According to the Washington State’s local newspaper on January 11th, The Seattle Times, Douglas County’s officials are looking to set up a brand new blockchain innovation campus in this region.

The above-mentioned article said that easy access hydroelectricity-generated power for an affordable price has turned counties located in the heart of Washington state into an appealing area to crypto miners, and Douglas county particularly, is not a stranger to the concept of hosting a substantial crypto mining industry. Unfortunately, a slump of the market in 2018 put an end to this glorious yet short-lived mining boom.

Nevertheless, the boom left a positive effect, as Douglas County is still equipped with abundant high-speed computing and crypto expertise, thanks to the cryptocurrency-related activities took place here. Together with the aforementioned cheap and easy local power access, this area is undoubtedly having a unique edge in developing innovative blockchain technologies.

The Douglas County Department of Commerce approved a 50,000$ budget for the construction of the new blockchain campus, hoping that this specific type of technology can power a less volatile industry, as Lisa Park, executive director of the Port of Douglas County declared in the Seattle Times article:

“We have some unique assets that make our region appealing to that industry. Let’s figure out a way to capitalize on it.”

However, electricity can be a problem Douglas County has to face in expanding the industry, as it was reported to not have increased the power price for news miners distinctly. 

In November 2018, one of the top cryptocurrency mining and mining ASIC producers in Douglas County, Bitmain, reportedly opened a $20 million mining facility which will use up to 12 megawatts of electricity, enough power to for 1500 to 4800 homes to use. The Douglas County officials need to come up with solutions, as this trend continue to do damage even after GigaWatt, a big crypto mining firm filed for bankruptcy and own the county more than $310,000.