Iceland Prepares for a Post-Bitcoin Future

In February 2018, poet and former Icelandic presidential candidate, Andri Snær Magnason, took to Twitter to decry the immense energy consumption of Bitcoin miners.

Magnason's comments echoed the sentiments of others in Iceland, describing crypto mining as "Cryptonite".

Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process with an astounding impact in Iceland.

"The value to Iceland / value generated ratio is virtually zero."

The value to Iceland / value generated ratio is virtually zero.

Iceland was uniquely impacted by the 2008 financial crisis that resulted from a speculative housing bubble that nearly bankrupted the country when the bubble finally burst.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Iceland was the "First casualty of the financial crisis." The nation only remained solvent because of a bond sale to the International Monetary Fund.

Thorisson identified self-driving car initiatives and automatic translators as two burgeoning tech fields that will capitalize on Iceland's computing power and an abundant amount of renewable energy.

According to Thorisson, these two industries require "Way more data and computing power than what's available." Therefore, Iceland appears to be future-focused and prepared to repurpose its technology for other flourishing fields.

While it's impossible to know the longevity of any particular technology, it's clear that Iceland has a plan for the future.