Canada has quickly proven itself as the best place for cryptocurrency miners. For many reasons, including political, climate and technological, the great white north provides all sorts of advantages to mining operations.
The first and most decisive reason miners chose Canada is for its low electricity costs. As cryptomining can be a very energy intensive process, having low cost, clean, renewable sources of energy is a key factor for miners, who need to keep this part of their budget under control as they scale their efforts. Canada has some of the cheapest electricity in the world, largely coming from environmentally friendly sources.
Quebec, for example, gets all of its electricity from environmentally friendly hydroelectricity. It has so much of it, that it consistently has some of the cheapest energy costs in North America. Manitoba also offers cheap hydro, and have attracted cryptominers as a result. Alberta similarly competes with cheap natural gas electricity, bringing in plenty of operations.
It’s also comparatively inexpensive to import Chinese manufactured mining equipment in Canada, as a typical 27.5% import duty does not apply. Getting an operation started with a lower start-up cost could make a big difference to short term profits.
As a cold weather country, Canada helps to solve one of the most consistent issues a mining operation can face: overheating. Cold Canadian winters, and summers that don’t get too hot, help reduce the cooling costs associated with crypto mining, which can run quite high with the temperatures that a mining rig can achieve.
It should be noted though that Canada is a big country, and the climate can vary wildly. Southern Quebec, for example, can get very hot and humid in the summer, and doesn’t offer much of an advantage when it comes to keeping equipment cool.
Finally, Canada’s governments have taken a mature, considered approach to cryptocurrency mining. As opposed to other countries that have proven to turn on a dime with their policies, Canada’s approach has been to allow development, and broadcast their intended changes in policy well in advance. Those that they have seriously considered are intended to protect the people and fight real crime, like anti-money laundering laws proposed in November 2018.
Squire, a publicly listed company, is constantly reviewing hosting opportunities, both in Canada and in stable jurisdictions around the world, as it maintains its growing fleet.
When it comes to cryptocurrency mining, Canada has provided a great combination of factors to run a mining operation. Energy is cheap, the climate is preferable, and governments are supportive. That’s a tough combination for most countries to compete with.
Proof of work is a term that’s been regularly tossed around in the Bitcoin Mining sector. But what is it really, and why is it essential for cryptocurrencies?
The Proof of Work algorithm, or PoW for short, is one of the primary tenets underpinning the operations of Bitcoin—the original Bitcoin as envisioned by the Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper. It’s the original consensus algorithm in a blockchain network, creating an economic measure that deters attacks to the network such as distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS).
PoW is a concept that exists prior to Bitcoin’s genesis. The idea of PoW was first explained in a 1992 journal article authored by Cynthia Dwork and Moni Naor as a way to deter spam, but the term “proof of work” didn’t come into play until 1999, when Markus Jakobsson and Ari Juels coined it in a document.
For Bitcoin, the PoW algorithm makes it so that the probability of mining a block depends of the work done by miners. In his seminal whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto stated that miners “vote with their CPU power.” This allows for a competitive race to solve a mathematical puzzle, and successful miners are rewarded with Bitcoin, leading to an ever growing robust system with a distributed trustless consensus—one that is increasingly more difficult, not to mention costly to attack.
Writer Sumanth Neppalli explains in a Medium post that Proof of Work “discourages collusion of actors” as it is “a global decentralized free market that cannot be influenced by any action other than investment into the network.”
The fallacy of wastefulness
These days, mining activities require sizeable investments, as equipment move from GPU to ASIC. In addition, many crypto opponents deemed the PoW concept as wasteful.
The ongoing fallacy is that Bitcoin Mining will pave the way for “environmental devastation” due to its energy use. But as Dan Held points out, POW is about the physics behind a movement, not about the code. Since cryptocurrency is a commodity that is minted from energy, POW turns “electricity into digital gold.”
The so-called “economic density” of a crypto transaction is also constantly increasing. This means, according to Held, is that the energy unit secures more economic value as the blockchain evolves into a settlement network.
Bitcoin Mining operations can be located in areas where the least expensive energy can be sourced, and in the future, it can help with renewable energy sources that have variable output. Squire Mining, for its part, is constantly reviewing hosting opportunities in stable jurisdictions around the world as it maintains its growing fleet of mining operations.
