Big Chinese Bitcoin Miners Are Turning to Canada

The bitcoin mining industry in China appears to be expanding to favorable locations around the world right now. Quebec is one such location where the Chinese have taken refuge, and many more might be on the way.

             Cold Power

Big Chinese Bitcoin Miners Are Turning to CanadaJust a couple of days ago we reported how the Canadian province of Quebec is trying to leverage its cold weather and cheap hydro-electric power to attract bitcoin miners, specifically those from China. Now we can say that Quebec-based companies are already enjoying this new boom in business that the Chinese miners are bringing to the province.

Speaking with news.bitcoin.com, Fooad Nejad, the vice president of Montreal-headquartered data-centers consulting firm Kelvin Emtech, described how “very time-constrained” Chinese firms with deep pockets are swooping in to the area with a demand to start operations as soon as possible, bringing with them thousands of mining rigs. He said that the uptick in Chinese interest started 6 months ago and increased significantly over the last month.

The Canadian company have already signed contracts for several megawatts and are in negotiation for several others. Nejad also said that the Chinese investors explained that they want to move mining operation to Quebec “because electricity rates and climatic conditions are very favorable.”

     Bitmain Eyeing Quebec

One of the biggest players in this industry, the Beijing-headquartered bitcoin mining machines (ASIC chips) producer Bitmain Technologies Ltd., is now publicly known to be looking to establish a presence in Quebec. The company’s spokesperson Nishant Sharma told the Reuters news agency on Friday that Bitmain was examining possible sites in the province and is also talking with regional electric power authorities. The company has just recently established a branch in Zug, Switzerland as part of its global expansion plans.

The report also tied this development to the possible government clampdown on the industry in China. “We, and from what I understand many of our peers, are already making plans to go overseas,” said Li Wei, CEO of ZQMiner, a bitcoin mining equipment company which operates mines in three Chinese provinces