. >> reporter: malachi salcedo is producing five to seven bitcoins per day. he believes the underlying software network of bitcoin, known as blockchain, will become the payment system of the future. >> what businesses is it not going to disrupt? settlements, credit card services, paypal. >> reporter: but to run a mining operation like this one requires a lot of electricity. this requires 7 1/2 megawatts of power, enough to power 11,000 homes. that's why he's in wenatchee, washington, home to a series of dams and the columbia river that provide cheap hydroelectric power. steve wright runs the chelan county public utility. he says there are currently 12 large bitcoin miners in the area. but with the recent dramatic rise in the price of bitcoin, many more want to come. >> in the last month we've had another 75 c we've gone from just a few people out there who have been on our door to all of a sudden, people banging on the door p just to lay a mile of cable can cost millions of dollars. he doesn't want to put the local taxpayer at risk. >> we don't want people wh