As reported by the local news platform laClave, last week, the Anti-Kidnapping Department of Paraguayan police has recovered some of the Bitcoin mining equipment stolen from the facility in the city of Presidente Franco. In the early morning hours of April 15, the owner of the mining establishment lost 492 machines during the attack performed by armored criminals.
According to laClave, investigators were able to locate the miners due to the satellite signal emitted when the devices were turned on, however, no details about the technology were disclosed. So far, it is known that the thieves most likely did not know about this possibility. Yet, nearly 200 more devices are still missing.
The mining equipment was hidden on the premises of the Arimar farm in the Alfredo Pla district, where the police also found ammunition.
Although the exact purpose of the heist has not been disclosed either, it is possible that the criminals were willing to use the machines for mining themselves, as they were found fully functional by the police.
The recent development of Bitcoin mining in Paraguay
The latest estimate of the Bitcoin hashrate produced by Paraguay calculated by specialists of the Hashrateindex platform is "1.45% of the total network hashrate on the high end and 1.16% on the low end," compared by 0.15% estimated by the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index in December 202.
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The growing Bitcoin hashrate production in Paraguay, empowered by low electricity prices, is attracting more and more foreign mining companies. One of the most recent companies facilitating the auspicious energy conditions of this Latin American country is Canadian crypto miner Pow.re, which secured a contract for 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity in Paraguay in March this year.
It is known that this contract includes a five-year fixed price agreement, however, the company has not disclosed the exact price of electricity.
Another recent example of foreign miners using Paraguayan electricity is Los Angeles-based Alpha Mining, a cloud mining and cryptocurrency mining pool with a vision "to revolutionize the crypto mining industry by leveraging Paraguay's abundant hydro-electric energy while offering unique rewards and experiences for their NFT holders."
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In its March 15 press release, the company claims its mission is "to build a state-of-the-art mining operation that capitalizes on the growing demand for antimony processing in the EV market."
To fund its facilities in Paraguay, Alpha Mining Co. has created a special Reserve NFT collection consisting of 3,000 NFTs priced at $1,000 that will allow their holders to earn rewards from Bitcoin mining and antimony processing.
As Twitter user Karina shared with the community on May 10, the company had already transported mining rigs to Paraguay.
