Colombia’s President Eyes Bitcoin Mining Boom for Caribbean Coast

• Petro named Santa Marta, Riohacha, and Barranquilla as potential Bitcoin mining hubs.
• Paraguay holds 4.3% of the global Bitcoin hashrate, built entirely on surplus hydroelectric power.
• Venezuela has 7,500 megawatts of stranded energy surplus, larger than Paraguay’s entire share.

A detailed report on Bitcoin mining in Paraguay, and its implications for Venezuela’s stranded energy surplus, caught the attention of an unlikely reader this week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

Petro responded publicly on X, drawing a direct line from what Paraguay built using surplus hydroelectric power to what Colombia’s Caribbean coast could replicate using its own untapped renewable energy resources.

“Today, countries with abundant clean energies locked away, like Venezuela and Paraguay, manage to attract investments in Bitcoin mining,” Petro wrote. “This could be the case for Santa Marta, Riohacha, and Barranquilla. It’s an immense boost to the development of the Caribbean.”

He added one condition: the energy must be clean. Bitcoin mining powered by fossil fuels, he warned, would accelerate climate collapse rather than solve an economic problem.

The report Petro was reacting to laid out how Paraguay became the fourth largest Bitcoin mining country in the world, holding approximately 4.3% of global hashrate, by doing one thing: monetizing electricity it could not use or sell anywhere else. 

Paraguay’s three dams generate far more power than the country consumes. Itaipu alone provides 7,000 MW to Paraguay, covering about 86% of national demand, while Yacyretá and Acaray add further capacity, leaving a structural surplus that had nowhere to go until Bitcoin mining absorbed it.

The same analysis applied to Venezuela, which has an even larger stranded surplus at the Bajo Caroní hydroelectric complex, with approximately 7,500 megawatts of trapped capacity following the collapse of the industrial plants that used to consume it locally. Venezuela has the energy. What it has lacked is the political and regulatory conditions to attract the capital needed to use it.

Colombia’s Opportunity

Petro’s read is that the Caribbean coast fits the same template. Wind and solar potential in the region remains largely undeveloped, creating conditions that could mirror what Paraguay built with hydro, provided the right infrastructure and policy framework follows.

He also raised a social dimension that distinguishes his framing from a pure economic argument, calling for the Wayúu community to be brought in as co-owners of any Bitcoin mining project in the region rather than being excluded from its benefits.

Whether a social media post from a president translates into policy is a separate question. But when a historically crypto-skeptical head of state responds to a mining industry report by naming three specific cities as potential hubs, the region takes notice.

Related: Tether Launches MDK, an Open-Source Framework for Bitcoin Mining