I’ve been pretty myopic on the subject of mining and cannabis in Quebec. It hadn’t really occurred to me to explore what’s going on in the crypto space. Turns out there’s quite a bit of hub-bub at the moment. This Quebec Update will skim the frothy cream off the media bucket for you.
HuffPo Puffs
First up, HuffPo Quebec has a think piece asking some ‘tough’ questions for cryptocurrency in 2018.
They start off by basically dividing up crypto investors into ‘fans’ and ‘professionals’. The tone doesn’t get much better from there.
They go over the usual talking points about regulation, risk, and currency vs. commodity, Although the piece is a little snotty, I have to say it’s a pretty solid round up of the major issues a crypto investor should be aware of.
This is a good one to send to Tante Jeanne back in Gaspesie. It’s good to see although there’s still a very skeptical lens of crypto, it’s not out of line with the english media’s take on things.
And now a quick break from La Langue de Moliere.
This piece from coindesk is in english, but it’s definitely worth checking out.
This piece points out the Quebec government is using its massive reserves of hydro power to court cryptominers. With an extremely low kilowatt hour price for power, Quebec could be a nice little first-world destination for mining rigs.
I also think the first entrepreneur who can hook into Quebec Inc. as the local crypto player will be in a similar catbird seat the players in the local weed market are vying for.
Ye Crypto Hype Doth Continue in Yon Quebec-land
In Le Consellier, they hop right on the bandwagon with a piece entitled ‘Quebec, A bitcoin farmer’s paradise?’ (translation mine)
This one is straight up breathlessly in the bag for Hydro and the government’s plans to goose crypto investment. It cycles through the usual pieces on low energy costs, chinese investment and some vague announcements that could come in 2018.
Overall it’s not worth translating, but know these pieces are coming together to form a pretty clear picture of a major push to get crypto miners into Quebec.
Smackdown from Mother France
This is a fun one. A piece from a French outlet calling out Hydro-Quebec for not being able to supply enough juice to cryptominers (warning: lots of weird european popups etc.)
Posted today there’s a point in here that really made my eyebrows raise from the Hydro-Quebec spokesbot, Marc Antoine Pouliot (Translation mine)
“The number of miners [in Quebec] have doubled in the last week. and now there are close to 70 more potential operations set to begin.”
Doubled in one week?! Looks like I’d better start watching the crypto space here very closely.
Look for this one to possibly blow up. The only thing that stings worse than Canada criticizing Quebec is France criticizing Quebec. Could be lots of ire and finger pointing.
Tie it all together, man.
So on the one hand, it looks like Quebec is really pushing for a major stake in the crypto space. I suspect the major european guys sitting in switzerland, sweden and iceland have no problem pushing out a story about Hydro-Quebec not being able to meet demand. It’s what I would do if I were them.
My money is on the James Bay hydro plant.
As always, never pay retail for maple syrup, poutine requires authentic cheese curds, and keep calm and continuez-vous.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I was raised in Quebec. I still cheer for the Habs.