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On The Brink with Castle Island


Mar 30, 2022

Ben Gagnon, the Chief Mining Officer at Bitfarms, joins the show. In this episode we cover:

  • Bitfarms' journey to the public markets in the US
  • Ben's early efforts in flared gas mining
  • How immersion cooling could provide operational efficiencies 
  • Bitfarms' site selection methodology 
  • How Bitfarms secures power originally built for now-departed industries 
  • How Quebec overbuilt electrical infrastructure 
  • The benefit of miners locating themselves in Quebec and scooping up stranded power 
  • How Bitfarms took over a shuttered hockey stick factory 
  • Why Bitfarms is so keen on stranded hydro 
  • How Bitfarms curtails their power usage – and why curtailment makes sense 
  • Finding excess power in Argentina and Paraguay 
  • Does Bitfarms have a low carbon intensity mandate? 
  • Why being pro-renewable is a good business decision 
  • Why Bitfarms isn't focusing on Texas right now 
  • How Bitcoin is the most efficient way to monetize stranded energy assets
  • Bitfarms' criteria for compelling energy resources 
  • The progress of the Bitcoin Mining Council and the bettering of transparency in the mining space 
  • Where Ben sees room for improvement in the mining sector 
  • The lack of standardization in reporting and valuation around mining firms 
  • The flaws in Digiconomist's estimates of Bitcoin's energy consumption 
  • Issues with academic claims that Bitcoin miners produce significant quantities of e-waste
  • Why Bitcoin ASICs are more recyclable and have long lifespans 
  • The academia and press to policy pipeline 

Content mentioned: 

Sponsor notes:

  • Compass Mining is the world's first and largest online marketplace for bitcoin mining hardware, hosting, and ASIC reselling. Start mining your own bitcoin by visiting compassmining.io