Listening to Sébastien Gouspillou share tales from the previous eight years of his worldwide life as a Bitcoin miner, it’s troublesome to consider he’s telling the reality.
Every of his tales come throughout as works of fiction through which he, typically compelled by little greater than blind religion and a need to make the most of low-cost power for Bitcoin mining, comes out on high after struggling by soul-shaking trials and tribulations.
And what’s maybe most mystifying is that he tells many of those tales whereas smiling from ear to ear, beaming with a sure radiance that comes from having an indefatigable spirit (aside from when he tells elements of the tales the place others are damage, wronged or killed; at these factors he grows somber).
To rapidly present an summary of his journey, since 2017, the 55-year-old citizen of France and co-founder of BigBlock Datacenter, a Bitcoin mining firm, has traversed the planet. From former Soviet states to Africa to The Center East to South America, he’s been in quest of stranded power for this firm’s operations, witnessing each the perfect and worst of what humanity has to supply within the course of.
Gouspillou has turn out to be most well-known for serving to to determine a Bitcoin mining amenities in Virunga Nationwide Park within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the place a number of the operation’s proceeds have gone again to each the park for its conservation efforts in addition to to bettering the the lives of these in communities that encompass the amenities.
Gouspillou has additionally seen how Bitcoin mining is furthering efforts to impress rural Africa. After what he’s seen on this entrance, he believes that we can not reside in a world with out Bitcoin mining at this level as a result of “it’s simply too helpful,” as he places it.
However Gouspillou hasn’t at all times been a Bitcoin believer, nor a profitable entrepreneur. Earlier than discovering Bitcoin, his skilled life was extra run-of-the-mill, as he held various salaried positions in a handful of fields that appeared notably much less thrilling than operating Bitcoin mining operations in a number of the most off-the-beaten-path areas of the world.
Gouspillou’s Life Earlier than Bitcoin
Earlier than falling down the proverbial Bitcoin rabbit gap in 2015, Gouspillou had various totally different jobs starting from working for an actual property developer to working for a forestry firm in Asia to importing dry cleansing machines for corporations as massive as Euro Disney.
“I am not a scientist or an engineer,” Gouspillou informed Bitcoin Journal.
“I’m a businessman, and my coaching is in advertising and gross sales. It was onerous for me to grasp Bitcoin at first,” he added.
He first heard about Bitcoin in 2010 when his childhood pal and now co-founder of BigBlock Datacenter, Jean-François Augusti, started mining it.
Gouspillou dismissed his pal’s efforts again then; he felt Augusti was losing his time mining bitcoin.
5 years later, although, Bitcoin piqued Gouspillou’s curiosity, and he spent most of 2015 researching it. Towards the latter a part of that yr, he approached Augusti with a brand new perspective on Bitcoin and proposed that they begin mining collectively.
Shortly thereafter, the 2 arrange beginner operations in a small industrial area they rented. And by June 2017, that they had moved their operations to a former Alcatel (a former French telecommunications gear firm) manufacturing facility Orvault, a small city outdoors of Gouspillou’s residence city of Nantes.
The Early Days Of BigBlock Datacenter
At this level, Gouspillou and Augusti had formally included BigBlock Datacenter and started receiving funding from outdoors traders.
The power in Orvault was their first operation, whereas the second was in Odessa, Ukraine. What the 2 areas had in frequent was entry to low-cost energy.
In Odessa, Gouspillou and Augusti had a container with 200 S9 ASIC miners that they maintained on their very own.
“The operation was very small in comparison with what we’ve got now, however, at that second, it was very massive to us as a result of we had been alone to do the work,” recalled Gouspillou.
Except for the technical challenges that got here with studying methods to function a bitcoin mining farm, Gouspillou and his companion bumped into different hurdles, as properly.
“It was very troublesome to work in Ukraine at the moment, as a result of individuals in Europe and within the banks used to say, ‘Are you loopy? It is a terrorist state — there’s solely mafia on this nation,’” recalled Gouspillou.
Because it turned out, the unhealthy guys within the nation didn’t simply embody members of the mafia however corrupt authorities officers, as properly.
“We had massive points with the federal government, notably the Secret Service, the SBU,” mentioned Gouspillou.
“They got here in the future to grab our farm, and we acquired shut down for 3 months. We negotiated and gave them eight bitcoin. That was the worth to allow us to work,” he added.
“Quickly after we reconnected the ASICs, although, it was too late. The value of electrical energy had doubled. So, we left to go to Kazakhstan by 2018.”
