For Hydro-Quebec, the bitcoin boom may be too much of a good thing.  Canada’s biggest electric utility has been inundated with requests to supply electricity to cryptocurrency miners eager to set up shop in Quebec — more than it can deliver.

Source: Toronto Star

Date: March 8th, 2018

Link: https://www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2018/02/28/cryptocurrency-frenzy-sparks-mad-dash-to-hydro-quebec.html

Discussion

1) This is a so-called “second order effect”.  What that means is that something happens that has a major impact on something else.  Here, the impact of cryptocurrency mining is that people doing it need lots of cheap electricity.  Why is that?

2) What value is added by cryptocurrency mining?