HashrateUp - A Bitcoin Mining Podcast

Jesse
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HashrateUp is a podcast that delves into Bitcoin mining and exciting projects, utilizing hashrate production to unlock new potentials in the broader energy industry. From details about innovative mining operations to exciting applications powered by classic energy resources, we’ll discuss the various ways the Bitcoin network is powered and its impact on the environment. Join us as we talk with industry experts, researchers, and thought leaders to understand how Bitcoin is shaping the future of power and investigate the energy challenges and opportunities Bitcoin and its ecosystem bring to the table. Whether you are an industry professional, thought leader, or…

  1. 23h ago

    The Firmware Every Miner Needs w/ Brandon

    Third-party firmware on WhatsMiner didn't exist. Now it does. Brandon McWard (Associate Product Manager, Firmware at Luxor) joins me on site — you can hear the ASICs — to walk through LuxOS running on an M50S+, live screen share, feature by feature. We cover why MicroBT stock firmware has been a closed box for years, how Advanced Thermal Management replaces the binary "sensor trips, machine off" logic, why changing a power target on stock firmware costs you a full reboot and retune, and the niche feature built for one oil field client: Hash on Disconnect, which keeps machines hashing synthetic work so the generator never takes the load swing. Plus chip-level temperature grids, the overhauled logs, the 2.8% fee structure, and what's actually different under the hood between Bitmain and MicroBT tuning. This is one to watch, not just listen to. 👤 Guest: Brandon McWard — Associate Product Manager, Firmware @ Luxor Luxor: https://luxor.tech LuxOS firmware: https://luxor.tech/mining/firmware Compatible miners: https://docs.luxor.tech/firmware/compatibility Timestamps: 0:00 Intro & why third-party firmware on MicroBT is rare 6:20 Stock MicroBT firmware: the closed box problem 10:10 Time to tune & why power target changes cost you hashrate 19:00 What role AI actually plays in firmware development 22:00 GUI walkthrough: LuxOS running on an M50S+ 34:00 Board target, hot & dangerous temperature explained 37:20 Save the generator, not the miner: Hash on Disconnect 45:00 Top 2 features for WhatsMiner operators + LuxOS fees 🛠 Sponsored by: Luxor — Mining pool, firmware, hardware trading & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ Altair Technology — ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io/aff/125/ 📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/ #BitcoinMining #LuxOS #Luxor #WhatsMiner #MicroBT #ASICFirmware #MiningFirmware #ThermalManagement #Curtailment #M50S #Bitcoin #HashrateUp

  2. 6d ago

    Why BIP-110 Was Dead on Arrival w/ Chris

    Bitcoin nearly split in two. On BIP110 activation day, a chain split actually happened — and almost nobody noticed. Coinjoined Chris (Seedor, Bitsurance) joins me to break down what BIP110 really was, why it was dead on arrival with under 6% real node support and near-zero hashrate, and what it teaches us about how consensus in Bitcoin actually gets decided. We go deep on fake pubkeys, OP_RETURN limits, relay policy vs consensus, the OP_RETURN spam wars since 2023, mining pool centralization, and why the "economic node" — not one-node-one-vote — is what really matters. If you mine Bitcoin but never think about what your hashrate is actually securing, this one's for you. 👤 Guest: Coinjoined Chris X: https://x.com/coinjoined Seedor (seed backup / self-custody): https://seedor.io Bitsurance (Bitcoin insurance): https://bitsurance.eu Timestamps: 0:00 Intro & who is Chris? 3:22 The origins: NFTs, JPEGs & 2023 fee spikes 5:34 Information theory & fake pubkeys 7:30 UTXO bloat & node centralization 13:18 Counterparty & what a node actually does 17:35 Consensus rules vs relay policy 22:43 DoS protection & who sets node defaults 24:14 Sponsor: Altair Technology 24:51 OP_RETURN limits & node implementations 28:16 2023 spam onslaught & the push to change consensus 32:11 The "garbage can" argument & the anti-spam steelman 34:52 The bell curve & what consensus really is 37:25 Signaling: node counts, sockpuppets & prediction markets 39:47 BIP444 → BIP110: cramming in the changes 44:15 Does the market even understand consensus? 48:12 Under 6% support & why capital isn't your voice 52:36 Ossification & the golden-rock debate 53:44 Sponsor: Luxor 55:59 BIP110 mechanics & what "activation" means 59:37 Cooldowns, "longest chain" vs most chain work 1:03:05 Activation day: the network splits live 1:06:28 Roughnecks & the block race that stalled 1:09:05 Pool power, centralization & OFAC censorship 1:11:38 Stratum V2, Foundry & why miners don't care 1:14:41 The economic node: not one-node-one-vote 1:17:35 What we learned & what's next (BIP54) 🛠 Sponsored by: Altair Technology — ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io/aff/125/ Luxor — Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ 📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/ #BitcoinMining #BIP110 #ChainSplit #BitcoinConsensus #SoftFork #OPRETURN #Ordinals #NakamotoConsensus #MiningPools #Bitcoin #HashrateUp