Gouspillou and Augusti had been two of the primary foreigners to start mining in Kazakhstan. They arrange store on the identical lake as Valery Vavilov, founder and CEO of Bitfury, and his staff and mined there earlier than falling sufferer to a different shakedown.
“We misplaced quite a lot of machines in Kazakhstan,” mentioned Gouspillou.
“The mafia took the machines, after which they sequestered me in a single day after a gathering and requested me to purchase the machines again from them,” he added.
“Between this and the worth of bitcoin crashing in 2018, I misplaced 20 kilograms in a single yr.”
Gouspillou and his companion left Kazakhstan quickly after to arrange a small operation in Siberia, Russia (which has turn out to be even smaller lately).
Gouspillou remembers properly the toll that every one of this took not solely on him however on his household, as properly.
“My spouse mentioned, ‘Why do not you alter your work? Why do not you come back to a traditional job? Your fucking bitcoin is destroying us,’” he recalled.
“I used to be in my late 40s, not very younger, and possibly it was not the proper second to be taking so many dangers,” he added.
“However I didn’t need to cease. Jean-François and I continued to be very assured in regards to the value of Bitcoin rising once more in the future.”
Alternative In The Congo
By 2019, rise once more it did, assuaging a few of Gouspillou’s monetary ache within the course of.
“The value saved us as a result of we had the capability to pay again our traders for some ASICs we misplaced due to the mafia,” mentioned Gouspillou.
Gouspillou and Augusti had been in a position to purchase a brand new fleet of ASICs whereas the worth of the machines was very low, which helped to make their operations very worthwhile transferring ahead, particularly because the 2020 bitcoin bull run accelerated.
And the winds of destiny actually shifted when Gouspillou first met Prince Emmanuel de Merode of Belgium, a conservationist and anthropologist who works to guard Virunga and set up peace within the DRC.
“In 2020, he requested me to create a mining farm in Virunga,” mentioned Gouspillou.
“It was the perfect second of the lifetime of the corporate, as a result of we turned worthwhile on our amenities across the globe and well-known once we took this chance in Virunga,” he added.
“Earlier than Virunga, we had been mining. With Virunga, we carried out mining that was socially helpful.” (Extra on how mining in Virunga is “socially helpful” later within the piece.)
This isn’t to say that beginning the farm within the Congo was straightforward, although.
Gouspillou described how there’s been combating on this area lengthy earlier than he and Augusti introduced their first container of ASICs there, and the combating has solely intensified since.
“I’m purported to go to Virunga subsequent week, however I’ve to attend as a result of there’s a deep struggle on this area in the intervening time,” defined Gouspillou.
Regardless of the battle, Gouspillou, Augusti and the 2 different staff members that based the Virunga farm have had notable success within the area. They began with two containers stuffed with 700 ASIC S9s. These machines have been powered by hydroelectric power from a plant on the Luviro River, near Ivingu, since that point.
Mining bitcoin with a low value of electrical energy within the area rapidly made the operation worthwhile, which not solely made Gouspillou’s traders comfortable however Prince de Merode, as properly.
Prince de Merode had invited Gouspillou and his staff to Virunga to assist his work in preserving the park. The association regarded like this: Initially, Gouspillou and his staff introduced in two containers — one owned by BigBlock Datacenter and one owned by the park. BigBlock Datacenter paid the electrical energy prices for his or her container however managed each. (Now, there are 10 containers within the park, seven owned by BigBlock Datacenter and three owned by the park.)
The earnings from the bitcoin mined by the park went/go to the park to assist protect it. The mining farm additionally started using locals who would in any other case should resort to burning bushes in efforts to supply coal that they might promote.
The advantages of building this plant within the area are illustrated in a brief documentary Gouspillou confirmed at Adopting Bitcoin El Salvador 2023 (1:29-7:05 within the following video):
Extra just lately, Gouspillou and his staff realized that they might use the warmth produced from the mining to dry fruits in addition to cocoa beans, that are used to make chocolate.
Whereas the mining farm at present employs 15 individuals full time, the fruit and cocoa drying efforts have created one other 50-60 part-time jobs for these residing across the farm. Gouspillou sees the potential for these operations to scale up within the close to future.
“With the fruits, we will think about creating 100 to 300 jobs for individuals,” he mentioned.
However within the breath after Gouspillou mentioned the potential within the area, he additionally touched on the hardships, a few of which have each been heartbreaking and have made scaling troublesome.
Hardships
For the reason that onset of operations within the DRC, Gouspillou has misplaced various staff members to each violence and acts of God.
