Blockspace: AI & Bitcoin

Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, CleanSpark's VP of Digital Asset Management Rory Murray joins us to talk about the latest macro shocks hitting the market and how they are driving bitcoin’s price. Rory breaks down how the options market may have been weighing on bitcoin’s price in Q4, and how the options market has changed bitcoin’s market. We also dive into the six sigma move in Japanese rates, the unraveling of the yen carry trade, and how geopolitical tensions over Greenland are affecting global liquidity. Rory explains why bitcoin is being buffeted by noise while gold and silver take the lead in the debasement trade, plus the intersection of AI energy demand and Bitcoin mining as we head into 2026. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: * Japan 40-year bond yields topped 4% first time. * Japan has world's highest debt-to-GDP ratios. * Korean equity index rose 70% last year. * Yen carry trade has driven trillions in flow. * Gold crossed USD as top central bank reserve. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 03:20 Bitcoin & macro 06:45 Japan 17:08 Carry trade & liquidity drying up 18:08 Debasement trade 18:47 Hypercycle 22:50 Silver rally 23:18 Energy is the value creator 26:59 Options suppressing Bitcoin price? 41:10 Dampening volatility 42:35 Next 90 days 46:07 Cleanspark's BTC stack 48:14 Easier or harder to manage stack 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Taylor Monahan, a security lead at MetaMask, joins us to talk about a highly sophisticated $300M phishing attack linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Taylor shares how the Lazarus Group hijacks Telegram accounts to lure victims into fake Zoom meetings and download a Trojan horse malware program. We break down the hackers’ strategy, how the malware works, which wallet types are most vulnerable to theft, and what users can do to protect themselves if they have fallen prey to the scam or not. Tune in to learn how to identify these red flags and implement better digital hygiene for your crypto assets. Check out this article for a deep dive into how the malware works; plus, follow Taylor for updates on X and keep track of Lazarus Group’s history of hacks via her Github.  Notes: * Lazarus Group stole over $300M in the last year. * Attackers hijack Telegram accounts. * Scammers use fake Zoom links to deploy malware. * Malware often bypasses paid antivirus software. * Sandbox architecture on iOS offers more safety. * Software wallets and browser wallets are most vulnerable. * 2FA remains critical for sensitive account access. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 03:51 Telegram attack 11:30 2 Factor Authenticators 13:48 Losses 16:38 Calculating losses 19:08 North Korea 21:52 Malware 24:17 Malware detection 25:16 EDR 27:12 Wallets 34:21 Is verifying addresses enough? 39:28 Wallet malware design 44:11 What do they want? 54:16 Taylor stealing payloads 1:01:49 Steps to protect 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! In lieu of a news roundup today, we recap Thursday’s market chaos, in which gold shed Bitcoin’s entire market cap in a single morning. We unpack Microsoft's historic 10% drop despite an earnings beat and contrast it with Meta's rally. Are we looking at a systemic liquidity shock or a one-off deleveraging event? We break down the charts, from credit spreads to the VIX, and examine the canaries in the coal mine that could point toward a rocky 2026. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: * Gold shed ~$1.7 trillion in one morning * Microsoft stock closed down 10%, worst daily move since 2000 * Meta stock rose 10% after earnings beat * Bitcoin pukes to $83,000 * VIX spiked 8%  Timestamps: 00:00 Start 01:46 Market rips then dips, then rallies again 08:40 Bitcoin bear 11:43 Microsoft 20:31 Polymarket government shutdown odds 27:34 Why BTC go down? 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Tom Kleckner, a veteran energy correspondent at RTO Insider, joins us to talk about how ERCOT is overhauling the Texas grid to handle the unprecedented AI boom. We dive into the massive 233GW interconnection queue, the impact of Senate Bill 6 on transmission costs, and new reliability measures like DRRS. Tom breaks down the "batch process" for large loads and whether Bitcoin miners or AI data centers are better at balancing the grid. We also touch on the future of Texas energy, from gas plants to small modular nuclear reactors. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: * 70% demand jump to 145GW by 2031. * Interconnection queue reached 233GW. * SB6 shifts transmission costs to large loads. * Large loads defined as 75MW or greater. * Texas Energy Fund has $10 billion available. * 73% of queue requests from data centers. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 01:51 Interconnection queue changes 06:46 Kill switch 08:50 Batch system 11:22 What's DRRS? 13:39 Is DRRS an ancillary service? 16:13 Storage (battery) 18:22 4CP 22:00 Rate of change 24:18 Current state of changes 26:24 Timeline 27:33 Baseload & ghost loads 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us 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 thrice weekly, "The Blockspace Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday, our news show on Friday, and our Writer's Room talk show on Saturday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tackling the technical battle to protect Bitcoin from quantum computers. We explore why quantum-resistant signatures are up to 100x larger than current ones and the impact this has on block space and fees. From lattice-based math to STARK-based compression, Charlie breaks down the leading proposals like BIP 360 and BIP 347. We also calculate the "migration" timeline—how long it would actually take to move every Bitcoin to a safe address before "Q-Day" arrives. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: * Quantum signatures can reach 17,000 bytes (500x!) * Optimized hash signatures are 50x larger. * Full BTC migration takes 76 to 142 days. * There are 190 million unspent BTC outputs. