US State Montana Grants Bitcoin Mining Company $416,000

Montana Governor Steve Bullock granted Project Spokane, a US-based bitcoin mining facility and blockchain security company, $416,000 in capital as a part of the state’s econo-

mic developmentinitiative.

In an official announcement, Governor Bullock stated that the state of Montana decided to grant a total of $1,124,030 to companies that are adding jobs and skilled employees to help the economy of Montana to prosper.

Bullock said:

“As Montana’s strong economy continues to grow, Main Street businesses in communities across the state are adding jobs and seeking a skilled workforce to fill them. These funds will help businesses plan for responsible growth and train employees for success.”

In total, Bullock and Montana issued grants to 19 companies in different sectors including startup incubation, education, technology and transportation. Grants were divided into three major categories: job creation, planning and primary sector workforce training. Project Spokane received nearly 30 percent of the grant allocated by the state as a leading technology and blockchain security company.

According to the announcement of Bullock, the new $416,000 grant received by Project Spokane from the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund (BSTF) will allow the company to add 65 jobs in Missoula County.

The state’s official announcement specified that the grant will be used by Project Spokane to “purchase of equipment, machinery, furniture and software and for wage reimbursement.”

Montana’s issuance of a grant to Project Spokane is the first form of investment provided by the US to a bitcoin mining company. While Governor Bullock emphasized that the grant was specifically awarded to Project Spokane to help the company to add more jobs in the future, the announcement specifically noted that the grant will be used by the company to purchase more bitcoin mining equipment and machinery.

Despite the rejection of the Winklevoss twins’ bitcoin ETF COIN in March, bitcoin has continuously been on an upward trend. The demand toward bitcoin significantly increased in the US, China, Japan and South Korea as more investors began to perceive and consider bitcoin as a long-term investment, safe haven asset and digital currency.

Montana’s grant towards Project Spokane could be considered as a minor step of the US governmentto understand the back-end technology of bitcoin and how transactions in cryptocurrency networkssuch as bitcoin are approved, verified, confirmed and secured.

It is also important to note that the announcement described Project Spokane as a blockchain security company in addition to a bitcoin mining facility. Over the past two years, some of the largest banks and financial institutions in the US have focused on building blockchain-based applicationsand platforms.

With blockchain consortia and networks including Axoni, Ripple and R3, banks such as Citibank, JPMorgan, UBS, and Wells Fargo have tested and are attempting to implement blockchain-based applications to further optimize commercial services and applications.