  3. Aug 10

    Is the Big Rotation Back to Bitcoin Already Here? [NEWS]

    🛠 Sponsored by: Altair Technology — ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io/aff/125/ Luxor — Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ Hash price bounced from the high 20s back to ~$32, Bitcoin difficulty is down year-over-year for only the second time ever, and the great AI pivot may be running into its first real wall. In this news roundup, I break down whether the AI trade is finally cracking — and whether capital is starting to rotate from AI equities back into Bitcoin. We cover the Stratum V2 milestone (Demand pool + Go Mining), the wave of miners fleeing to AI (TeraWolf's $19B Anthropic deal, Core Scientific's $14B AMD deal, MARA, Hive, CleanSpark), reverse stock splits to dodge delisting, BitDeer's US factory, and the first real grid pushback — New York's moratorium and Texas pausing its data center queue. The big question: if China chip progress and open-weight models like Kimi V3 undercut AI economics, what happens to the capital funding these 15–20 year leases? Timestamps: 0:00 Intro & hash price update ($32.74, difficulty +0.47%) 1:15 Bitcoin difficulty down YoY — 2nd time ever 2:30 Demand pool mines first Stratum V2 block 4:00 Sphere3D × BitDeer — 30MW co-mining deal 6:00 Miners defend listings: Cango, American Bitcoin, Canaan 7:30 Sponsor: Altair 8:10 Hive's Swedish AI lease + $600M note 9:20 TeraWolf's $19B, 20-year Anthropic deal 10:50 MARA's $600K/MW Matagorda land grab + Ohio gas plant 12:40 Helios first AI revenue — 133MW to CoreWeave 14:00 BitDeer breaks ground on Nevada factory (SEALMINER A4) 15:20 BitFuFu June report — production down 29.4% 16:40 CleanSpark's AI lease + Foundry BIP110 vote 17:20 Sponsor: Luxor 18:30 Grid pushback: NY moratorium, Braiins + Enel energy tool 20:00 Core Scientific exits Proto ($42M) — lands $14B AMD deal 22:00 The AI trade cracked: Nvidia/OpenAI financing, Kimi V3 24:00 BTC outflows, Russia/BitRiver fraud case 25:20 Cambridge report: power use +38%, 59.4% low-carbon 26:40 Texas pauses data center queue — how worried should AI be? 📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/ #BitcoinMining #AIPivot #DataCenter #HashPrice #StratumV2 #CoreWeave #Anthropic #GridPushback #BitcoinNews #HashrateUp

  4. Aug 6

    You're Securing Your Bitcoin Wrong w/ Max Hillebrand

    🔗 GUEST LINKS: Max Hillebrand — Sound Money Solutions: https://soundmoneysolutions.io/ Max on Nostr: https://njump.me/npub1klkk3vrzme455yh9rl2jshq7rc8dpegj3ndf82c3ks2sk40dxt7qulx3vt Personal site / archive: https://towardsliberty.com/ Mention HashrateUp when you reach out to Sound Money Solutions. 🛠 Sponsored by: Luxor, Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ Altair Technology, ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io/aff/125/ You spend all your time and money maximizing mining profits, but what happens to those coins on the backend? In this episode, I sit down with Max Hillebrand, co-founder of Sound Money Solutions, to talk about Bitcoin self-custody and how to actually keep the coins you mine safe. The timing couldn't be sharper, with the recent Cold Card entropy and brute-forcing issues making the rounds, but the deeper point is bigger than any single wallet. We get into why most people never upgrade past their first setup, why no hardware wallet from 2017 is still secure, how holistic security ties your physical and digital life together, threat modeling, single-sig vs. multisig, inheritance planning, and why running your own full node is the real privacy minimum. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro & the Cold Card self-custody issue 2:09 The most common self-custody mistake 3:49 Why we stick with what we know (Ledger, Binance) 6:39 What Sound Money Solutions actually offers 9:42 Self-sovereignty & why custody feels daunting 13:12 Sponsor: Luxor 13:41 Holistic security: your physical life protects your Bitcoin 14:46 Threat modeling: what are you protecting, and from whom? 15:27 GrapheneOS, VPNs & password managers 17:10 Full nodes, hardware wallets & the Cold Card Q 18:12 Inheritance: making your setup work without you 21:35 The North Korean hacks, SIM swaps & Telegram attacks 23:13 Security vs. convenience: striking the balance 25:16 Why your family is a target too 27:53 Sponsor: Altair 28:26 Max's background & what qualifies him 32:05 First steps: the lowest-hanging fruit to fix 34:32 The minimal basic setup (single-sig + passphrase) 35:12 Is custody always bad? Max's nuanced take 40:09 How to get comfortable sending Bitcoin 41:47 Testing your backups before funding a wallet 44:19 Rapid fire: mistakes, wallets, multisig & privacy 47:32 Wrap-up & where to find Max 📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/ #Bitcoin #SelfCustody #BitcoinSecurity #ColdCard #HardwareWallet #BitcoinPrivacy #Multisig #GrapheneOS #Cypherpunk #HashrateUp

