Alberta seeks to diversify economy by becoming crypto destination
BNN Bloomberg
The Canadian province better known for its oil-rich resources is now looking to become an international destination for the cryptocurrency industry.
The Canadian province better known for its oil-rich resources is now looking to become an international destination for the cryptocurrency industry.
Alberta is placing itself on a path to host all aspects of the crypto world including digital token mining, data centres and access to a high-tech workforce.
“This is an area of huge disruption and we want to make sure we're there in that market,” said Doug Schweitzer, Alberta’s minister of jobs, economy and innovation, in an interview on Thursday.
“It doesn't seem like any jurisdiction in Canada actually wants to own this opportunity. And we're here in Alberta - we want to talk to people, we're looking at setting up a regulatory sandbox on the securities side. We're more than welcome to having conversations on the power market. It’s a big opportunity for us."
A number of crypto-related firms have already made Alberta their home base including Blockchain Guru, Terraform and Bitcoin Well.
Schweitzer touted the province’s abundance of natural gas, its private sector-driven electricity market and environmental offset credits that “well position” Alberta for the energy-intense crypto industry.
