Bitcoin Mining and the Return of Realpolitik

The Breakdown

Blockworks

Business, Investing

4.8 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2022

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Arculus and FTX US. This week’s “Long Reads Sunday” features two essays on the strategic imperative of bitcoin mining. Crypto Mining, the Energy Crisis, and the End of ESG - Nic Carter Why Bitcoin Mining Is a Matter of National Security - Ben Caselin - From cash to crypto in no time with Nexo. Invest in hot coins and swap between exclusive pairs for cash back, earn up to 17% interest on your idle crypto assets and borrow against them for instant liquidity. Simple and secure. Head on to nexo.io and get started now. - Arculus™ is the next-gen cold storage wallet for your crypto. The sleek, metal Arculus Key™ Card authenticates with the Arculus Wallet™ App, providing a simpler, safer and more secure solution to store, send, receive, buy and swap your crypto. Buy now at amazon.com. - FTX US is the safe, regulated way to buy Bitcoin, ETH, SOL and other digital assets. Trade crypto with up to 85% lower fees than top competitors and trade ETH and SOL NFTs with no gas fees and subsidized gas on withdrawals. Sign up at FTX.US today. - Consensus 2022, the industry’s most influential event, is happening June 9–12 in Austin, Texas. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code BREAKDOWN to get 15% off your pass at www.coindesk.com/consensus2022. - Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8 Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW - “The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with today’s editing by Rob Mitchell and Eleanor Pahl, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “I Don't Know How To Explain It” by Aaron Sprinkle. Image credit: South_agency/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.
0:09.1	It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big picture power shifts remaking our world.
0:15.0	The breakdown is sponsored by nexo.io, Arculus, and FtX, and produced and distributed by CoinDesk.
0:22.8	What's going on, guys? It is Sunday, April 10th, and that means it's time for Long Reads Sunday.
0:30.1	Today, we are reading a couple different pieces about Bitcoin mining, but before we get into that, if you are enjoying the breakdown,
0:36.9	please go subscribe to it,
0:38.6	give it a rating, give it a review, or if you want to dig deeper into the conversation,
0:43.5	come join us on the breakers discord. You can find a link in the show notes or go to bit.
0:47.4	Dotlea slash breakdown pod. Also a disclosure, as always, in addition to them being a sponsor
0:53.1	of the show, I also work with
0:54.9	FTX. So you guys know if you are frequent listeners that there is a rule that when Nick Carter
1:01.8	write something, we read it. Now, he wrote a piece a couple of weeks ago for CoinDesk that I haven't
1:06.9	had a chance to read yet, and I thought I'd do two pieces this week, slightly different
1:11.3	takes on Bitcoin mining, and so let's dive in. Nick's piece is called Crypto Mining,
1:16.2	the Energy Crisis, and the End of ESG, how a European war made an argument about mining moot.
1:22.5	The tedious and enervating debate regarding Bitcoin's purported environmental costs effectively
1:27.4	ended last month,
1:28.4	with little fanfare. The cause was not the revelation that miners are the most benevolent
1:32.6	industrial consumers possible, providing a valuable source of flexible load that will accelerate
1:36.5	a green energy transition. Nor was it that the Bitcoin mining industry is more transparent,
1:40.6	more sustainable, better understood, and more accountable than it ever has been. No, the energy debate became irrelevant because the world reminded us sharply and brusquely
1:48.6	that environmentalist fever dreams are completely out of step with reality.
	...

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