Listening to Sébastien Gouspillou share tales from the previous eight years of his worldwide life as a Bitcoin miner, it’s tough to imagine 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 want to make the most of low-cost vitality for Bitcoin mining, comes out on prime after struggling by way of 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 components of the tales the place others are harm, wronged or killed; at these factors he grows somber).
To shortly 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 searching for stranded vitality for this firm’s operations, witnessing each the most effective 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 among 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 all the time been a Bitcoin believer, nor a profitable entrepreneur. Earlier than discovering Bitcoin, his skilled life was extra run-of-the-mill, as he held a variety of salaried positions in a handful of fields that appeared notably much less thrilling than working Bitcoin mining operations in among 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 a variety of completely 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 large 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 exhausting for me to know Bitcoin at first,” he added.
He first heard about Bitcoin in 2010 when his childhood good friend and now co-founder of BigBlock Datacenter, Jean-François Augusti, started mining it.
Gouspillou dismissed his good friend’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 12 months, he approached Augusti with a brand new perspective on Bitcoin and proposed that they begin mining collectively.
Shortly thereafter, the 2 arrange novice operations in a small industrial area they rented. And by June 2017, they’d moved their operations to a former Alcatel (a former French telecommunications tools 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 integrated BigBlock Datacenter and commenced 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 widespread 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 now we have now, however, at that second, it was very large 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 tips on how to function a bitcoin mining farm, Gouspillou and his companion bumped into different hurdles, as effectively.
“It was very tough to work in Ukraine at the moment, as a result of folks 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 embrace members of the mafia however corrupt authorities officers, as effectively.
“We had large points with the federal government, significantly the Secret Service, the SBU,” stated 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 numerous machines in Kazakhstan,” stated 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 12 months.”
Gouspillou and his companion left Kazakhstan quickly after to arrange a small operation in Siberia, Russia (which has turn out to be even smaller in recent times).
Gouspillou remembers effectively the toll that every one of this took not solely on him however on his household, as effectively.
“My spouse stated, ‘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 precise 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,” stated Gouspillou.
Gouspillou and Augusti had been capable of purchase a brand new fleet of ASICs whereas the worth of the machines was very low, which helped to make their operations very worthwhile shifting 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,” stated Gouspillou.
“It was the most effective second of the lifetime of the corporate, as a result of we grew to become 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 simple, although.
Gouspillou described how there’s been preventing on this area lengthy earlier than he and Augusti introduced their first container of ASICs there, and the preventing has solely intensified since.
“I’m alleged to go to Virunga subsequent week, however I’ve to attend as a result of there’s a deep battle on this area for the time being,” 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 full of 700 ASIC S9s. These machines have been powered by hydroelectric vitality from a plant on the Luviro River, near Ivingu, since that point.
Mining bitcoin with a low price of electrical energy within the area shortly made the operation worthwhile, which not solely made Gouspillou’s traders glad however Prince de Merode, as effectively.
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 income 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 must resort to burning timber in efforts to supply coal that they may 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 not too long ago, Gouspillou and his staff realized that they may 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 presently employs 15 folks 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 folks,” he stated.
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 tough.
Hardships
Because the onset of operations within the DRC, Gouspillou has misplaced a variety of 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, lots 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 scenario mournfully:
“When the staff members go away the farm to return residence, certainly one of their choices is to take a aircraft from the park,” he started.
“However generally they do not have sufficient fuel or kerosene, so now we have to take a automobile 30 kilometers to get to a small airport within the jungle, and the highway now we have to take is harmful,” he added.
“One among our technicians, the spouse of the cook dinner on the farm and the three others within the automobile had been killed by the Mai-Mai (a insurgent group within the area).”
Gouspillou and his staff took these deaths exhausting. 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 grew to become the boss of the farm,” stated Gouspillou.
“We had been very near him. I knew him very effectively because the starting; I employed him,” he added.
What’s extra, Prince de Merode has misplaced upwards of 30 rangers from his staff that defend the farm as a consequence of violence over the course of the 4 years the farm has been up and working (and 200 since Prince de Merode has been the pinnacle of the park).
The violence is one thing that by no means will get simple to take care of, in response to Gouspillou.
“You will have one thing like 300 completely different gangs within the area,” he stated.
“Once 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 optimistic 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 effectively.