One younger man named Moise was killed and washed away in what Gouspillou described as “a rush of water that got here down from the mountains.”
(Gouspillou and his staff additionally needed to restore the numerous ASICs that had been broken throughout this occasion, a lot of which had been new S19s.)
Then, in one other tragic occasion simply six weeks later, members of his staff had been ambushed, leading to 5 deaths.
He described the state of affairs mournfully:
“When the staff members depart the farm to return residence, one in all their choices is to take a aircraft from the park,” he started.
“However typically they do not have sufficient fuel or kerosene, so we’ve got to take a automotive 30 kilometers to get to a small airport within the jungle, and the highway we’ve got to take is harmful,” he added.
“One in all our technicians, the spouse of the cook dinner on the farm and the three others within the automotive had been killed by the Mai-Mai (a insurgent group within the area).”
Gouspillou and his staff took these deaths onerous. The technician, a younger man named Jones who was additionally a supervisor on the farm, had been with the staff for 4 years.
“He began on the lowest stage and in three years turned the boss of the farm,” mentioned Gouspillou.
“We had been very near him. I knew him very properly because the starting; I employed him,” he added.
What’s extra, Prince de Merode has misplaced upwards of 30 rangers from his staff that shield the farm because of violence over the course of the 4 years the farm has been up and operating (and 200 since Prince de Merode has been the top of the park).
The violence is one thing that by no means will get straightforward to cope with, in line with Gouspillou.
“You have got one thing like 300 totally different gangs within the area,” he mentioned.
“After we began in 2020, Emmanuel informed us it had gotten calmer as in comparison with earlier years. Nevertheless, since then, it’s gotten worse yearly,” he added.
How Bitcoin Mining Transforms Areas In Africa
Regardless of the difficult circumstances, Gouspillou stays optimistic. He’s seen the constructive results Bitcoin mining has had not simply within the DRC, however subsequent door within the Republic of the Congo, the place Gouspillou and his staff now function, as properly.
BigBlock Datacenter has constructed one in all their latest amenities in Liouesso, a city within the north of the nation. On this area, there’s hardly any business, partly because of an absence of electrification, however that’s altering because of the mining operations.
“While you give cash to the producer of electrical energy, you alter the lifetime of a area,” Gouspillou defined.
“Within the city, they’ve a 20 megawatt energy plant, however they solely use two to 3 megawatts to feed the city. So, we constructed a 12 megawatt farm there,” he added.
“For the electrical energy supplier, this is essential. We’re a giant consumer for him. He can now pull the strains to convey electrical energy to some small village as a result of he has some cash.”
The impact that Gouspillou described is identical as what’s taking place in Kenya, Botswana and Malawi, the nations through which Gridless, one other Bitcoin mining firm, operates. Like BigBlock Datacenter, Gridless purchases extra energy from hydroelectric energy crops in rural Africa, giving power suppliers a brand new stream of income, permitting them to increase their operations additional into the countryside. This course of provides some African communities entry to electrical energy for the primary time.
Gouspillou described the way it’s nearly a no brainer to make the most of this extra energy, as many hydroelectric crops in Africa are constructed to supply extra energy than they’re able to shelling out.
“You have got so many massive hydro energy crops, and so they haven’t got the strains to distribute this electrical energy,” mentioned Gouspillou.
“In Cameroon proper now, a giant dam constructed by EDF (Électricité de France, France’s nationwide energy firm) produces 80% extra electrical energy than it distributes,” he added.
“While you create a giant energy plant, it’s usually too massive — wherever you construct it — as a result of there’s no profit to constructing too small. Constructing a 200 megawatt plant prices would not value double what constructing a 100 megawatt plant prices.”
Gouspillou went on to explain how he suggested Nemo Semret, the primary Bitcoin miner in Ethiopia, who now helps oversee the nation’s large-scale, state-sponsored mining operations.
“I gave him some recommendation on methods to make mining containers 4 years in the past, and now the nation is mining with 600 megawatts,” Gouspillou mentioned. “There’s large potential for growth there, too.”
Past furthering the electrification of rural Africa, Gouspillou’s mining efforts are having different notably constructive impacts on their surrounding communities, as properly.
Neighborhood Influence
BigBlock Datacenter’s new farm in Liouesso at present employs 15 full-time technicians and 10 service employees together with cooks, assistants, laundry employees, cleansing and grounds upkeep employees and drivers. And it plans to launch operations for fruit drying within the second half of 2025.
