mekoneye.com By Võ Kiều Bảo Uyên 17 November 2025 at 14:50
Four years after it first approved Bitcoin mining projects powered by surplus hydropower, Laos is beginning to rethink whether the energy-hungry industry — now linked to massive transnational cryptocurrency scams — is worth keeping alive
High-rise buildings stand in the Boten Special Economic Zone in northern Laos, near the border with China. The area is suspected to be a hotspot for scam operations, including schemes that store fraudulent money in crypto for later laundering. PHOTO: Thanh Hue
Houaphanh Province, LAOS — Bitcoin is a world far away from 19-year-old Chai, an ethnic Hmong and a college student who has never owned a computer.
But its shadow has already crept into his mountainous village, where power outages are common—often a side effect of the vast energy demands elsewhere, including cryptocurrency mining.
Despite the national grid being connected to his remote community seven years ago, he and his classmate studied by candlelight, oil lamp, or mobile flashlight at night to prepare for university entrance exams. The blackout worsens during the dry seasons when hydropower drops.
CVD 