Vancouver, British Columbia – June 17, 2019 – Squire Mining Ltd. (CSE:SQR | FWB:9SQ | OTCQB:SQRMF) (“Squire”) announces its financial results for the first month of cloud computing operations for the month ended May 31, 2019. As previously announced, on May 1, 2019 Squire acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Freschette Limited (“Freschette”), which operates a cloud computing fleet of 20,500 units, representing 276 petahash/second (PH/s) of computing power operating in Kazakhstan. On the same date Taal Technologies SEZC (“Taal Tech”), a wholly owned Cayman Islands based subsidiary of Squire, entered into a cloud computing agreement with Freschette pursuant to which Taal Tech has exclusively engaged Freschette’s computing power in connection with its blockchain infrastructure support and cryptographic transaction verification activities.
Over the period from May 1, 2019 to May 31, 2019, Taal Tech realized a total of 306.76 Bitcoins (“BTC”) or estimated gross revenue of US$2.24 million for its first month of operations. Site operating costs in connection with operations for the period were US$1.23 million, resulting in cloud computing operating profit of US$1.01 million or cloud computing operating profit margin of 45%. Estimated gross revenue is measured based on the fair value of the BTC received at the time it is received. The fair value is determined using the estimated closing BTC index (BTC/USD) price each day per a third party quotation provider. To determine estimated gross revenue, the Company is relying on data available from a third party quotation provider to be an accurate representation of the closing price for the digital assets.
These numbers as reported are not audited. Financial results of Squire for the three months and six months ended June 31, 2019 will be available on Squire’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com in due course. The results presented in this report are not indicative of the results that may be expected for any future period.
About Squire Mining Ltd.
Squire is a Canadian based technology company engaged, through its subsidiaries, in the business of developing and operating cloud computing data infrastructure and system technologies to support global blockchain applications related to Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Core another associated SHA‐256 derived digital assets.
For further information contact:
Angela Holowaychuk
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: +1 800‐371‐2809
The CSE accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
FINANCIAL MEASURES: There are measures included in this release that do not have a standardized meaning under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and therefore may not be comparable to similarly‐titled measures and metrics presented by other issuers and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Squire includes these measures because it believes certain investors use these measures and metrics as a means of assessing financial performance. In this release, certain terms are used, which are not found in the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada Handbook and do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under GAAP and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. In particular, cloud computing operating profit is a non‐GAAP measure.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD‐LOOKING INFORMATION: This release includes “forward‐looking information” as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward‐looking information and statements include, but are not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, that are based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. Forward‐looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward‐looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, uncertain and volatile equity and capital markets, lack of available capital, future demand for Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Core and other cryptocurrencies and risks related to the mining thereof, integration issues, personnel and staffing requirements and technological change and obsolescence. There are no assurances with respect to: the realization, if at all, of the fair value of BTC on the basis of the estimated closing BTC index (BTC/USD) price each day provided (as provided by a third party quotation provider) and statements made regarding the financial position (including operational revenue, cost, profit and profit margin) and operational success of Squire and any of its subsidiaries (including Freschette and Taal Tech). Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward‐looking information. All forward looking information in this release is made as of the date hereof and qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Squire disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such forward‐looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Vancouver,
British Columbia; June 4, 2019 – Squire Mining Ltd. (CSE:SQR | FWB:9SQ |
OTCQB:SQRMF) (“Squire”) is pleased
to announce that it has entered into a binding letter of intent (the “Agreement“) to relocate 41,166
blockchain cloud computing units (the “Assets”)
pursuant to a hosting agreement with Core Scientific Inc. (“Core Scientific”).
Pursuant to
the Agreement, the Assets will be hosted at Core Scientific’s state‐of‐the‐art
facilities in the United States and performance will be optimized using Core Scientific’s
proprietary technology. Additionally, the parties have agreed on a
collaboration with respect to the development of a Bitcoin SV‐based blockchain supply
management and distribution solution that is expected to benefit hardware manufacturers,
infrastructure providers and end‐users in the blockchain and crypto mining sectors.
Squire has committed to providing hosting prepayments of US$6,375,000 and covering
shipping and customs costs to relocate the Assets, and Core Scientific has committed
to expending a minimum of US$12,000,000 to buildout its infrastructure to
accommodate the Assets.
Core Scientific
(https://www.corescientific.com/)
is a leader in artificial intelligence (“AI”)
and blockchain, delivering best‐in‐class infrastructure and software solutions.
