Can cryptocurrency save a small city?

Many months later, in the face of abandoned factories, the mayor of Rockdale will remember the dinner that was a year later, together with the head of the United States in Bitland.

Recently, the US "Connected" reported that Bitland's data center project in Rockdale, Texas, was stranded. Bitcoin responded immediately, saying the project is currently in normal operation.

1. "Ghost City" Mine

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According to Wired, Rockdale is a small town in Texas that flourished in the 1950s due to the development of coal mines. However, the closure of coal mines and connected thermal power plants has caused the town to lose its vitality. The mayor and government officials are eager to make the town reproduce the glory of the past. Until the beginning of 2018, the head of North America of Bitland appeared in Rockdale.

If you extend the time by three months, you can see that Rockdale is not the only North American town that is being spotted by mining companies. From the end of 2017 to the beginning of 2018, as more and more Asian countries tighten supervision, North American electricity prices are cheaper, and the towns with cheaper land prices enter the mining company's field of vision.

The data center that has the most newspapers except Rockdale is Canada's "Ghost Town" Ocean Fall. The sawmill factory that the latter once relied on declined in the 1980s. The permanent population has been reduced from 5,000 to less than 100, hence the name "Ghost City." Today, the hum of the mining machine replaces the chainsaw, and there is also a large lake nearby to provide the water needed for cooling. The other is claimed to have the largest mine in the world. The small city MedicineHat is located in Alberta, Canada, and is supported by abundant wind power and abundant natural gas resources.

Ocean Falls Vision

In addition, there are Wenatchee area along the Columbia River in the United States, Massena and other places along the Lawrence River, attracting mining companies from all over the world because of low electricity prices and land prices. Although there have been media calls for “digging companies to bring out employment opportunities”, some mines admit that only 30 labors are needed to build mines, and many towns have extended olive branches to them.

2. Unavoidable economic cycle

The prosperous towns of the last century are eager to be reborn, and the successful transformation of “rust belt cities” such as Pittsburgh has pointed out the direction for them – embracing high technology and increasing investment in technology is a necessary means of successful transformation. As a blockchain and cryptocurrency represented by a new generation of high-tech, it has its own aura in the eyes of the local government. At that time, the price of cryptocurrency had not been plunged, and officials eager to revive the local economy were also convinced by the soaring currency. In the Montreal area of ​​Canada, the power company even publicly offered preferential electricity prices to attract mining companies to settle down.

With little effort, Bitcoin received Rockfair's half price price and up to 80% of the local tax. Correspondingly, the person in charge said that Bitland is not only mining in Rockdale, but also building a world-class data service center here. Therefore, it will bring 400-600 jobs to the local area. For a town with a population of just over 5,800, this number is not huge. The autumn job fair has been put on the agenda, and Bitland plans to recruit the first staff in the fall of 2018.

The sincere attitude of the town government is not able to withstand the fluctuations in the industry cycle. What officials did not expect was that the cycle of the cryptocurrency industry was so short and violent. Whether you are looking forward to which industry is leading the town out of recession, you need to have enough research on the industry cycle, be cautious and at the right time.

At the end of 2018, the price of digital currency fell sharply, and the supervision of various countries tightened. Mining is no longer a profitable business. The buzz of mining machines around the world has almost stopped and the mines have been abandoned. The mining companies that were expanding in Daxie have disappeared. Structural adjustments have been made within the Bitumn, and a large number of positions have been laid off. The IPO in Hong Kong ultimately failed. The autumn trick was not held as scheduled, and Rockdale lost the news of Bittland. Even the original contact has been laid off.

3. How to get out of the recession

Don't put all your eggs in one basket, and don't pin your hopes on a single industry. Even the town that successfully owned the mine has now lamented in the media: the mining machines are all autonomous, and it takes at most a dozen positions to take care of the maintenance. While spending a lot of power, mining companies have indeed failed to create too many jobs in the town, even in competition with existing companies for power resources. At the same time, mining machines are still operating around the world, the mines are still expanding, and there are still power companies and local governments that provide superior conditions for the mines to attract them.

After the large adjustments at the end of 2018 and early this year, Bitcoin also adjusted its strategic direction. BCH was abandoned and research on mining chips was re-emphasized. Bitcoin has not stopped exploring and trying. Not long ago, Bitcoin's company also launched the trading platform Matrixport. In addition to trading, it also entered the hosting industry.

Rockdale in history

A comprehensive investment in the long-term vision is a prerequisite for a truly stable development. Pittsburgh focuses its development on technology-intensive industries. Vigorously developing education, technology, and environmental protection eventually made Pittsburgh out of the shadow of the recession. Another successful transformation of the “rust belt city” Cleveland not only invested heavily in biotechnology, but also invested heavily in infrastructure, developing the convention and exhibition industry, and transforming old industrial plants.

And the transition is not overnight, nor is it simply to embrace a new technology.

Blockchain technology is the representative of new technology, but single mining may not solve the plight of these small towns. Finding friendly investment, suitable development direction, gradually attracting talents, improving the environment, may be able to get out of the shadow of recession. Nowadays, mining has once again ushered in a bull market. Bitland has also reported the IPO to the US. Does Rockdale's data center know whether it will be officially built?

Text | Freesia Editor | Tong Source | PANews.top

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