Bitcoin Miners in China Looking to Canada as an alternative Mining Location

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full article here at Coinsquare

In news that should surprise no one, Bitcoin miners in China are getting leery of their government's anti-crypto agenda. So much so that some are already looking at other countries to move their operations. Canada is one such country, where the power is cheap in some places, and the winters are colder than a witches something or other in January.

The two biggest factors of Bitcoin mining are power consumption, and cooling concerns. In a warm climate, a mining farm would need to air condition their mining setup as bitcoin mining produces a staggering amount of heat, which only adds to the overall costs. Not only that, but silicon processors actually use less power when they are run cooler, so this is a win-win scenario for Bitcoin miners if they can find places with cheap electricity and colder climates - of which Canada has plenty of locations that match that criteria.

From the article:

One of the industry’s largest mining companies, BTC.Top, has chosen Canada as a place to open new mining farms. They are attracted to Canada because of it’s low electricity costs and stable government.

Canada’s embracing of blockchain technology and digital currencies has put us in a unique position to be a hotbed for innovation. An increase in Bitcoin mining farms opening in Canada will only strengthen our position as a global leader in the blockchain industry.

While this is interesting news for us in Canada, I personally wonder where this will go. Our Government is not particularly known for being soft with taxation when the Liberal party is in power - they generally prefer more taxation and regulation, while the conservative party tends to favor budget cuts and reduced regulation.

Our current laws determine that a Mining farm is a business, and therefore subject to taxation at the value of the cryptocurrency when it was mined. Whether these Miners are aware of this, I wouldn't know. But then, how do you regulate this in the first place? It will be interesting to see how this develops.