In an increasingly distributed and connected world, Core Scientific believes AI
and blockchain will fundamentally change the way information is processed,
shared and stored across a range of industries. Led by a team that has a 10+ year
AI and blockchain success story, Core Scientific provides custom hosting
solutions at scale.
Core
Scientific is pioneering new innovations and best practices in the AI and
blockchain landscape, with advanced capabilities operating infrastructure at scale.
Core Scientific’s platform is trusted by large‐ scale partners around the world
to deliver reliable solutions that quickly adapt to dynamic market conditions.
Core Scientific’s
Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Turner said, “I am delighted that Core Scientific
is partnering with Squire. Our industry leading in‐house management and
monitoring solution, Minder™, combines our hosting expertise with data analytics
and AI to ensure continuous uptime, alerting, monitoring and management, and our
custom ASIC operating system, MinderOS™, and optimization suite provides
significant profitability gains for Squire.”
With Bitcoin
SV becoming a massively scaled blockchain, it is paramount that operators in this
space understand the complexities of this network and the need for
standardization so that the ecosystem is adopted by enterprise and
institutional users.
“It is
important for Squire to partner with such a reputable and trustworthy industry
leader in the space. Core Scientific’s facilities are advanced and secure. Their
focus on optimal performance, dedicated maintenance and internal controls will
have a significant impact on Squire’s operations and the longevity of our
assets.” Stefan Matthews, Chairman of Squire.
About Squire Mining Ltd.
Squire is a Canadian
based technology company engaged, through its subsidiaries, in the business of developing
and operating cloud computing data infrastructure and system technology to
support global blockchain applications related to Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Core and
other associated SHA‐256 derived digital assets.
ABOUT BITCOIN SV: Bitcoin Satoshi
Vision (BSV) is the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Bitcoin’s original
design, protocol and vision, as expressed by its creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Squire
supports the BSV roadmap as it is the only project that aims to enable massive
blockchain scaling by significantly increasing the Bitcoin block size so blocks
can fit much more transactions and data and thus generate more transaction fees
for miners, and outlines for the crypto mining sector why massive blockchain
scaling is important for the entire interrelated Bitcoin ecosystem. Dr. Craig
S. Wright, who serves on Squire’s strategic advisory board, has been issued
U.S. copyright registrations, as author under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakaomo,
for the original Bitcoin white paper and most of the original Bitcoin code.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD‐LOOKING
INFORMATION: This news release includes “forward‐looking information” as defined
under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward‐ looking information and
statements include, but are not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events,
that are based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action.
Forward‐looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and
assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and
future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward‐looking
information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic,
competitive, political and social uncertainties, uncertain and volatile equity and
capital markets, lack of available capital, future demand for Bitcoin SV,
Bitcoin Core and other cryptocurrencies and risks related to the mining thereof,
integration issues, personnel and staffing requirements and technological change
and obsolescence and risks that the conditions to closing in respect of the transaction
will not be satisfied. There are no assurances with respect to: the timing and
completion of the relocation of the blockchain and cloud computing units
pursuant to the Agreement; the effect of the Agreement and the hosting
agreement with Core Scientific on Squire’s business; the timing, completion and
success of the collaboration by Squire and Core Scientific with respect to the development of a Bitcoin SV‐based blockchain supply management
and distribution solution (including any benefit therefrom to hardware manufacturers,
infrastructure providers and end‐users in the blockchain and CAN_DMS: \127788542\4 crypto mining sectors);
statements relating to Core Scientific’s innovations and best practices in the
AI and blockchain landscape; and statements made by the Chairman of Squire. Actual
results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in
such forward looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward‐looking information. All forward looking information in this
news release is made as of the date hereof and qualified by these cautionary statements
and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Squire disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such
forward‐looking information, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, except as required by law.
In case you haven’t noticed, the Squire Mining website has gotten a fresh new look! On this space, expect weekly blog posts that will keep you updated on what the team is up to, as well as think pieces from our advisory board inaugural members—Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen and nChain Chief Scientist Dr. Craig Wright—on the future of mining and education about the space.
CoinGeek Conference: Bitcoin, no limits
Bitcoin professionals from all over the globe gathered at the recently held CoinGeek Toronto Conference 2019 for two days of meaningful discussions about the developments happening with Bitcoin SV (BSV), and also to talk about why massive on-chain scaling is essential for the BSV ecosystem to move forward. Massive scaling, after all, was the overall theme of the conference. No limits, only with Bitcoin SV.
