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Hydro Quebec’s 2016 campaign to sell surplus hydro to data centres — intended to attract headline companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. — unexpectedly netted more than 100 calls from digital currency miners.

There’s definitely a gold rush feeling with some of them and they aren’t all well organized. We’re interested, but we are being cautious Jonathan Côté, Hydro Quebec spokesperson

“I can’t say they were all serious,” said Jonathan Côté, spokesperson for the utility. “There’s definitely a gold rush feeling with some of them and they aren’t all well organized. We’re interested, but we are being cautious. Who are these people, are they well capitalized and do they have the funding to follow through?”

But many of the risks of cryptocurrency mining are baked into the business itself.

In the fast-moving digital mining world, prices can rise and fall in a matter of days. The computers used to crunch through puzzles can become obsolete in as little as a year and mining operations can quickly become unprofitable if more efficient new models cannot be obtained, or if the price of power edges up.

Though larger operators such as Hut 8 said their scale allows them to make money in spite of such fluctuations, smaller players are particularly vulnerable.

If prices go up, it’s really not that hard for that mining facility to up and leave

“If prices go up, it’s really not that hard for that mining facility to up and leave,” Lu said. “All these facilities need is a cooling fan and a grid connection and everybody is competing on energy costs. So in the space of a year, you can attract a bunch of these things, but in the space of two years, they can be gone.”

Beyond concerns about volatility, questions remain about what benefits cryptocurrencies bring to the communities that host them.