t go unnoticed — their stories shouldn’t stay untold.
Stories From Nigerian Bitcoin खनिकों
When I started researching this topic, I was privileged to get in touch with a few individuals who mine Bitcoin in Nigeria. We had long conversations about how they got into it and how they are managing to navigate through the challenges they are constantly faced with. For security reasons, which border around the hostile regulatory landscape I mentioned earlier, they chose to stay anonymous, so we will be referring to them by pseudonyms.
The first individual, let's call him Kola. Relatively new to Bitcoin mining, Kola began his journey in September 2021 with just one unit of the Antminer S9, which he purchased for about $450 to $500 at the time. According to him, he decided to take a stab at mining with that one ASIC but has since then expanded and acquired seven others, all of which are इनोसिलिकॉन T2THs, all purchased as used miners from China and shipped to Nigeria. Then, so as not to give room for too many questions from the authorities, especially considering the fact that he is importing "money printing" machines, the ASICs were cleared at customs as computer graphics processing units (GPUs)
Kola chose not to divulge his location, however, stated that his operation is situated somewhere in the north-central part of the country, close to one of the nation's hydroelectric power sources. As a result of being close to this major source of power which makes it relatively cheap, Kola spends as little as $15 to $20 monthly on electricity to run his operation. However, seeing as the “Nigerian factor” still comes into play, he said that he gets between 20 to 22 hours of electricity supply per day. Being solely dependent on that one power source means that he is subjected to shutting down operations for between two and four hours each day.
स्रोत: रेबसेंटर मॉस्कोअब, यहां एक और दिलचस्प बात है: चीजों की अस्पष्ट नियामक स्थिति और स्थानीय बिजली अधिकारियों के कारण, कोला का खनन संचालन किताबों पर एक सुविधा के रूप में लिखा गया है जिसमें क्लाउड स्टोरेज किराए पर लेने वाली सेवाओं के लिए सर्वर हैं। दिलचस्प है, है ना?
कोला के साथ मेरी लंबी बातचीत हुई थी और मैं उन सभी चीजों के बारे में विस्तार से बता सकता हूं, जिनके बारे में हमने बात की थी, लेकिन यह लेख केवल उनके साथ मेरी बातचीत के बारे में नहीं है, इसलिए मैं इसे यहां समाप्त कर दूंगा।
Now, the second individual is a more seasoned Bitcoin pleb, who has been in the space considerably longer than Kola. Let’s call him Gbenga. He requested that I keep a lot of what he shared with me about his setup off the record, so I'll be more discreet with specifics here.
With several Antminer S9 ASICs, all purchased as “used,” and imported from China, again as computer GPUs, Gbenga’s operation is situated in the outskirts of the nation's largest business hub, Lagos. Much like Kola, Gbenga started his mining venture with a much lower number of ASICs than he operates with now, and he has exponentially expanded, seeing as he is a bigger player in the space.
गबेंगा का सेटअप देश के कई व्यवसायों में से एक है जो बिजली के लिए वैकल्पिक बिजली स्रोतों पर निर्भर करता है, उनके मामले में, एक 200 केवीए डीजल-संचालित जनरेटर। अब, यह एक आदर्श स्थिति में, एक उचित उद्यम नहीं होगा, इस तथ्य पर विचार करते हुए कि देश में प्रति लीटर डीजल की कीमत कितनी है $1 . से थोड़ा अधिक लेखन के समय, और उसका ऑपरेशन औसतन 300 लीटर प्रतिदिन या दिन के लगभग आधे दिन तक चलता है, जहां उसे ग्रिड से बिजली की आपूर्ति मिलती है। लेकिन गेबेंगा का तेल और गैस उद्योग में कुछ बड़े समय के व्यक्तियों के साथ जुड़ाव है, इसलिए उसे खुले बाजार में उपलब्ध होने की तुलना में बहुत सस्ती दर पर डीजल मिलता है।
According to Gbenga, his major challenge has been the constant need to maintain and repair the ASICs as they often develop power-related issues due to the unstable supply of electricity. He, however, has a team of skilled technicians and electricians, recruited from the pool of local talents, that didn't initially have experience working on ASICs, but as a result of working in Bitcoin mining and with Gbenga, have gained the requisite skills.
Bitcoin Mining’s Future In Nigeria
बहुत सारे अन्य हैं Bitcoin miners in Nigeria. A lot of them weren't enthusiastic to talk to me because they are worried about their safety — for good reason, too. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't big players already in or researching ways to get into the mining space.
We may yet be a long way away from Africa contributing to a large portion of the global Bitcoin hash rate, but with individuals like Gbenga and Kola, as well as all the others within Nigeria and Africa as a whole, along with the ever growing adoption of Bitcoin in the continent, it may not be too far fetched that the future may not be so distant.
The greatest challenge facing it all is funding. We all know how difficult it is to get loans in the traditional financial space, particularly in Nigeria — you have to know someone who knows someone. But the playground will definitely look different the minute that corporate entities and big businesses — from the telecom space, to banking and restaurant chains, which have tons of stranded electricity because they have to keep their facilities running round the clock — realize what Bitcoin is. It incentivises the use of stranded electricity, converts that with the proof-of-work protocol into a store-of-value asset with a deflationary supply, and yields asymmetric returns.
यह द्वारा एक अतिथि पोस्ट है एमेका उगबाह। व्यक्त की गई राय पूरी तरह से अपनी हैं और जरूरी नहीं कि बीटीसी इंक या उन लोगों को प्रतिबिंबित करें Bitcoin पत्रिका।
मूल स्रोत: Bitcoin पत्रिका