  5. Jul 30

    His Energy Cost Is NEGATIVE 2.67¢/kWh w/ Bipin Patel

    Bitcoin mining can be more than a 24/7 race for cheap power. In this episode, I sit down with Bipin Patel, CEO of Flexionics, to talk about how their team uses Bitcoin mining infrastructure as a flexible energy asset in Sweden. The interesting part is the framing: Flexionics does not primarily think of itself as a Bitcoin miner, but as an energy company, and even more specifically, as an energy security company. We get into frequency regulation, why older ASICs can make sense when uptime is intentionally low, how the economics compare with batteries, and why flexible load may become more important as renewable generation and AI data centers put more pressure on grids. 🔗 GUEST LINKS: Bipin Patel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bipincpatel/ 🛠 Sponsored by: Luxor, Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ Altair Technology, ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io/aff/125/ Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:44 Flexionics as an energy company, not just a miner 2:44 Turning mining sites into frequency regulation assets 4:44 Sweden, regulation, and the perception problem around Bitcoin mining 6:44 Energy-first operations versus 24/7 mining 8:44 Why older ASICs can work in a flexible-load model 9:45 Sponsor: Altair 10:15 Explaining the model to investors 14:13 Why miners and energy investors both struggle with the story 16:43 Grid instability, renewables, and the Iberia blackout discussion 19:13 Bitcoin mining as energy security infrastructure 21:43 Flexible demand as the missing customer for stranded and curtailed power 24:10 Bitcoin's global market as a unique buyer of last resort 26:41 Sponsor: Luxor 27:12 Flexionics economics: capacity revenue plus hash revenue 29:39 Revenue per MW and comparison with batteries 32:59 Hashprice, AI demand, and upside scenarios 37:09 What happens if hashprice goes much higher 39:39 Flexionics sites, 30 MW expansion, and heat reuse 41:09 Wrap-up 📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/

