(MENAFN- The Rio Times) This is not a story about crypto hype. It's a story about energy physics, industrial policy, and how unused electricity becomes exportable data.

An Argentine operator, Cryptogranjas, is preparing to expand bitcoin mining from Argentina into Paraguay, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil-starting with Paraguay.

The company says it is in advanced talks with the state utility to tap Itaipú hydropower and plans an initial investment of about $2 million.

It currently runs roughly 2,000 specialized mining machines and aims to scale to 5,000; at typical industry efficiency, that could yield about 25 bitcoin a month. The playbook is simple: point always-on computing at energy that is cheap, predictable, and not needed by households.

In Argentina, the company partners at sites like Vaca Muerta (Neuquén), Catriel (Río Negro), and Salta to capture“stranded” or flared gas and convert it on site into electricity for self-supplied data centers.



The same logic applies to Paraguay 's vast hydropower: better to monetize surplus, legally and metered, than let it go unused. Country by country, the conditions differ.

Paraguay offers abundant hydro and a push to channel miners onto dedicated lines, while authorities crack down on illegal farms that steal power.
Latin America's Energy Transition Meets Bitcoin
Brazil's rapid build-out of wind and solar has created periods of curtailment-clean energy that the grid can't fully absorb-making flexible loads like mining attractive; gas-fueled options are also being explored despite many oil and gas assets being offshore.

Mexico's angle is flaring: the national oil company is under pressure to cut routine flaring, and gas-powered data centers are advancing; mining is lawful when properly interconnected.

Colombia adds a medium-term wildcard with a major offshore gas discovery in the Caribbean, operated by Petrobras with Ecopetrol as majority partner, which could reinforce power and gas availability late this decade.

The story behind the story is what outsiders should watch: rule-of-law and siting. Industrial bitcoin mining is capital-intensive, not labor-intensive, but it delivers taxes and skilled technical jobs if three conditions hold-clear permits and tariffs, transparent grid or gas connections, and careful placement that avoids local disruption (noise, transformer stress).

Get those right and Latin America's surplus power turns quietly into a new export: secure computing. Get them wrong and the same projects strain grids, anger neighbors, and stall.

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