Rachel Geyer chairs the European Bitcoin Energy Association. In this talk for Bitcoinpolitisk Institutt in Oslo, she argues that Norway's proposed ban on Bitcoin mining solves a problem the country does not have. She starts in Germany. In 2011 the Bundestag voted to phase out nuclear power. The last three reactors went offline in 2023, and Germany now imports nuclear electricity from France. German power is the fifth most expensive in the world, and industrial rates sit 23 percent above the European average. Geyer uses her own family, most of whom have left the country, to show what that costs a nation over time. Then she turns to Norway. The country produces somewhere between 1 and 1.8 percent of global hash rate, yet mining consumes under one percent of Norwegian electricity. The two large operators in the north are already pivoting to AI, and they are doing it because AI pays better right now, not because anyone regulated them out. Her central argument is that Bitcoin mining is not primarily money. It is a flexible data center: a load that can be switched off in seconds, moved to wherever the power actually is, scaled down to the size of a chest freezer, and converted almost one to one into usable heat. Miners in Finland earn more being curtailed than they earn mining. France alone could double global hash rate with surplus nuclear output. And since roughly half of all global energy consumption goes to heating, her prediction is that the future of mining in Norway is heat recapture, not warehouses. The talk closes with a long audience Q&A on who ends up owning mining, whether individuals can participate, and whether AI can deliver the same flexibility. The short answer to the last one is no, because AI needs 99.99 percent uptime. CHAPTERS00:00 First time in Norway, and one Oslo dinner bill00:34 Why she is here: Norway is considering a ban00:45 Germany 2011: what were the politicians voting for?01:35 France went the other way02:58 When her whole family left Germany04:06 Who Rachel Geyer is05:53 The European Bitcoin Energy Association06:21 Why they talk to energy companies, not politicians08:34 The lab that gives people the lightbulb moment10:39 Europe's biggest problem is demographics11:16 The energy trilemma11:51 The EU wants to mandate that you use less power12:54 There is no such thing as a high income, low energy country13:21 The German rulebook that was supposed to fix everything15:33 The biogas subsidy that put farmers out of business17:18 Fifth most expensive electricity in the world17:49 Europe imports 58 percent of its energy18:54 The grid cannot absorb more renewables19:33 Blackouts, and the man who knew how close we come20:53 The sustainability targets Europe will miss21:21 Flexible data centers as the solution21:53 Three use cases: grid stability, surplus power, heat23:04 Property 1: interruptible23:35 Finnish miners earn more sitting idle24:40 France, EDF and surplus nuclear26:27 Property 2: location agnostic27:43 Property 3: extremely price sensitive28:25 How big is mining in Norway, really?29:32 Bitdeer and Bitzero are pivoting to AI30:27 Regulating a problem that does not exist30:54 Prediction: the energy companies become the miners31:30 Property 4: modular32:29 Property 5: it makes heat33:36 Half of all energy goes to heating34:11 What heat recapture looks like in Finland35:01 Who gets to pick the winners and losers?36:11 Fewer rules, more trust36:32 The EBEA Summit in Helsinki38:13 Why the future of mining is in Europe38:59 Q&A: will energy companies become the miners?42:15 Q&A: can ordinary people mine?44:48 Q&A: which political arguments actually work?51:19 Q&A: does AI compete for demand response? About BPI: Bitcoinpolitisk Institutt is a Norwegian membership organisation working for evidence based policy on Bitcoin and energy. We do not represent mining companies.
