The State of Bitcoin Mining with Amanda Fabiano & Jaime Leverton - WBD411

Location: New York
Date: Thursday 9th December
Companies: Galaxy Digital; Hut 8 Mining
Role: Head of Mining; CEO


Satoshi’s white paper introduced the principle of bitcoin mining
as both an incentive for creating new blocks, as a means to
distribute coins into circulation, and as a means of encouraging
nodes to remain honest. Mining is, therefore, the bedrock for
Bitcoin. Yet, it is poorly understood even by the most
experienced Bitcoiners.


The manufacturing of mining hardware is currently dominated by a
Chinese duopoly, which in turn depend upon just two Asian
semiconductor companies. Whilst the market for mining hardware is
more decentralised, a sizable proportion of ownership is in
private hands. Thus, it is hard to get reliable data on the size
of the market in terms of hashpower, machine units, and mining
costs. 


Combined with bitcoins volatility, this significant uncertainty
makes the financing of Bitcoin mining a complex market. Added to
this are the difficulties caused by trade tariffs on Chinese
goods and the current drama of ubiquitous supply chain issues
affecting chip supplies and freight logistics. Finally, mining
companies are in the firing line over perceived environmental
impacts.


Yet, despite all of these headwinds, Bitcoin mining is a thriving
business in both the United States and Canada. Investment is at
an all-time high, innovation is driving operations to maximise
the hash rate, and the wider world is waking up to how it
supports the energy grid and rural communities.


In this interview, I talk to Amanda Fabiano, Head of Mining at
Galaxy Digital and Jaime Leverton, CEO Hut 8 Mining. We discuss
the current ASIC and mining markets, running operations in an
uncertain industry during uncertain times, ESG FUD and the future
of mining.