Why Congo’s most famous national park is betting big on crypto

Virunga National Park in eastern Congo is betting on Bitcoin mining to fund its operations, using electricity from its own hydroelectric plants. Park director Emmanuel de Merode says proceeds already help pay park salaries and infrastructure such as roads and water pumping stations. The park began mining in September 2020, and de Merode predicted revenue of about $150,000 a month in late March 2022, when Bitcoin traded near $44,000. He says the park needed new income after tourism, which had once made up 40% of park revenue, collapsed during kidnappings, Ebola and COVID-19.