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Bhutan, after prioritizing happiness, now faces an existential crisis

(www.cbsnews.com)
271 points nradov | 4 comments | 18 Nov 24 13:53 UTC | HN request time: 0.199s | source
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itishappy ◴[18 Nov 24 14:34 UTC] No.42172594[source]▶
Bhutan is also quite energy rich due to hydroelectric power and have been dumping the excess into bitcoin.

> Bhutan is fifth among countries holding BTC, after the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bhutan-cashes-33-5b-bitcoin-0...

(Mistake in title, they've cashed out only $33 million, not billion.)

replies(1): >>42173352 #
1. seanmcdirmid ◴[18 Nov 24 15:37 UTC] No.42173352[source]▶
Maybe they could do something more productive with that surplus like host AI data centers? I know those are popping up out west in the US where green energy like wind is more plentiful.
replies(2): >>42173825 #>>42176009 #
2. ponty_rick ◴[18 Nov 24 16:16 UTC] No.42173825[source]▶
Data centers require an ecosystem of technology to exist - skilled manpower, fiber optic network, grid capacity etc, they're probably not up for it yet.
3. samatman ◴[18 Nov 24 19:31 UTC] No.42176009[source]▶
When you said "productive", do you perhaps mean socially useful?

It takes a lot of AI data center to derive a billion-dollar profit, which is the value just of the Bitcoin which Bhutan currently retains. Seems fairly economically productive to me.

replies(1): >>42176348 #
4. seanmcdirmid ◴[18 Nov 24 20:08 UTC] No.42176348[source]▶
bitcoin is fiat digital money, its value is all based on how others think it is worth (due to scarcity or whatever); even worse it's price goes up and down rather quickly, making it not very useful as something to exchange goods and services with. AI can actually do productive things. Bhutan could start up a bunch of call centers staffed not by people, but AI agents powered by its green energy.