Dutch use bitcoin mining to grow tulips
Tulips and bitcoin have both been associated with financial bubbles in their time, but in a giant greenhouse near Amsterdam the Dutch are trying to make them work together.
That warmth is now heating the hothouse where rows of tulips grow, cutting the farmers' reliance on gas whose price has soared since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The servers in turn are powered by solar energy from the roof, reducing the normally huge electricity costs for mining, and cutting the impact on the environment.
Meanwhile both the farmers and de Groot's company, Bitcoin Brabant, are earning crypto, which is still attracting investors despite a recent crash in the market.
The Netherlands' love of tulips caused the first stock market crash in the 17th century when speculation bulb prices caused prices to soar, only to later collapse.
De Groot, 35, who only started his business earlier this year and now has 17 clients including restaurants and warehouses, says this makes bitcoin and tulips a perfect fit.
"This operation is actually carbon negative, as are all the operations I basically build," says the long-haired de Groot, sporting an orange polo shirt with his firm's logo.
"We're actually improving the environment."
He is also selling tulips online for bitcoin via a business called Bitcoin Bloem.
Mining for cryptocurrency requires huge amounts of electricity to power computers, leading to an environmental impact amid global efforts to tackle climate change.
