We've seen a really big push from people who compasses their first touch for Bitcoin.

We were talking to people and they're like, hey, can you tell me what a wallet is?

You know, for us, that's kind of like running before you walk.

But what we've come to understand is that because you have this tangible asset in an ASIC that's correlated to the price of Bitcoin,

people actually see it as an easier way to get in.

Bitcoin is just like this ethereal thing that you have.

It's nothing that you can physically hold, but an ASIC is a physical good thing.

Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.

It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big picture power shifts remaking our world.

The Breakdown is sponsored by Nidig and produced and distributed by CoinDesk.

What's going on, guys? It is Monday, December 20th, and we are now kicking off the breakdowns end of year extravaganza.

This is something I did last year as well. Basically, I have a slew of interviews, about a dozen interviews over the next two weeks, that will close out the breakdowns year.

These interviews are each a fun, fast, 21-minute way to look back at the year that was,

to speculate on the year to come, and to try to have a sense of what 2021 meant.

We're kicking off the series with someone that I've wanted to have on the show for a long time.

Whit Gibbs is the co-founder and CEO of Compass Mining.

Now, Compass Mining is one of the coolest companies to rise in the space over the course of the last year or so.

They are a Bitcoin first company that is, quote,

on a mission to support the decentralized growth of hash rate and strengthen network security by helping more people learn, explore, and mine Bitcoin.

As you'll hear, what that really means is that they help regular people, retail investors, retail customers, get involved in mining more quickly, more easily, and in a way that fits with a lot of different types of interest and portfolios.

I'm excited to have Witt here to kick off the series.

All right.

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