NEWS
CANADIAN VENTURE
Mat Lee has been appointed CFO of Mine One Blockchain Inc , a Bitcoin venture launched by Aycliffe entrepreneur Alex Lineton .
Vancouver-based CFO joins ambitious Bitcoin business
An exciting new Bitcoin venture launched by a County Durham entrepreneur has appointed an experienced financier to drive forward its ambitious growth plans .
Mine One Blockchain Inc , launched by Newton Aycliffe-based businessman Alex Lineton , has ambitions of floating a Bitcoin business on the Toronto Stock Exchange after investing £ 500,000 in a Canadian mining venture .
Mine One Blockchain has already been successful in raising capital despite its infancy – and now hopes the appointment of Vancouver-based Mat Lee as its new CFO will ramp up their plans .
Mr Lee is a chartered accountant with more than 13 years ’ experience in audit , finance , public company financial reporting and operations management .
“ I ’ m extremely excited to be involved ,” said Mr Lee . “ The management team Alex is putting together is quite talented .
“ I like the fact we ’ ve already had some initial success in raising capital and we have a good line of clean energy .
“ It seems everyone is set on doing things correctly and by the book , which for me is very important .”
Before setting up his own CFO services , specialising in the mining and technology sectors , Mr Lee previously held the position of financial controller at a private real estate investment firm that operates two funds with combined assets under management of $ 140m in Canada and the US .
Prior to that , he was operations manager for Canada ’ s largest independent investment dealer , Raymond James , also based in
Vancouver , with revenues in excess of $ 300m and assets under administration in excess of $ 33 billion .
Mine One Blockchain CEO Alex Lineton said : “ The reason we wanted Mat on board is because he has a fantastic reputation in the region .
“ We ’ re trying to build this company properly from the ground up . We ’ re not trying to skimp on anything .
“ So to get Mat on board is a massive feather in our cap and speaks volumes about the potential of the venture , and the confidence he has in what we ’ re building .
“ He was someone we targeted from the start . It sets a precedent and a standard of what we ’ re trying to do .”
Bitcoin mining , which is growing hugely in the US , is performed by high-powered computers that solve complex computational math problems , with miners using increasingly complex machinery to speed up mining operations and ‘ mint ’ Bitcoins .
But there ’ s a worldwide shortage of Bitcoin miners after China shut down mining operations earlier this year .
Canada – which is the world ’ s fourth-highest producer of hydro power – currently has eight per cent spare hydro energy capacity .
And with Bitcoin mining demanding huge amounts of energy , Mr Lineton has acquired spare , carbon neutral hydro capacity in Canada to run a sophisticated Bitcoin mining operation .
Mr Lee said : “ The structure and the low cost of operations of Mine One Blockchain will speak well to the market . I ’ m happy to be involved with the company and I ’ m looking forward to working with the team .”
BUSINESS BRIEFS
GOLD FOR BALTIC Baltic Apprenticeships have been recognised for their commitment to staff development with a gold accreditation from The 5 per cent Club .
The Aycliffe company was selected as one of 73 employers across the country to participate in the 2021 employer audit scheme , alongside big names including Aldi , BT , Coca-Cola , GSK , Lidl , PwC , and Siemens .
STOP BRAIN DRAIN New teacher training courses being delivered by Teesside University are helping to ensure that vital skills crucial to the economic growth of the region are retained .
The new Teesside University Initial Teacher Training ( ITT ) programmes have been designed and delivered in partnership with local schools and colleges to ensure there is a pipeline of talent available to employers looking to grow and capitalise on recent investment in the region .
NET ZERO BONANZA Teesside has been selected as the premier net zero project to lead the UK ’ s net zero ambitions – sharing a pot of £ 1bn .
Net Zero Teesside ( NZT ), to be based at Teesworks , will now receive a share of the Carbon Capture and Storage ( CCS ) Infrastructure fund to create the country ’ s first decarbonised industrial cluster in the region .
BIOSCIENCE PROGRAMME A unique programme to develop the next generation of bioscientists has been launched with college students introduced to a career in the life sciences .
The first cohort of the Life Sciences Manufacturing Academy saw students from Darlington College spending a week at Teesside University ’ s National Horizons Centre , hearing from their biotech experts , and colleagues from CPI ’ s National Biologics Manufacturing Centre .
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