Tenerife to make 100,000% profit on BTC bought for research

Tenerife’s governing body is in talks over the $10 million sale of 97 bitcoins (BTC) that the island’s Institute of Technology and Renewable Energies (ITER) bought in 2012 for just €10,000.

El Dia reported yesterday that Juan José Martínez, a councillor on the Tenerife Island Council who helps oversee ITER — known for its work in renewable energy, telecommunications, and environmental research — revealed the department is in discussion with a Spanish financial institution to buy the BTC.

The council has reportedly tried to sell the crypto before, but has been unsuccessful due to a number of regulatory hurdles and a fear of the asset’s high volatility.

Regardless, Martínez hopes that a sale will be finalized in the next few months.

The potential buyer hasn’t been officially revealed, however, it’s an institute certified by both the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission.

Tenerife’s €10K BTC purchase was for research

ITER originally bought the BTC 13 years ago as part of a research project looking into the mechanics of the asset and the blockchain technology it’s built upon.

Blockworks researcher Fernando Molina, however, notes that the ITER lost access to the wallet for eight years before looking for a buyer. Since it was bought, its price has increased 1,000x.

Read more: UK Treasury says ‘no plans’ to introduce US-style bitcoin reserve

Martínez stressed that it wasn’t a financial investment. “It was one of the many investigations carried out by ITER to understand different technological systems and experiment with them,” he said.

He added that “the logical thing to do is to try to sell them now that they have appreciated so much and invest them in ITER’s own projects.”

The ITER’s BTC purchase was also criticized by the Tenerife Island Council’s previous president, Pedro Martín, over the “opaque” nature of crypto.

Protos has reached out to ITER for comment on the story and will update this piece should we hear anything back.