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Anders Larson (U.S. Bitcoin Corp) on strategic miner decision making (EP.270)

On The Brink with Castle Island

Release Date: 12/20/2021

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More Episodes

Anders Larson, head of strategic finance at U.S. Bitcoin Corp, joins us to talk about how miners make decisions and allocate capital. In this episode: 

  • The Wharton class of 2018
  • Are Bitcoin miners clogging up the chip supply chain?
  • Why Bitcoin miners are 'tier 2' customers at foundries
  • The scale of US BTC operations in terms of hashrate
  • Why US BTC has been so quiet historically
  • How US BTC targets renewable energy
  • Which renewables are easiest to find
  • Is there any truth to the story of Bitcoin improving the economics of renewables?
  • Why ASIC depreciation is slowing, and how that affects the viability of different energy sources
  • The relationship between Bitcoin's carbon intensity and ASIC depreciation period
  • Can ASICs last for 5 years?
  • How does US BTC think about uptime on their units?
  • Why lower uptime means that you have cheaper power due to demand response
  • How US BTC thinks about hashrate growth and why they are more conservative than their competitors
  • Why Chinese hashrate is not completely eliminated
  • The state of affairs in Kazakhstan
  • How Anders thinks about political risk in mining
  • How policy logic informs selective mining bans and mining subsidies
  • How Anders sees miners vertically integrating with energy firms
  • How Anders thinks about proposed state bitcoin mining bans in places like NY
  • Why mining bans in the West are often counterproductive
  • The relationship between energy consumption and civilizational progress
  • How Anders thinks about the energy cost debate
  • Whether the CBECI hashrate distribution estimates are reliable
  • Why the US having a large share of hashrate isn't something to be concerned about
  • How mining could become a states rights issue
  • Does US BTC project fee growth in their models?

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
  • This episode supported by Public.com. Start investing with as little as $1 and get a free slice of stock up to $50 when you join Public.com today. Visit public.com/onthebrink to download the app and sign up.