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Pakistan Allocates 2,000 Megawatts of Electricity To Bitcoin Mining, AI Data Centres (reuters.com) 51

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Pakistan will allocate 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the first phase of a national initiative to power bitcoin mining and AI data centres, its finance ministry said on Sunday. The allocation is part of Islamabad's plans to use its surplus electricity to bitcoin mining and AI data centres.

Pakistan Allocates 2,000 Megawatts of Electricity To Bitcoin Mining, AI Data Centres More | Reply

Pakistan Allocates 2,000 Megawatts of Electricity To Bitcoin Mining, AI Data Centres

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  • What else can we do with that much energy? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Monday May 26, 2025 @01:11PM (#65405011) Homepage Journal

    Feed the hungry? Treat some childhood diseases? I'm genuinely curious what our society prioritizes these days.

    • Dictators and semi-dictators want showy projects like AI pyramids and military parades, they don't care about plebeians.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by ArchieBunker ( 132337 )

        Individuals with a false orange glow who cry about government spending see no irony in spending tens of millions on a vanity parade. Man I remember when Obama and Reagan did that. Oh wait, it was Putin and Kim Jong Un.

        • Oh wait, it was Putin and Kim Jong Un.

          No it was Macron. Trump was invited to the Bastille Day military parade 2017, after which Trump declared he would organise a similar event.

          The inspiration for Trump’s push is last year’s Bastille Day celebration in Paris, which the president attended as a guest of French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump was awestruck by the tableau of uniformed French troops marching down Avenue des Champs-Elysees with military tanks, armored vehicles, gun trucks and carriers — complete with fighter jets flying over the Arc de Triomphe and painting the sky with streaks of blue, white and red smoke for the colors of the French flag.

          Aboard Air Force One en route home from Paris in July, aides said Trump told them that he was dazzled by the French display and that he wanted one at home.

          It was still on his mind two months later when he met with Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

          “It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen,” Trump told reporters. “It was two hours on the button, and it was military might, and I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.”

          Seated next to Macron, Trump added: “We’re going to have to try to top it.”
          https://www.washingtonpost.com... [washingtonpost.com]

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by gtall ( 79522 )

            It don't matter who it was that gave la Presidenta the idea. What's wrong about it is that he's using the U.S. Military for his birthday celebration. That puts him in lil-Kimmy and Putini's league.

            Which other president from 1900 onward would be so crass?

            • he's using the U.S. Military for his birthday celebration. That puts him in lil-Kimmy and Putini's league. Which other president from 1900 onward would be so crass?

              Wow that's very bad indeed. I looked... Strictly speaking the answer is "none" (no President post-1900), but here is what I found:

              * the Sultan of Brunei, tradition since historical times (which the got from the UK);
              * the King/Queen of England, tradition in historical times (since 1749);
              * Putin: birthday parades seem to have been local initiatives, not mandated by Putin himself (Donetsk, Grozny);
              * North Korea holds parades for the birthday of their past (deceased) leaders, not the current ones.

              • June 14th, 2025 is the 250th "birthday" of the U.S. Army. Yes, it happens to coincide with Trump's birthday, but the Parade is for the Army's birthday, not Trump's.

                Pay attention to the details people.

    • No. You're right. Priorities, you know. You wouldn't want the {Russians Chinese, North Koreans, Indians}... there, you wouldn't want the Indians to get ahead of you? Childhood diseases can wait. Also, haven't you heard? Vaccines are on their way out. So.. Yep, it's about priorities. We are talking about the Pakistan Ministry of Finance here. 2000 MW isn't that much, is it?

      I'm super tempted to post anon, but, hey, I think you'll get the /s

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by e3m4n ( 947977 )

        .. 2000 MW isn't that much, is it?

        Well we all know it takes 1.21 Gigawatts (1,210 Megawatts) to power doc Brown’s flux capacitor. So, . .

    • If you took the time to read the article and associated links in it.

      1. They will be using surplus energy
      2. Energy consumption has plummeted due to prolonged economic downturn
      3. They must still pay for the surplus energy because of decades old contracts

      So... in light of this, using the excess energy that they cant use and MUST pay for to mine Bitcoin, is a smart move.
      Basically storing the capital they MUST expend now for later use. That capital will be highly liquid and spendable in the future in the largest

      • If the power plants are generating a surplus of energy, then why not throttle them down? Oh wait, from TFA:

        Pakistan's energy sector is grappling with challenges, including high electricity tariffs and surplus generation capacity. [...] The rapid expansion of solar energy has further complicated the landscape, as more consumers turn to alternative energy sources to mitigate high costs.

        So, it looks like the power plants would rather see the surplus be consumed and paid for, than pull back on production. In short, crypto and AI are excuses to keep the plants running at high capacity.

        That shifts the question to one of the viability of crypto and AI vs. the consequences for the climate and environment from the excess production. Crypto and AI may endure in value. Or may not. I hope we f

        • I answered that question in point 3 above: Decades old contracts

          The governement is REQUIRED by contract (as it is in many countries) to pay for a certain amount of production.
          Its part of the contract with the private company to make the investement worthwhile (regardless if we agree with such contracts or not).

          Most Bitcoin mining is done with the cheapest energy available, allot of it is done with renewables (excess production) or instead of flaring natural gas to the admosphere, they use it to mine Bitcoin

      • "I know this is modern Slashdot...", I wonder how many posts are by bots nowadays?

    • Treat some childhood diseases?

      Given that Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world where poliomyelitis is still endemic, maybe "childhood diseases" isn't their highest priority.

    • How about "desalinate clean drinking water" ?

    • The irony is that this leads to all your straw grasp attempts to shame. Buuuut you wouldn't want to burst your bubble by educating yourself about what the nature of sound money is ore the complexities of the global financial system.
  • Next time it will be "0.002 Terawatts", I suppose.

  • "surplus electricity"

  • Current Stage: The Great Grift (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The grand master plan of crypto

    The plan for all cryptocurrencies isn't what they want to make you think it is. It's more sinister than the egalitarian image the crypto boys portray for it.

    After the 2008 financial meltdown, cryptocurrencies were born out of it, declared to be the means by which people could be freed from banks/governments, and promised to avoid any such future meltdowns from happening ever again.

    But the crypto boys watched closely the result of that meltdown, and formulated their plan: c

    • Crypto is a massive transfer of wealth, with billions in middle class retirement savings tied up in crypto indirectly. And it is a massive removal of government power over currency and the regulation of markets.
      With crypto, court orders and sanctions are no threat to the super wealthy. We are allowing a monster grow among us.

  • ...to start up a De Lorean [youtube.com], with some leftovers to mine bitcoins and pay for the time-space toll road.

  • 57% is fossil fuels... (Score:3)

    by Lavandera ( 7308312 ) on Monday May 26, 2025 @02:50PM (#65405265)

    57% of their energy mix is fossil fuels...

    We are destroying our planet for couple bitcoins...

  • Feeding the terrorists (Score:3, Insightful)

    by shivams ( 2248186 ) on Monday May 26, 2025 @04:08PM (#65405441)
    So, the biggest terror state on earth chooses to further feed their terrorists instead of focusing on their poor population who don't have access to most basic food and health facilities. Pak is coming up to be the second most rogue state after North Korea.
    • I don't think of Pakistan as a rogue state, more a country of rouges since the majority of people we call Pakistani don't really consider themselves citizens of Pakistan -- it is just the borders in which their tribe lives and more often than not they view the central government with deep suspicion. Outside of Karachi and Islamabad, the government barely has control of the country, so trying to keep their resident idiots from causing problems at home or elsewhere is nearly impossible.

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