Can This City Council Leader Bring Miami Crypto Culture To Quincy?

Hello, Miami, New York City and Austin:

Add Quincy, Massachusetts to the list of cities across the country vying to become the leading blockchain and crypto hub.

I know what you’re thinking. Why Quincy? Aren’t most of the area’s leading crypto companies – Circle, Algorand, Flipside Crypto, Fidelity, State Street – based in Boston, just a few miles north on the Red Line?

Why, yes, they are. But Quincy City Councilman Ian Cain, who co-founded a startup incubator two years ago called QUBIC Labs, believes he can build a blockchain ecosystem that will bring jobs and a culture of innovation to his hometown.

What’s interesting about Cain’s effort is that, politically speaking, he doesn’t have much competition from the rest of the state. As QUBIC Labs wrote in a white paper last year, the Boston area’s blockchain sector “has largely been created without government support or a meaningful regulatory framework.”

“There was no one really convening a space to support the ecosystem, to cultivate it,” Cain said.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has strongly opposed crypto. And in Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu has remained silent on any related plans. (The last time Wu’s press team responded to one of my inquiries about whether the city was pursuing any crypto initiative, they said “not at this time.”)

Cain, on the other hand, wants the blockchain community to feel welcome in Quincy, the same way Miami Mayor Francis Suarez lured crypto companies and venture capitalists to his city during the pandemic.

“It was a circumstantial opportunity that the mayor of Miami took full advantage of in trying to rally his energy,” Cain said. “We’re also taking an opportunity, because I don’t see Boston moving forward with this.”

Kain is not your typical crypto bro. He doesn’t accept his paycheck in bitcoin or use an NFT as his social media profile picture (yet). He has focused on ways blockchains, or distributed ledgers, can be used to transform or improve industries from finance to government.

“Blockchain is just not about crypto,” he said, calling it a “fundamental, disruptive technology.”

Kain has shown that he has some of the political knowledge needed to promote the industry. He helped QUBIC Labs secure a $2 million government grant, part of a $5 million partnership that aims to to create 10 to 15 blockchain startups and up to 60 jobs over the next two years.

We’ll find out next week about him can bring the crypto energy to Quincy. When it became clear this year that Boston-based Pillar VC would no longer host the annual “Boston Blockchain Week,” Cain decided that QUBIC Labs could pick up the torch.

The event will still be called Boston Blockchain Week, despite the new location, but Cain said QUBIC Labs was starting from scratch, so it should feel a lot different than years past.

QUBIC Labs is aiming for a South by Southwest feel by taking over public spaces in downtown Quincy. Castle Island Venture partners Matt Walsh and Nic Carter will host a live recording of their popular crypto podcast, On the Brink. There will be music and art installations.

Cain hopes the vibe will be Miami or New York City-esque, as he is keenly aware that there is a “culture war” for blockchain talent.

As someone who attended New York City’s biggest crypto party this summer, I’d be pleasantly surprised if the rooftop cocktail hours in Quincy are anything like that.

Anissa Gardizy can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @anissagardizy8 and on Instagram @anissagardizy.journalism.