  6. Jul 21

    Why This Miner Refuses to Pivot to AI w/ Raphael Zagury

    🔗 GUEST LINKS - Raphael Zagury (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/rzagury/ - Elektron Energy: https://elektronenergy.io/ - Twitter/X: @alphazeta ("Here Be Dragons" & monthly mining reports) 🛠 SPONSORED BY - Luxor – Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ - Altair Technology – ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io/aff/125/ 📄 OVERVIEW Everyone's leaving Bitcoin mining for AI. Raphael Zagury — co-founder & CEO of Elektron Energy, one of the largest private Bitcoin miners in the world — explains why they're doing the exact opposite. We break down the first-ever hash rate bear market: why this cycle feels different, why hash rate has been grinding down since October (not crashing like the China ban), and what happens when 60-70% of machines get wiped out at the next hashprice halving. Raphael makes the contrarian case that right now is one of the best times ever to start mining — if you can survive on the left side of the cost curve. We also get into why Elektron refuses to pivot to AI/HPC, how they pitch mining to institutions like Fidelity, the self-correcting mechanism in hashprice, and why stranded energy in Brazil and Africa is the real opportunity nobody's pricing in. ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 – Intro 0:47 – World Cup, bear markets & Bitcoin cycles 2:49 – The first-ever hash rate bear market explained 3:36 – How this affects one of the largest private miners 3:53 – Why this isn't the China ban (gradual grind vs sharp drop) 5:33 – Why miners are fleeing to AI/HPC 6:50 – Why Elektron sees this as an opportunity 8:19 – The risks in AI/HPC nobody is pricing 9:05 – Pitching mining to Fidelity & institutions 9:30 – Unit economics: mining is still profitable 10:32 – Cost curve & the self-correcting mechanism 11:14 – What happens when 60-70% of machines shut off 13:02 – Why institutions love contrarian miners 14:37 – The AI pivot & hash rate on the way back up 16:32 – When does mining beat just buying Bitcoin? 19:08 – Why this story is so hard to tell investors 20:25 – Market share, path dependency & hash rate dynamics 22:20 – Why now is one of the best times to start mining 22:45 – Capital & capital structure in mining 23:40 – Why the AI boom will boom and bust 24:19 – Building the optionality stack around energy 25:17 – Why AI/HPC innovation is still dangerously early 28:34 – electronics.dev: open-sourcing mining research 30:29 – The efficiency curve (log scale) explained 31:50 – Predicting the S23s with a regression line 32:14 – Why efficiency gains are about to flatten 32:42 – Network composition: S19s, S21s, S23s 33:38 – Machine-by-machine break-evens & cost to mine 34:58 – What a hashprice halving does to the network 36:11 – Summer heat & temperature-sensitive machines 36:36 – The shareholder-money era & underwater machines 40:17 – Stranded energy: wind in Brazil, curtailment credits 42:19 – Bitcoin's only customer is the protocol 42:39 – Old S19s at $30: 6-month ROI vs 10-year energy ROI 43:11 – Why Raphael is bullish on mining in Africa 47:28 – Speaking the language of energy & TradFi 48:08 – Batteries vs miners: a tenth of the capex 49:54 – "Buyers of last resort, sellers of first resort" 50:47 – RAPID FIRE: hashprice bottom, recycling, security & Brazil 📊 KEY TOPICS - The first hash rate bear market — gradual grind vs the China ban shock - Why 60-70% of machines could turn off at the next hashprice halving - The self-correcting mechanism in hashprice and the cost curve - Why Elektron refuses to pivot to AI/HPC (and the mispriced risks) - When mining beats simply buying Bitcoin - The efficiency curve flattening as R&D dries up - Stranded energy, curtailment & why Bitcoin is the most flexible load ever invented 🔗 RESOURCES 📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/ #BitcoinMining #HashRate #BearMarket #BitcoinVsAI #Mining #Elektron

  7. Jul 13

    Why Scandinavia Is Bitcoin Mining's Next Frontier w/ Lukas Pfeiffer

    🛠 SPONSORED BY - Luxor – Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ - Altair Technology – ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io/aff/125/ 🔗 LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE - Gridmetry: https://gridmetry.com - Lukas Pfeiffer (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukas-pfeiffer-/ 📄 OVERVIEW In this episode of HashrateUp, Jesse sits down with Lukas Pfeiffer, CEO & Co-Founder of Gridmetry, to break down how Bitcoin miners in Northern Europe get paid to be flexible loads on the grid. Lukas explains Gridmetry's flexibility-as-a-service model: qualifying miners for grid balancing markets, connecting steering software to site infrastructure, and running pre-qualification tests with regulators. Once live, miners can earn up to three separate revenue streams from a single megawatt hour — a 24/7 capacity fee for standing ready, payment for consuming power during negative price events, and Bitcoin mining itself. For some clients running older S19-class hardware, only 10% of income now comes from mining, with the rest from load balancing — at gross margins in the 60-70% range. The conversation covers what it takes to qualify for FCR, mFRR, and FFR markets in the Nordics, why older air-cooled miners often outperform the latest ASICs in these programs, and why GPU/AI compute can't yet replicate this model economically. Jesse and Lukas also dig into the biggest blocker to scaling in Europe — not politics, but capital and perception — and why Gridmetry is already the largest balancing provider by activated hours in Sweden's SE1 zone. They close with a rapid-fire round covering the best EU market for mining (Northern Sweden), why miners make better "batteries" than actual batteries, heat reuse vs. demand response, and Norway's ongoing Bitcoin mining moratorium. ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 – Intro 0:52 – Why Gridmetry focuses on Northern Europe 1:55 – State of the bear market & hash price at $30 4:07 – What Gridmetry does: flexibility-as-a-service explained 4:48 – Customer economics: demand response vs. heat reuse revenue 6:46 – Getting paid to be offline vs. mining at 95% uptime 7:40 – Three revenue streams from one megawatt hour 9:03 – How integration works for a mining farm 10:55 – Pricing model & pre-qualification process 11:44 – Requirements to qualify for demand response markets 12:42 – FCR, mFRR, FFR markets explained 13:23 – Preferred miner models (Bitmain, Canaan) 14:11 – Air-cooled vs. hydro-cooled fleets 14:27 – Can AI/GPU compute do the same? (not yet economical) 16:22 – Helping clients source machines 17:13 – Growth: 60MW under contract, where's next 20:48 – Biggest blockers: capital & perception in Europe 23:07 – Bridging Bitcoin and traditional energy conferences 28:12 – The unsolved problem of stranded power 33:34 – US behind-the-meter vs. Germany 34:54 – Rapid fire: best market, minimum size, old vs. new ASICs 35:39 – Are miners "better batteries" than actual batteries? 37:17 – Heat reuse vs. demand response: what's underrated 37:28 – Political blockers to scaling in Sweden 38:03 – Norway's mining moratorium explained 39:21 – Where to find Lukas & Gridmetry 🔗 RESOURCES 📲 HashrateUp Hardware Deals (Telegram): https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Learn Bitcoin Mining (Free 5-Day Course): https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/ #BitcoinMining #DemandResponse #Gridmetry #Nordics #HashrateUp

