On The Brink with Castle Island Paul Prager (TeraWulf) Building a Zero Carbon Bitcoin Miner (EP.315)
May 2, 2022
46:00
TeraWulf cofounder and CEO Paul Prager joins us to talk about his experience building a vertically-integrated, zero carbon Bitcoin miner. In this installment of the mining miniseries we cover:
- Paul's career trajectory from coal trading to energy infrastructure to Bitcoin
- Beowulf's deal with Marathon and their entry into Bitcoin
- How TeraWulf distinguishes itself from other Bitcoin miners
- Why TeraWulf has an explicit ESG focus
- Zero carbon and how that differs from 'carbon neutral'
- The importance of being vertically integrated
- How Paul thinks about the halvings and how that affects their business
- TeraWulf's facility in upstate NY
- Paul's views on NY State's approach to Bitcoin mining
- How the Bitcoin mining industry struggles with proactive messaging
- TeraWulf's 300 MW nuclear-powered facility in Pennsylvania
- Why Bitcoin is synergistic with nuclear power
- The prospects for nuclear bitcoin mining
- TeraWulf's zero-carbon approach and how that manages risk
- TeraWulf's plans for growing their hashrate under management
- The characteristics that TeraWulf looks for in new sites
- Will Bitcoin miners develop better transparency around emissions data?
- Why mining is so useful for decarbonization through curtailment programs
- The convergence between the energy sector and Bitcoin mining
- Why vertical integration and zero carbon will prevail in Bitcoin mining long term
- Trends in consolidation Paul expects
- Why vertical integration allows you to manage your risk better than a hosting model
- What public market analysts should be doing when they evaluate miners