全世界最危险的矿工：委内瑞拉地下比特币生意

　　（原标题：全世界最危险的“矿工”：委内瑞拉地下比特币生意）

(former title: The world's most dangerous miner: Venezuela's underground Bitcoin business)

　　对于普通人而言，比特币挖矿是一项高风险高回报投资，但在委内瑞拉，却成了一项事关吃饭生计的大事。

For ordinary people, mining by bitcoin is a high-risk, high-return investment, but in Venezuela it becomes a major food-related event.

　　成千上万的委内瑞拉人偷偷挖掘数字加密货币，他们中许多人冒着入狱的风险“挖矿”，只是为了换家人一顿饱饭。

Thousands of Venezuelans secretly dig up digitally encrypted money, many of them risking prison “mining”, simply to replace their families for a full meal.

　　坐拥庞大的石油储备，委内瑞拉曾经是南美最富裕的国家。能源价格崩溃，经济危机爆发，现在这个国家几乎陷入了一场“内战”。

With huge oil reserves, Venezuela was once the richest country in South America. Energy prices collapsed, the economic crisis erupted, and the country is now in almost a “civil war”.

　　委内瑞拉现在是全球债务率最高的国家，GDP暴跌，食品药物等必需品短缺，人民甚至要囤积牙膏、厕纸。还有报道称，饥饿的委内瑞拉人把动物园里的狮子、豹子煮了吃。

Venezuela is now the country with the highest global debt rate, with a sharp drop in GDP, a shortage of essentials such as food and medicine, and even a hoard of toothpaste and toilet paper. There are also reports that hungry Venezuelans cook lions and leopards in zoos.

　　委内瑞拉还保持着全球最高的通胀率纪录。

Venezuela also maintains the highest rate of inflation in the world.

　　正是在这个背景下，数字货币成为了委内瑞拉人的救命稻草。

It is in this context that the digital currency has become the life-saving straw of Venezuelans.

　　去中心的比特币、以太币价格不受政府控制，全球通行，其价格也与挖矿地本身经济状况无关，正是这一点导致大量委内瑞拉人转向地下挖矿。

The price of Bitcoin to the centre, the price of which is not controlled by the Government, and the price of which is global, has nothing to do with the economic situation of the mining site itself, which has led to the diversion of a large number of Venezuelans into underground mining.

　　挖矿者中还有政府公务员。一个居住在加拉加斯郊区的29岁孩子爸爸对CNBC称，政府每月43美元的收入，无法让自己和他的女儿吃饱。

A 29-year-old child living on the outskirts of Caracas claims to CNBC that the Government cannot feed itself and his daughter at $43 per month.

　　这个化名“brother”的人说，

The aliased "bother" says:

　　“因为我的女儿，我必须承担风险，我必须为她做这件事。”

"Because of my daughter, I have to take the risk, and I have to do it for her."

　　现在他已辞去公职专职挖矿。而brother的故事是委内瑞拉挖矿界普遍现象。

Now he's resigned from his official duties to dig mines. The story of broth is a common phenomenon in the mining community in Venezuela.

　　一个化名“Andrea Perez”的委内瑞拉人说自己同时打三份工，挖矿带来了80%的收入，相当于每月120美元。

A Venezuelan alias “Andria Perez” said that he had worked three jobs at the same time and that mining had generated 80 per cent of the revenue, equivalent to $120 per month.

　　“对于我来说，比特币是在这个动荡社会中，喂饱自己女儿的唯一办法。”

“To me, Bitcoin is the only way to feed her daughter in this troubled society.”

　　“你只要挖到一个数字货币，就能填饱一家人的肚子”。

"You can fill a family's stomach by digging up a digital currency."

　　由于生活必需品极度短缺，Perez从比特币交易网站purse.io。网购日用品，包括肥皂、洗发露、除臭剂。还有人通过这个网站购买胰岛素等救命的药品。

There are also people buying life-saving drugs, such as insulin, through the website.

　　Purse.io。位于美国迈阿密，交易完成后海运发货运往委内瑞拉。

Purse.io is located in Miami, United States, and when the transaction is completed, it is shipped by sea to Venezuela.

　　猫鼠游戏

Cat and Mouse Game

　　在委内瑞拉“挖矿”被视为违法，警察搜捕地下矿工，如果获罪将被判入狱数年。

In Venezuela, “mining” is considered illegal and the police search for underground miners and, if convicted, are sentenced to several years' imprisonment.

　　据当地媒体报导，2006年6月，一对名为Joel Padron和Jose Perales矿工被捕，罪名是涉嫌盗窃国家能源，以及藏有违禁品。

According to local media reports, in June 2006, a couple of mine workers named Joel Padron and Jose Perales were arrested on charges of theft of State energy and possession of contraband.

　　矿工们认为，政府此举是害怕由于人民使用比特币，导致玻利瓦尔贬值加剧，并打击本已异常严重的资本外逃。

Miners believe that the Government's move is a fear that the use of bitcoin by the people will lead to an increase in the devaluation of Bolívar and to a fight against capital flight, which would have been exceptionally severe.

　　有人在Reddit发帖称：

In Reddit, it was posted:

　　“矿工们被判入狱，被指控犯有恐怖主义，洗钱，电脑犯罪等诸多罪行，这里一切变得疯狂，我真不想把我的性命搭进去。”

“The miners have been sentenced to prison, charged with terrorism, money-laundering, computer-related crime and so on, and everything has gone crazy here, and I really don't want to put my life in it.”

　　化名“Tego Sanchez”的人称，他花了自己所有的钱买了矿机，现在80%的收入来自挖矿，每天大概能赚20美元。

The alias “Tego Sanchez” stated that he had spent all his money on the mine machine and now earns 80 per cent of his income from mining, which is about $20 a day.

　　当他看到自己的朋友被安全局带走后，自己每天都生活在恐惧中。

When he saw his friends taken away by the security services, he lived in fear every day.

　　委内瑞拉政府大幅补贴电力行业，使得该国电费极低，这使挖矿在委内瑞拉有获利空间。

The Government of Venezuela has significantly subsidized the electricity sector, making the cost of electricity extremely low in the country, which allows mining to be profitable in Venezuela.

　　现在，委内瑞拉警方监控用电量，如果锁定某户用电长期超标，就会进行突击检查。

The Venezuelan police now monitor the quantity of electricity used, and if a household is locked in for a long period of time, a raid is carried out.

　　“Brother”说现在他不但隐藏自己的网络ID，同时还要隐藏自己的“电足迹”。

“Bror” said that he now hides not only his network ID, but also his “electric footprint”.

　　他把自己的矿机分散到三个不同的地区，并且付钱给邻居用他们的电，把用电量尽可能多的分摊到不同的电网来躲避侦查。

He spread his mine machines across three different areas and paid his neighbours to use their electricity, distributing as much as possible to different grids to avoid detection.

　　来源：华尔街见闻

Source: Wall Street News.