BigBlock Datacenter has constructed certainly one of their latest amenities in Liouesso, a city within the north of the nation. On this area, there’s hardly any trade, partially as a consequence of an absence of electrification, however that’s altering as a result of mining operations.
“Once 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 a few 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 carry electrical energy to some small village as a result of he has some cash.”
The impact that Gouspillou described is similar as what’s occurring in Kenya, Botswana and Malawi, the international locations through which Gridless, one other Bitcoin mining firm, operates. Like BigBlock Datacenter, Gridless purchases extra energy from hydroelectric energy vegetation in rural Africa, giving vitality 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 just about a no brainer to make the most of this extra energy, as many hydroelectric vegetation in Africa are constructed to supply extra energy than they’re able to shelling out.
“You will have so many large hydro energy vegetation, and so they haven’t got the strains to distribute this electrical energy,” stated 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.
“Once you create a giant energy plant, it’s usually too large — wherever you construct it — as a result of there’s no profit to constructing too small. Constructing a 200 megawatt plant prices does not price 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 tips on how to make mining containers 4 years in the past, and now the nation is mining with 600 megawatts,” Gouspillou stated. “There’s enormous potential for growth there, too.”
Past furthering the electrification of rural Africa, Gouspillou’s mining efforts are having different notably optimistic impacts on their surrounding communities, as effectively.
Neighborhood Influence
BigBlock Datacenter’s new farm in Liouesso presently employs 15 full-time technicians and 10 service workers together with cooks, assistants, laundry workers, cleansing and grounds upkeep workers and drivers. And it plans to launch operations for fruit drying within the second half of 2025.
“There now we have huge drying capability: sufficient to make use of over 100 folks,” Gouspillou famous.
Greater than offering group members with jobs, although, Gouspillou and his staff have made different investments in the neighborhood.
A variety of workers for the primary farm within the DRC have kids who attend a college within the area, which is 5 kilometers from the farm’s camp. BigBlock Datacenter has supplied a Toyota bus to make sure college bus service because the first arrange operations there.
The kids and lecturers as soon as walked this distance daily.
To assist reduce this burden, Gouspillou first lent the group members his automobile in order that they may drive the space as a substitute of strolling it. And, extra not too long ago, he’s introduced in a bus to assist transport the group’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,” stated 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 lecturers 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: “Right now, a go to to the first college. There’s pleasure.”
Gouspillou contextualized his contribution by sharing that different corporations which have come to the area have made comparable investments for egocentric functions, seemingly attempting to downplay his contribution.
“Oil corporations do it, too, as a result of they must compensate for the air pollution they create by doing good deeds,” he defined.
The distinction with BigBlock Datacenter is that it does not burn fuel or pollute the atmosphere. It mines bitcoin utilizing renewable vitality. So, as I perceive it, Gouspillou and his staff are giving again as a result of they suppose it is the precise factor to do.
It grew to become 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 finished extraordinary work. Gouspillou refers to those two staff members, Patrick Tsongo and Ernest Kyeya, as two of “the true heroes from Virunga.”
“Ernest has been the supervisor of the Virunga farm, and Patrick his second in command,” stated Gouspillou.
“We employed them 4 years in the past after they had been 23 years previous. Now they’ve the capability to create a farm. They’ve the capability to restore ASICs, which is efficacious as a result of even when our machines are beneath guarantee, we will’t ship them again as a result of the possibilities 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 most effective technicians within the mining world now.”
Ernest and Patrick at the moment are launching the brand new farm within the Republic of the Congo, and so they not too long ago 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,” stated 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.
“At the start, they used to promote it,” stated Gouspillou.
“Nevertheless, they not too long ago purchased land with the bitcoin they’ve saved. So, now they’re loopy about Bitcoin. They like it,” he added.
The Future Of BigBlock Datacenter
Transferring ahead, Gouspillou and his staff plan to proceed to increase their operations globally.
They presently have mining tasks in 5 African international locations in addition to others in Paraguay (the place Gouspillou says it’s tough 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 large 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 integrated as BigBlock El Salvador.
Whereas Gouspillou and his staff can seemingly increase anyplace from right here, he shared that he prefers to deal with 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 tip 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:
“Perhaps I used to be just a little bit too previous, however we had time to construct one thing strong. Now, it’s solely pleasure with this enterprise.”
