THE MINING POD: Bitcoin Mining Isn't Dead w/ Steve Barbour

CoinDesk Podcast Network

CoinDesk

Cryptocurrencies, Cryptocurrency, Dlt, Tokenization, Coindesk, Distributed Ledger, Blockchain, Tech News, Business News, Ethereum, Bitcoin, News, Digitalassets, Daily News, Decentralization, Defi, Crypto, Business

4.8 • 689 Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Upstream Data CEO and Founder Steve Barbour joins the pod to talk about the state of bitcoin mining and why he’s not sold on the hybrid AI-bitcoin miner trade. Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter for market-making news as it hits the wire! Welcome back to The Mining Pod! Today, Steve Barbour, CEO of Upstream Data, joins us for a bitcoin mining palate cleanser! We cover the current state of mining economics, his take on some of the new ASIC models coming to market, oil and gas markets, the infrastructural / operational differences between AI/HPC data centers and mining farms, and why he believes Bitcoin mining is entering a new phase of maturity with sustainable business models. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com **Notes:** • Mining difficulty at all-time highs • Energy partnerships crucial for profitability • Home mining still viable for enthusiasts • Public miners face market pressure • Equipment costs down significantly • Operational efficiency key to survival Timestamps: 00:00 Start 04:11 Miner sentiment check 07:37 How much more downside? 11:28 ASIC market 14:18 Bitdeer & AISC sales 19:43 Proto ASIC design 23:18 Oil field mining 27:51 Renewables 30:00 Miner retrofit 35:58 NatGas Generators 39:53 Oil prices 41:26 Bits vs atoms 43:44 Lawsuit 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), America's Bitcoin Miner®, is a market-leading Bitcoin miner with a proven track record of success. They own a fully self-operated portfolio of mining facilities across the U.S. powered by globally competitive energy prices. CleanSpark sits at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship. Optimally monetizing low-cost, high reliability electricity positions them to prosper in an ever-changing world. 👉 FBOX, Cooling for Bitcoin Mining and the AI Data Center Transformation FBOX is the global leader in cooling system manufacturing, with the #1 shipment volume of bitcoin mining containers worldwide. Not only powering for the strongest hashrate, their technology also helps mining infrastructure transform into AI data centers. Backed by the largest production scale on earth, global deployment capability, and a full range of cooling solutions, they are shaping the future of compute. 👉 Luxor, Leaders In Bitcoin Mining and Compute Power! Get game-changing mining results with Luxor Firmware. Boost hashrate, cut energy costs, protect your hardware, and maximize mining profits with LuxOS. Published twice weekly, "The Mining Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday and a news show on Friday!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's one of the biggest things that the market still missed prices, I think, and I know this,
0:04.0	because whenever I join a sales call with my team and someone new entrant is like evaluating
0:08.8	machines, all they look at is like dollars per tarahash. They don't have any thought at all
0:13.7	about like which miner is the most reliable, you know, which is the most like versatile, like,
0:19.2	you know, maybe you say an ant miner might be more versatile
0:21.7	than a Watts minor because of the aftermarket firmware, right? If the market is trending the way
0:26.4	I think it is, which is miners are going to be forced to go after more marginal sources of energy.
0:32.2	If AI keeps doing its thing, like it's just going to sort of out-compete it, then you're going to have
0:36.6	to go after lower power quality options, like less reliable power quality and having more reliability
0:44.2	in your machine and more, like, dynamic capability in the machine, like, ramping up and down
0:49.4	and not, like, breaking from thermal cycling and all this stuff. I think that's like the biggest thing that people
0:55.5	just even to this day and even pros like don't seem to care about. It's no longer ghost to be
1:02.3	bearish the AI trade. In fact, it's kind of in vogue now as people are wondering is the bubble
1:06.9	popping. But what if you were one of the lone voices in the wilderness screaming about this while Navidia and other AI stocks were melting faces this year?
1:14.5	Welcome back to the mining pod brought to you by CleanSpark. And for today's show, we have
1:18.2	a Bitcoin mining pallet cleanser for all of our faithful listeners there who are so sick of
1:22.5	us talking about AI. We have Steve Barber, founder of upstream data on, to talk about the current state of the Bitcoin
1:28.6	mining market, his take on how feasible it is for a Bitcoin miner to actually repurpose a Bitcoin
1:33.3	mine for AI. We also talk about the oil and gas market and some of Steve's projections for what's
1:39.4	going to happen to Bitcoin mining in America once the AI bubble has run its force. You're listening to the mining pod,
1:45.0	and we will be right back after a word from our sponsors. Guys, there is a serious problem right now
1:49.8	in Bitcoin mining, and we need to talk about it. You need to pay attention to this. Bitcoin miners are
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 20 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from CoinDesk, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of CoinDesk and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.