Episode 27: Piers (www.mineracks.com) discusses his bitcoin journey, setting up a hosted mining facility in Brisbane Australia, and things to be excited and cautious about with bitcoin.
The Australian Bitcoin Podcast is focused on Australian bitcoin and privacy content, including educational episodes, recent news, and guest interviews.
Guest: Piers of https://mineracks.com
Host: https://twitter.com/mission_bitcoin
Sponsor: HardBlock https://www.hardblock.com.au
Notes
- Setting up www.mineracks.com and making the facility acessible for visits from customers
- Attempting to solve the three common problems for bitcoin mining in Australia: 1) understanding if it's profitable, 2) buying a miner, and 3) dealing with the heat and noise (especially if it's in your home)!
- Learning about bitcoin mining keeps you humble as you're always learning and meeting people who are motivated by the right values
- Compass Mining and BitRiver US-Russia sanctions fiasco - a risk / trade-off many didn't consider when looking at the cheaper energy prices
- Piers' bitcoin journey
- Receiving a cheque from the FBI from the eGold rug-pull and being unable to cash it due to high fees (peak fiat!)
- Trying to find the "next bitcoin" and realising there isn't and won't be one
- Setting up bitcoin and lightning nodes, using the technology, and realising the utility it has
- Discovering bitcoin mining initially through GPU mining of shitcoins
- Realising stacking hash is as addictive as stacking Sats
- Taking on the personal mission to help non-miners get access to the mining industry if they choose to
- Running one's own node and using the network may be the tipping point for becoming a bitcoin maximalist
- Understanding the benefits of proof-of-work over proof-of-stake through lived experience and experimentation
- Consensus versus democratic or authoritarian systems
- Libertarian and Austrian ideals in regards to free markets in the context of other cryptocurrencies and bitcoin
- Experiencing five difference currencies, hyperinflation, and sovereign confiscation of private assets in South America
- Financial privilege gets in the way of Westerners understanding the global benefits of bitcoin adoption
- Family and friends reactions to transitioning to a bitcoin-focused vocation
- Working on containerized mining solutions for flare gas mining sites
- Most people working in the bitcoin industry needs to be a polymath
- Tips for people starting their bitcoin mining journey (eg, adopting the right mindset and understanding the risks)
- Building the Australian bitcoin mining industry to further decentralize the overall bitcoin mining ecosystem
- Mining is a collaborative competitive industry - a non-zero sum game unlike anything else!
- Orange pill stories and tips: shitcoin miners transitioning to mine bitcoin, 1) establish yourself as a knowledgeable and trustworthy source of information; 2) expose the person to the network; 3) be helpful, and let them come to you
- Things to be bullish about: motivated, innovative, and intelligent bitcoinrs!
- Bitcoin is an energy buyer of last resort; an energy sink which stabilizes demand and lowers the price for everyone; an efficient way to utilise our otherwise wasted energy resources
- Threats to bitcoin: the energy debate and a global push towards less reliable energy and discussion over the morality and utility of proof-of-work protocols (similar to the net neutrality debate)