The “Bitmain Technologies” of China is looking into Quebec’s “bitcoin mining sites”, revealed a spokesperson of the company, amid expectations of a potential cryptocurrency crackdown on China, whereby making the province of Canada rich in energy an “attractive alternative”.
Although China has attained the place of the “biggest sources of cryptocurrency mining” in the world, there are “signs” that suggest that “Beijing is increasing scrutiny of the sector’s players”. As result, companies like Bitmain Technologies are looking into options of overseas expansion. As per Reuters’ report:
“Bitmain spokesman Nishant Sharma said in an e-mail on Friday that the company was looking at sites in Quebec and is in talks with regional power authorities in the province. It is also planning to expand in Switzerland”.
Large amount of energy goes into mining bitcoins, as computers are assigned to “solve complex math puzzles” and the first system do so, gets “rewarded in bitcoin”. It is a way of validating “transactions in the cryptocurrency”. Following the clamping down of cryptocurrencies by China, “two Chinese miners” informed Reuters that “local authorities” are more and more growing “unwilling” towards expansion while some mines were even shut down last year, although there hasn’t been any “official edict on the bitcoin mines” from Beijing.
In the month of September 2017, the authorities in China put a ban on “so-called initial coin offerings” while issuing an order to all the “cryptocurrency exchanges” based out of Beijing to put a halt to their trading. ZQMiner’s C.E.O, Li Wei stated:
“We, and from what I understand many of our peers, are already making plans to go overseas.”
In fact, regulators all over the world are showing growing concerns on crypocurrencies, lacking any support from central bank owing to their volatile nature. Similarly, China with “strict capital controls” is “also worried” of cryptocurrencies facilitating “illegal fund flows” and breeding “financial risks”.
While, Reuters added:
“In Canada, Hydro Quebec described a potential sales pipeline of around 30 large cryptocurrency miners after a campaign by the public utility to attract data centres to the province triggered a flurry of interest from bitcoin miners in 2017”.
Hydro Quebec distribution’s Director of Business Development, David Vincent informed:
“Of the world’s top five largest blockchain players, we have at least three or four”.
In the words’ of the Vice President of Montreal International, Stephane Paquet, Quebec is a “place for ‘green bitcoin’”. Hydro Quebec added that the province harboured a surplus energy which is equivalent to “100 Terawatt hours over 10 years”. On an annual basis, only one “terawatt hour powers 60,000 homes in Quebec”.
However, both the companies, Montreal International as well as Hydro Quebec, did not disclose the “interested” miners’ names. As per Vincent, operations between “20 megawatts” to “300 megawatts” were being eyed by several companies. In fact, he also expects operations of some large companies to start off in Quebec either in this very year or sometimes in the “early 2019”. Moreover, a spokesperson of Bitmain also revealed that the company has been “mining in Canada” from 2016, although he did not provide any name of the site.
The Vice President of ‘Hydro Quebec’ Distribution Division, Eric Filion, said:
“We have the energy available. It’s a question of finding land and buildings quickly.”
Resolute Forest Products Inc’s Vice President Alain Bourdages, informed that they have been “contacted by cryptocurrency companies” for either sharing an “existing production sites” or a one which is “no longer in use”. While, he added:
“We are looking at this prudently. It’s an interesting opportunity that could generate value.”
References:
reuters.com
Although China has attained the place of the “biggest sources of cryptocurrency mining” in the world, there are “signs” that suggest that “Beijing is increasing scrutiny of the sector’s players”. As result, companies like Bitmain Technologies are looking into options of overseas expansion. As per Reuters’ report:
“Bitmain spokesman Nishant Sharma said in an e-mail on Friday that the company was looking at sites in Quebec and is in talks with regional power authorities in the province. It is also planning to expand in Switzerland”.
Large amount of energy goes into mining bitcoins, as computers are assigned to “solve complex math puzzles” and the first system do so, gets “rewarded in bitcoin”. It is a way of validating “transactions in the cryptocurrency”. Following the clamping down of cryptocurrencies by China, “two Chinese miners” informed Reuters that “local authorities” are more and more growing “unwilling” towards expansion while some mines were even shut down last year, although there hasn’t been any “official edict on the bitcoin mines” from Beijing.
In the month of September 2017, the authorities in China put a ban on “so-called initial coin offerings” while issuing an order to all the “cryptocurrency exchanges” based out of Beijing to put a halt to their trading. ZQMiner’s C.E.O, Li Wei stated:
“We, and from what I understand many of our peers, are already making plans to go overseas.”
In fact, regulators all over the world are showing growing concerns on crypocurrencies, lacking any support from central bank owing to their volatile nature. Similarly, China with “strict capital controls” is “also worried” of cryptocurrencies facilitating “illegal fund flows” and breeding “financial risks”.
While, Reuters added:
“In Canada, Hydro Quebec described a potential sales pipeline of around 30 large cryptocurrency miners after a campaign by the public utility to attract data centres to the province triggered a flurry of interest from bitcoin miners in 2017”.
Hydro Quebec distribution’s Director of Business Development, David Vincent informed:
“Of the world’s top five largest blockchain players, we have at least three or four”.
In the words’ of the Vice President of Montreal International, Stephane Paquet, Quebec is a “place for ‘green bitcoin’”. Hydro Quebec added that the province harboured a surplus energy which is equivalent to “100 Terawatt hours over 10 years”. On an annual basis, only one “terawatt hour powers 60,000 homes in Quebec”.
However, both the companies, Montreal International as well as Hydro Quebec, did not disclose the “interested” miners’ names. As per Vincent, operations between “20 megawatts” to “300 megawatts” were being eyed by several companies. In fact, he also expects operations of some large companies to start off in Quebec either in this very year or sometimes in the “early 2019”. Moreover, a spokesperson of Bitmain also revealed that the company has been “mining in Canada” from 2016, although he did not provide any name of the site.
The Vice President of ‘Hydro Quebec’ Distribution Division, Eric Filion, said:
“We have the energy available. It’s a question of finding land and buildings quickly.”
Resolute Forest Products Inc’s Vice President Alain Bourdages, informed that they have been “contacted by cryptocurrency companies” for either sharing an “existing production sites” or a one which is “no longer in use”. While, he added:
“We are looking at this prudently. It’s an interesting opportunity that could generate value.”
References:
reuters.com