As Laos seeks to position itself as a regional hub for cryptocurrency mining, the country is transforming its energy infrastructure at the expense of its natural forests. Crypto mining now consumes roughly one third of the nation’s electricity, placing immense strain on its hydropower-dependent national grid. The landlocked country, long known as Southeast Asia’s “battery” for exporting cheap, clean energy, began approving crypto mining operations in 2021, shortly after China banned the industry.
Grounded in fieldwork, interviews with affected communities, satellite imagery analysis, and energy policy review, this project sheds light on how the Lao government’s crypto ambitions — framed as a strategy to lower national debt — have fueled a surge in energy infrastructure, including wind projects marketed as “green.” Yet many of these developments have contributed to forest clearance and intensified social and environmental challenges in one of Southeast Asia’s least developed countries.