“There we’ve got huge drying capability: sufficient to make use of over 100 individuals,” Gouspillou famous.
Greater than offering neighborhood members with jobs, although, Gouspillou and his staff have made different investments locally.
Various workers for the principle farm within the DRC have youngsters who attend a faculty within the area, which is 5 kilometers from the farm’s camp. BigBlock Datacenter has offered a Toyota bus to make sure faculty bus service because the first arrange operations there.
The youngsters and academics as soon as walked this distance daily.
To assist reduce this burden, Gouspillou first lent the neighborhood members his automotive in order that they might drive the gap as an alternative of strolling it. And, extra just lately, he’s introduced in a bus to assist transport the neighborhood’s residents to and from the varsity in bigger numbers.
Moreover, BigBlock Datacenter has additionally made enhancements to the varsity itself.
“They didn’t have electrical energy within the school rooms, so we put in it,” mentioned Gouspillou, who added that they’ve additionally financed the repainting of the varsity.
“These are very low-cost investments and so they make a giant distinction for the academics and college students,” he added.
Aujourd’hui, visite de l’école primaire. y’a d’la joie. https://t.co/CIxiZw7BAJ pic.twitter.com/arUeBc5nji
— Seb Gouspillou (@SebGouspillou) January 15, 2025
Translation: “In the present day, a go to to the first faculty. There may be pleasure.”
Gouspillou contextualized his contribution by sharing that different corporations which have come to the area have made comparable investments for egocentric functions, seemingly making an attempt to downplay his contribution.
“Oil corporations do it, too, as a result of they should compensate for the air pollution they create by doing good deeds,” he defined.
The distinction with BigBlock Datacenter is that it would not burn fuel or pollute the setting. It mines bitcoin utilizing renewable power. So, as I perceive it, Gouspillou and his staff are giving again as a result of they assume it is the proper factor to do.
It turned clear to me that he’s developed deep bonds with the staff members initially from the area as he shared a narrative about two of them who’ve accomplished extraordinary work. Gouspillou refers to those two staff members, Patrick Tsongo and Ernest Kyeya, as two of “the actual heroes from Virunga.”
“Ernest has been the supervisor of the Virunga farm, and Patrick his second in command,” mentioned Gouspillou.
“We employed them 4 years in the past once they had been 23 years previous. Now they’ve the capability to create a farm. They’ve the capability to restore ASICs, which is effective as a result of even when our machines are below guarantee, we will’t ship them again as a result of the probabilities they are going to get stolen in transit are excessive,” he added.
“They’ve the capability to restore all types of points. I believe they’re the perfect technicians within the mining world now.”
Ernest and Patrick are actually launching the brand new farm within the Republic of the Congo, and so they just lately left the DRC for the primary time of their lives to take action.
“Three months in the past, we went to Pointe-Noire, a port by the ocean within the Republic of the Congo, and it was the primary time they noticed the ocean,” mentioned Gouspillou. “They’re so grateful.”
Gouspillou additionally talked about that they’ve turn out to be tried and true Bitcoiners, as BigBlock Datacenter has given them a bitcoin bonus every year, a few of which they’ve held onto and used because it’s appreciated.
“Initially, they used to promote it,” mentioned Gouspillou.
“Nevertheless, they just lately purchased land with the bitcoin they’ve saved. So, now they’re loopy about Bitcoin. They find it irresistible,” he added.
The Future Of BigBlock Datacenter
Shifting ahead, Gouspillou and his staff plan to proceed to increase their operations globally.
They at present have mining tasks in 5 African nations in addition to others in Paraguay (the place Gouspillou says it’s troublesome to work due to the mafia presence within the nation), Finland, Oman and the small one in Siberia they began years in the past.
“We had been the primary miner in Oman, and I used to be the man who satisfied the federal government to start out mining,” defined Gouspillou. “We began with two containers, and now the nation has massive miners with amenities that may mine with as much as 300 megawatts.”
In addition they moved their headquarters to El Salvador six months in the past, the place they’re included as BigBlock El Salvador.
Whereas Gouspillou and his staff can probably increase wherever from right here, he shared that he prefers to concentrate on rising their operations in Africa, as he’s most enthusiastic about what his staff is engaged on within the Republic of the Congo proper now.
Towards the top of my interview with Gouspillou, once I requested him the way it feels to see his firm develop to the purpose it has after beginning the method in his late-40s, he chuckled earlier than responding with the next:
“Possibly I used to be somewhat bit too previous, however we had time to construct one thing stable. Now, it’s solely pleasure with this enterprise.”
