Bitcoin Forum

I don't consider myself and expert on this idea but wouldn't Iceland be perfect for mass adoption of Bitcoin?  Think about it.

1. Dirt cheap electricity for mining(geothermal power).
2. Cold weather to keep mining processors cool.
3. Strategically positioned between Europe and North America for network connections/servers and so forth.  I think they're building servers in Iceland for other reasons as well. 
4. Populace is well educated compared to most developed countries as they don't have much else to do except read a lot.
5. They hate banks!

What do you think?

I asked for colocation pricing for servers and it was way more expensive than continental Europe and US. The only reason for it could be they are still far from mass adoption of these services like Netherlands, UK or Germany do.

6. They have currency restrictions^*, which would both attract Bitcoin, and make it difficult to get it into the country.

^* "ISK 8,000 is the maximum amount anyone person can import and export of the local currency"

But the bitcoin will never be imported or exported to Iceland - so it`s just a colocation / housing service like a lot of business do it. In my opinion it should be no problem if find attractive prices there.

Most of these factors do not matter.

What does matter is if there is something that you or I want to buy from Iceland, and for which they will take bitcoin.

There is nothing I want to buy from Iceland, so for me it doesn't matter at all. But naturally Icelandic people need to buy things from there and they can use their own currency as well as BTC...and they can use BTC to buy other currencies and then later sell those currencies and buy BTC again for ISK, making it rather worthwhile indeed.

Me neither when goods are concerned, but I would love to go on vacation to Iceland at some point in the future because I'm sure this must be very, very beautiful and interesting!

Any news from Iceland?

Thailand allows BTC trades, what about Iceland?

Due to the capital controls put in place in 2008 to stop money flight on the króna, buying and selling Bitcoin in Iceland, which appears to consider Bitcoin as a foreign currency, is Illegal.[citation needed] The Icelandic Central Bank confirmed that "it is prohibited to engage in foreign exchange trading with the electronic currency Bitcoin, according to the Icelandic Foreign Exchange Act",[23] however commentators suggest bitcoins mined within Iceland could be freely traded.
But it seams that they have their own cryptocurrency : http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/25/bitcoin-goes-national-with-scotcoin-auroracoin

Your 1,2,3 is all about mining BTC
The network is secure and using tons of electricity, so why do we need more miners?

this is true, they did indeed chase out the bankers :D

Iceland is an ideal place to start advertising in :)

Do your homework people.

You've got a bit of a problem in Iceland.

http://money.cnn.com/interactive/technology/where-is-bitcoin-legal/?iid=EL

My $.02.

;)

Auroracoin (Auroracoin.org)




That will be Icelands cryptocurrency. Already over 9% of the population have collected their coins from the first airdrop(50% pre-mined, Distributed to all Citizens)


Isn't this common knowledge here? Where have y'all been the last weeks?




(No, I'm not holding: Still waiting to jump in)

Iceland is the only country in the Europe, where BTC is banned completely.

(1) Iceland is out in the Atanlic Ocean and is essentially a volcanic island.

(2) Who gives a shit what Iceland does?

My $.02.

;)

Since BTC is illegal in Iceland don't you think Auroracoin is a really bad idea?

Please stop trying to make sense to them.

They don't have any and your continued attempts in that regard give me a headache and stop up my computer.

Just kidding.

For part of it, anyway!

LOL!

My $.02.

;)

That is definitely a point. The total population is only 300,000 and that can decrease if any of those volcanoes actually explode.  ;D

And if Eyjafjallajökull blows up there will be no more Iceland.

Can you say Eyjafjallajökull?

I can.

My $.02.

.;)

RIP to anyone nearby when that blows up:
http://winterwonderland.is/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Eyjafjallajokull_Gos2010.jpg

No duh!

Thank you for your insightful post!

My $.02.

;)

Who gives a shit what Iceland does?
Are you Dutch by any chance?  :D

When volcan Grimsvötn erupted in 1783, it killed 25% of the Iceland's population. Perhaps the brightest of the Icelanders perished in that disaster. That's why we now have idiots banning Bitcoin there.

No.

Chose the name because of the Lost Dutchman mine, which see here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Dutchman%27s_Gold_Mine

Bin Echt Deutsch und Englisch..............

Und Amerikan Indianer........................................................

WTF do you do?

OOPS!

AMERIKANER!

Crypto World is a funny place!

Thank you for your kind inquiry.

My $.02.

;)

You can't fix stupid.

My $.02.

;)

What is the actual price of electricity in Iceland ?

Also... isn't it cold out there ?!

Over 80% of electricity in Iceland is generated in hydroelectric power stations. The average price is around $0.09 / KWh.

it's one of the good places for it, if they don't ban it too (too much discussion about the aurora alt-coin).

I do however believe that if/when a bigger % of the population have collected their auroracoins it will not be illegal. Why?

Because Bitcoin is illegal to prevent Capital outflow. If 50% of Auroracoins are in the hands of Icelanders and 40% left to be mined(And most likely will be mined on Iceland due to the LOWEST cost of energy in the world) putting Money into Auroracoins will not actually be Capital outflow and therefor not illegal.


Edit: It will,  and you all know why, more likely mean an enormous INFLOW of Capital.

The reason is different. Power is cheap. Cooling is easier. However network is expensive however due to duopoly. You pay between 5x to 40x more for bandwidth. That's why Iceland is attractive for certain types of hosting but not for others.  But this is about to change soon due to additional submarine cable landing.

Never the less, its a perfect location for bitcoin mining. It has exploded in 2014. We (datacell ehf /www.moria.is) are building up 7MW these days (2MW already ready) and in whole Iceland there are currently around 20MW in use for bitcoin mining exclusively. Tendency increasing. But soon there won't be enough power available and it will take some years to build additional power production facilities.

I don't understand why everybody want to go to Iceland.
There are more others cold places in the world (Alaska, Siberia, mountains).
IMO it is a gamble to put a valuable datacenter on a volcanic island..

Considering the electricity peeps could make a decent profit from mining then.