Venezuela Unveils Museum on Bitcoin Mining History

During the weekend, a museum dedicated to the evolution of bitcoin mining debuted in Venezuela. It will provide an overview of Bitcoin mining’s past. CriptoAvila, a private entity of Bitcoin miners with roughly nine years of expertise in the field, established the museum. The gallery is open to the public and is situated in Chacao’s Torre Xerox in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. Its major goal is to make Bitcoin mining more accessible to the general public.

According to reports, the museum will display the evolution and growth of Bitcoin mining from its inception through the era of central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), and eventually the currently utilized application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or integrated circuit (IC). CriptoAvila participant Joan Telo addressed the necessity for a public space where people may acquire knowledge about Bitcoin and their mission of transforming into a global authority in documenting Bitcoin mining legacy, and added,

“We chose to take this measure because there has never been a site where people can witness development, at least not openly, and we believed it was essential. Each piece of hardware, make, and type that we will display has a narrative to convey, perhaps because it was pivotal in mining history or because it marked a challenge.”

“There are also frauds, gear that hurt several individuals who attempted to mine bitcoin at the point,” he continued. Our plan is to display the hardware in the museum as it becomes available since we want to transform into a global resource on the progress of cryptocurrency mining.”

A miniature mine will also be on display at the museum to educate visitors how the Bitcoin mining system operates. Venezuela is among the top hashrate providers to the Bitcoin network. According to data from the University of Cambridge, Venezuela was one of the top 10 nations with respect to Bitcoin hashrate in April 2020, accounting for 0.42%.

This revelation has come as the cryptocurrency market remains in a downtrend, with Bitcoin and other altcoins trading continuing to see an erosion in their value. Specifically, the Bitcoin/USD pair was currently around $29,700. Bitcoin miners in Venezuela haven’t yet always had the same level of independence as they do now.

Many miners were compelled to go operate secretively in the past due to mistreatment, imprisonment, and seizure of mining hardware by authorities. Venezuela’s government has recently shown that it is increasingly open to Bitcoin mining. Miners need to simply enroll with Sunacrip, the local cryptocurrency authority, in order to function.

A section of miners have continued to operate unlawfully due to paranoia and misinformation, putting them at danger of machinery confiscation and penalties by authorities. Officials confiscated 400 mining machines due to the absence of licenses as late as June 2021. Six individuals were detained in Puerto Ordaz on July 15 when it was found that they were operating an illegal mine. As a consequence, 25 ASIC miners were seized. They’ve been freed since then.