با وجود چالش ها، ماینرهای نیجریه ای بیت کوین آماده سود هستند

این یک سرمقاله نظری است توسط امکا اوگبا, 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.

بله، اگر من در غرفه با شما بودم، احتمالاً همین فکر را می کردم، حتی اگر نیجریه ای هستم.

همه ما می دانیم که Nigeria is considered the African nation with the highest adoption rate of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies — 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، تصور اینکه قدرت هش قابل توجهی می تواند از کشور نشأت بگیرد دشوار است.

بنابراین، در حقیقت، شما احتمالاً در این که فکر می کنید همکار قانونی نیست، درست خواهید بود. اما باید؟

Obstacles For Mining Bitcoin In Nigeria

فقدان قدرت قابل اعتماد

نیجریه است چهاردهمین کشور آفریقایی از نظر خشکیs و آن پرجمعیت ترین، با جمعیتی بیش از 200 میلیون نفر که از این تعداد تقریباً 52 درصد در مناطق شهری زندگی می کنند. این نگران کننده است که بدانید این افراد باید به یک فرد افسرده وابسته باشند مگاوات 4,000 که شبکه برق کشور قادر به تولید آن است.

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.

نامشخص، مرزی-خصمانه، چشم انداز نظارتی

As with nation states, Nigeria’s stance on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies تا حدودی رزمنده بوده است.

ما آن جمعه سرنوشت ساز را به وضوح به یاد می آوریم، فوریه 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.

بسیاری از حساب‌ها متعاقباً طبق دستورالعمل مسدود شدند، که مجبور شد نیجریه ای ها به طور فزاینده ای سیستم همتا به همتا مبادله ارزش را اتخاذ می کنند 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.

با وجود این واقعیت که کمیسیون بورس و اوراق بهادار نیجریه (SEC) اخیراً مقرراتی صادر کرده است به نظر می‌رسد که نسبت به دارایی‌های دیجیتال کمی سخت‌گیرتر هستند، همه چیز در مورد موضع تنظیم‌کننده‌ها در قبال ماینینگ تا حد زیادی نامشخص است، به‌ویژه به این دلیل که ماینرها (به دلیل نبود اصطلاح بهتر) «پول چاپ می‌کنند».

مقاومت در برابر دشمنان

چیزهای زیادی وجود دارد - چیزهای بزرگ - که نیجریه ای ها به آنها معروف هستند، هرچند برخی از اولین چیزها وقتی بسیاری از مردم به نیجریه‌ای‌ها فکر می‌کنند، چیزی که به ذهن می‌رسد، کمتر از اعتماد به نفس است.

با این وجود، بسیاری می دانند که یک نیجریه ای می تواند در سخت ترین شرایط زنده بماند و حتی رشد کند. این امر در این واقعیت مشهود است که از هر پنج نفر یک نفر آفریقایی الاصل - که در هر کجای دنیا یافت می شود، مهم نیست که مکان چقدر ناپذیر است - نیجریه ای است.

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 منبع اطلاعات 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 Miners

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 Innosilicon 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.

اکنون، نکته جالب دیگری وجود دارد: به دلیل وضعیت نظارتی نامشخص و به دلیل مقامات محلی قدرت، عملیات استخراج کولا به عنوان تسهیلاتی که سرورهایی را برای خدمات اجاره فضای ذخیره‌سازی ابری در خود جای داده است، روی کتاب‌ها نوشته شده است. جالبه، درسته؟

من یک گفتگوی طولانی با کلا داشتم و می‌توانم به شرح جزئیات همه چیزهایی که در موردش صحبت کردیم ادامه دهم، اما این مقاله فقط در مورد گفتگوی من با او نیست، بنابراین آن را در اینجا به پایان می‌برم.

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.

راه اندازی Gbenga یکی از بسیاری از مشاغل در کشور است که برای برق به منابع انرژی جایگزین وابسته است، در مورد او، یک ژنراتور دیزلی 200 KVA. در حال حاضر، با توجه به اینکه قیمت هر لیتر گازوئیل در کشور بالا می رود، در شرایط ایده آل، سرمایه گذاری مناسبی نیست. کمی بیشتر از 1 دلار در زمان نگارش این مقاله، و کارکرد او به طور متوسط ​​300 لیتر در روز یا در روزهایی که برق از شبکه تامین می شود، حدود نیمی از روز را طی می کند. اما گبنگا با چند فرد بزرگ در صنعت نفت و گاز وابستگی دارد، بنابراین گازوئیل را با نرخ بسیار ارزان‌تری نسبت به آنچه در بازار آزاد قابل دستیابی است، دریافت می‌کند.

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

There are so many other 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.

این یک پست مهمان توسط امکا اوگبا. نظرات بیان شده کاملاً متعلق به خود آنها است و لزوماً نظرات BTC Inc یا مجله Bitcoin را منعکس نمی کند.