Day 2, aka the main conference, showcased
high-caliber speeches, panel discussions, and special features including
finalist presentations for the Bitcoin Association’s first BSV Hackathon, as
well as a special intimate conversation with nChain Chief Scientist Dr. Craig
S. Wright about the beginnings of Bitcoin.
Money Button CEO Ryan X. Charles, who discussed
“Digital Storage and Digital Rights Management on the BSV Blockchain with Money
Button,” tells us what it actually means to use massive on-chain scaling in a
real business.
“Individual companies can often need terabyte size blocks just by themselves depending on what they do, so we need to scale massively because we’re going to put more than just one company—we’re going to put an entire industry, we’re also going to put the entire world’s economy on this,” Charles said. “The reason why that matter is it’s not even just payments. You actually can put real data on the blockchain too, and so the sizes start getting very, very large. If you need properties like, I really want this contract to be encrypted but also stored permanently and immutably so that no one can alter it after the fact, you put the actual contract on the blockchain. That takes data.”
But why is it important to scale now, and
scale fast in terms of block size? The answer is simple: There’s a direct
economic need for miners.
Bitcoin miners earn a fixed block reward
amount for each block they mine, in addition to the fees for each individual
transaction mined on the block. Currently, the reward is 12.5 coins, but come
2020, it will be split in half to 6.25 coins. To remain profitable after the
reward halving takes place, miners will need to generate more revenue from
higher volumes of transactions via new applications that are processing large
amounts of data on the blockchain.
Even indie game developer Kronoverse agrees
that BSV, which has made unlimited scaling a unique reality, the only choice
for application developers like them. David Case, chief architect of
Kronoverse, explains:
“Well really, BSV is kind of like our only choice… it solves all the problems that we’ve been [having], and we’ve spent a year and half in R&D, [actually] over a year trying to just explore everything that’s out there in the blockchain space… Every step of the way, we had to solve all sorts of other problems, build all sorts of other toolings, and the scale and just being able to rely on the commodity blockchain that we don’t have to worry about how to solve the consensus aspect but yet having the scaling and the cheap transactions, just… it’s our only choice.”
For his presentation, Bitstocks CEO Michael
Hudson talked about “Banking on BSV,” giving the audience an overview of what
they can expect from Bitstocks’ groundbreaking Bitcoin banking ecosystem,
Gravity.
“What we are launching first is the ability of the investment service, so the ability to hold Bitcoin [Core], Bitcoin Cash as well as obviously Bitcoin SV. The logic behind that is to enable people who might have a different view as what Bitcoin really is and while they’re going on their inevitable journey of discovery they have access to then convert their assets into SV if they wish to make that decision to then interact with the wider Gravity ecosystem, so that will be the current accounts, the debit cards, the loan systems, Gravity Pro which eventually is going to be some other cool things, I’m not going to announce right now, but they’re all going to be exclusively on Bitcoin SV. I don’t want to ostracize the Bitcoin Core community or the Bitcoin Cash community because they’ve been essentially miss-sold what Bitcoin is. We want to help support them and provide the infrastructure if they so wish to then have a much better experience that’s more in line with what we believe Bitcoin to be, which is Bitcoin SV,” Hudson tells us.
One of the highlights of CoinGeek Toronto
scaling conference is a fireside chat with Founding President of the Bitcoin
Association Jimmy Nguyen and Dr. Craig Wright, the person behind the pseudonym
Satoshi Nakamoto and creator of Bitcoin. The two’s wide ranging discussion
included topics like the beginning of Bitcoin—Nguyen opened the fireside by
asking Wright, “Did you create Bitcoin?”—as well as the destiny that Bitcoin
was created to achieve, and how Bitcoin SV (BSV) is fulfilling the destiny of
Satoshi Vision.
Wright has this to say about Bitcoin and its future:
“Bitcoin is an immutable evidence trail. It is a single global ledger. Once we roll it out, we’re going to make fraud expensive, fraud difficult. They’re going to make it so that people can actually trust money, trust negotiating with people, and because there’s no way to get away with something bad, there’s a record kept of everything, that’s what we’re seeking.”
Watch CoinGeek Toronto Conference Day 2
highlights: