Business Barbados 2022

Above: Tanya Woods mining and high-performance computing, with a focus on ESG alignment. Through innovation, imagination, and passion, Hut 8 is helping to define the digital asset revolution to create value and positive impacts for its shareholders and generations to come. In January 2022, Hut 8 announced its acquisition of TeraGo Inc’s five cloud and colocation data centres located across Canada. This acquisition constitutes a pivotal moment in Hut 8’s positioning as an innovative and diversified player in the digital asset and high-performance computing sectors, serving to set Hut 8 apart from its peers. As highlighted at the time by CEO Jaime Leverton: “As a team of Bitcoin and blockchain bulls, we are thrilled with the transformative growth opportunity this investment provides Hut 8. The acquisition of this complementary business diversifies Hut 8’s operations with a discrete, steady cash flow, that is uncorrelated to digital asset mining. This acquisition also puts Tanya Woods General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, EVP Regulatory Affairs Establishing a presence in Barbados has proven to be an important and positive initiative for Hut 8. We have been made to feel very welcome from the start and we have been impressed by the island’s culture of professional excellence and innovative spirit and openness to new technologies. Through links with the country at our own Board level, we have been able to tap into several valuable local connections and meaningfully expand our reach in both the private and public sector. With our parent company based in Canada looking to expand globally, it has been essential for us to get it right first time. To do that we needed suitably capable people to work with. In that regard, I’d like to make special mention of FT Legal and its founder Tara Frater. Her legal office has been instrumental in getting everything started and running smoothly. Tara has a great handle on the local business culture and, in particular, the Barbados regulatory framework. More recently we were also introduced to Dr. Annalee Babb, whose vast experience and knowledge of the innovation eco-system in Barbados has helped guide us towards a range of economic and innovation opportunities, thereby enabling Hut 8 to consider future growth and innovation objectives. Dr. Babb equally understands the importance of regulatory certainty and confidence. In the digital asset ecosystem this couldn’t be more important and we are looking forward to engaging the government and its innovation-focussed policy makers as we scale up. We found it very helpful that our Canadian business culture has meshed seamlessly with the business culture of Barbados, which is not always a guarantee when companies engage globally. Integrity is a key characteristic of our company, so it is absolutely essential for us to only work alongside countries and governments that share our same values. It is equally vital that we have a government that establishes a solid regulatory framework, with suitable legislation and pro-digital asset, pro-blockchain innovation policies. That is fundamentally imperative. And we’ve found all of that in Barbados. I am happy to say that Barbados is an essential business connection for the Hut 8 outside of Canada. And that is particularly encouraging and exciting when our company is fortunate to be in a moment when we are scaling up. us at the forefront of the accelerated digitization of industry, establishing us as the bridge between traditional and nascent iterations of high-performance computing. Our unconventional approach to revolutionizing conventional assets serves to drive Hut 8’s growth, innovation and market share in the high-performance computing, blockchain, and Web 3.0 industries.” Hut 8 has been committed to building its connection with Barbados since 2018. BUSINESS BARBADOS 2022 20 H U T 8 M I N I N G