  8. Jul 6

    A Pulse Check on Bitcoin Mining w/ Kaan Farahani

    🛠 SPONSORED BY - Luxor – Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools https://luxor.tech/ - Altair Technology – ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure Code: HASHRATEUP https://altairtech.io - SoloMining – Home & solo mining made easy Code: HASHRATEUP https://solomining.de 🔗 LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE - Hashrate Index: https://hashrateindex.com/ - Kaan Farahani (X): https://x.com/brightsideBTC - Luxor Bitcoin mining services: hello@luxor.tech or https://luxor.tech 📄 OVERVIEW In this episode of HashrateUp, Jesse sits down with Kaan Farahani, Research Associate at Hashrate Index (Luxor), for a full data-driven pulse check on Bitcoin mining. Starting with a breakdown of Luxor's full-stack platform (pool, firmware, hardware trading, hashrate forward contracts, and ERCOT power services), Kaan and Jesse dig into the hard numbers: Bitcoin price fell from a $125K all-time high to the low $60Ks, USD hashprice hit a fresh all-time low of $27.74/PH/day in June 2026, and network difficulty has now declined for the first-ever recorded bear market in hashrate — down 12.3% year-to-date after peaking in October 2025. The conversation shifts to forward markets, where Kaan unpacks two years of hashrate forward contract data — nearly $300M in trading volume in 2025 alone. The headline finding: every rolling hedge strategy, regardless of duration or denomination, has outperformed spot Bitcoin mining since the 2024 halving. Over the trailing 12 months specifically, dollar-denominated hedges beat spot by up to 9%, while Bitcoin-denominated hedges lagged — a direct result of the ongoing AI/HPC compute competition for power and its effect on network difficulty. Jesse and Kaan also debate why the forward market is currently pricing in a return to 1+ zettahash of network hashrate by October 2026, despite AI/HPC infrastructure buildout showing no signs of slowing — and close out with a look at ERCOT's 4CP summer curtailment season and its seasonal drag on difficulty. ⚠️ DISCLAIMER This content is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this content constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Luxor or any Luxor employee to buy or sell any derivatives or other financial instruments in this or any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the derivatives laws of such jurisdiction. There are risks associated with trading derivatives. Trading in derivatives involves risk of loss, loss of principal is possible. 🔗 RESOURCES 📲 HashrateUp Hardware Deals (Telegram): https://t.me/hashrateup 📩 Learn Bitcoin Mining (Free 5-Day Course): https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/ #BitcoinMining #Hashprice #HashrateIndex #Luxor #MiningData #HashrateUp

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HashrateUp is a podcast that delves into Bitcoin mining and exciting projects, utilizing hashrate production to unlock new potentials in the broader energy industry. From details about innovative mining operations to exciting applications powered by classic energy resources, we’ll discuss the various ways the Bitcoin network is powered and its impact on the environment. Join us as we talk with industry experts, researchers, and thought leaders to understand how Bitcoin is shaping the future of power and investigate the energy challenges and opportunities Bitcoin and its ecosystem bring to the table. Whether you are an industry professional, thought leader, or…

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