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 05:31 Hash based signatures 08:17 Adoption 12:17 Bitcoin uniquely exposed 14:38 Proposals 17:39 Going forward 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us 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 thrice weekly, "The Blockspace Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday, our news show on Friday, and our Writer's Room talk show on Saturday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe to all things Blockspace: Podcast, Newsletter, Events Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Charlie and Will to talk about a massive week in markets and compute. We break down BitGo’s $2.1 billion IPO valuation and why the New York Stock Exchange’s move toward tokenized securities and instant settlement is a game changer for TradFi. The duo also discusses Blockspace’s acquisition of Bitcoin Layers, Zebedee’s $40M Series C, and the controversial exit of the Farcaster founding team. Finally, we look at how OpenAI and Microsoft are handling grid upgrades and why Coinbase is building a "Quantum Avengers" advisory board. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 01:58 Blockspace acquires Bitcoin Layers 02:43 OPNEXT is back baby! 03:10 $2B ETF inflows 04:39 NYSE blockchain & 24/7 trading 08:27 Open AI & MSFT pinky swear not to not raise power costs 13:33 Saudi's Humain secures up to $1.2B to expand AI infrastructure 15:20 ZBD raises $40M 18:18 Coinbase announces quantum thing 19:11 BitGo prices IPO at $18 per share, set to begin NYSE trading 24:47 Cry Corner: Farcaster shuts down 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner!CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Craig Tindale, macro investor and former manufacturing consultant, joins us to talk about the critical mineral shortage and multi-trillion dollar problem facing the US data center, energy, and defense sectors. We dive into his "Critical Mineral Thesis," exploring how China secured 80-90% of the world's critical mineral refining capacity. Craig explains the "midstream matrix," the looming 25,000-tonne silver deficit, and why the US is like a "turtle on its back" after decades of outsourcing. We discuss if sound money can save a system that has lost its atomic backbone. Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! If you’d like to read Craig Tindale’s work to learn more, you can find his seminal articles here: -⁠Critical Materials: A Strategic Analysis⁠ -⁠The Hard Bifurcation⁠ Notes: * China controls 80-90% of mineral refining. * 70% of silver production refined in China. * 25,000-tonne silver deficit in four years. * Large transformers have 4-5 year wait times. * Chinese firms borrow at 2-4% interest. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 02:37 Who is Craig? 10:15 Thesis 13:49 Silver problems 17:41 Tin 19:50 Titanium 22:42 Recession game theory 27:32 Sound money standard 33:43 Regulation outlook 40:24 Reshoring industry 45:22 Data center demand 49:39 Energy generation stagnation 54:52 Waking up to reality 1:00:52 Greenland & political games 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us 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 thrice weekly, "The Blockspace Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday, our news show on Friday, and our Writer's Room talk show on Saturday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explaining the latest shakeup in Bitcoin development: the addition of a sixth Bitcoin Core maintainer known as "The Charlatan." We explore the history of Bitcoin’s governance—from Satoshi to Wladimir van der Laan—and why the project has moved away from a single lead maintainer. We also break down the "Bitcoin kernel" project, an initiative to separate consensus code to allow for a more diverse ecosystem of Bitcoin clients, and address the common conspiracies surrounding who really controls the network. Subscribe to the newsletter! [https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com](https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com) Notes: * Bitcoin is a $2 trillion network asset. * Bitcoin Core has six current maintainers. * No person officially holds lead maintainer title. * GitHub is a Microsoft-owned product. * Bitcoin on path to $100 trillion valuation. * New maintainer added first time since Feb 2023. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 03:09 What's Github? 05:29 What is a Maintainer? 09:27 Client diversity 16:24 Lead maintainer 18:28 Faketoshi 26:15 New Maintainer 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us 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 thrice weekly, "The Blockspace Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday, our news show on Friday, and our Writer's Room talk show on Saturday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Jason Les, CEO of Riot Platforms, joins us to talk about Riot’s first HPC/AI deal with AMD. We dig into the details on the $311 million deal with AMD, Riot’s acquisition of the property for its Rockdale facility, and Riot’s strategy for repurposing bitcoin mining infrastructure for high-performance computing at a lower CAPEX than some of its peers. Jason explains how Riot is leveraging its massive power portfolio and Bitcoin treasury to fund this expansion without dilution, and what could be coming down the pipe for Riot’s 1.7 GW portfolio with regards to future AI deals. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: * $311M AMD deal over 10 years for 25MW load * Rockdale land acquired for $96 million cash * Expansion options up to 200MW for total potential revenue of ~$1B * CapEx cost of $3.6M per MW for retrofits * Portfolio includes 1.7GW total power capacity * Project financing targets 75-85% loan-to-cost. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 02:22 RIOT & AMD deal announcement 04:03 Rapid timeline & costs 07:15 Financing strategy 10:21 Rockdale power rights 12:40 In addition to Rockdale 13:26 Finance ratings 15:18 New clients 17:07 Future of Bitcoin mining & RIOT 19:45 Power shell vs Neocloud 21:44 Final thoughts 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us 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 thrice weekly, "The Blockspace Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday, our news show on Friday, and our Writer's Room talk show on Saturday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, Colin and Charlie dig into Galaxy's 830 MW ERCOT approval for its Helios site, CleanSpark's latest land acquisition in Texas, BitGo's $1.96B IPO prospectus, Semler shareholders voting yes on the merger with Strive, and the first change to Bitcoin’s BIP process in 9 years. Finally, for this week’s (truly odd) cry corner: BitMine is investing $200M into YouTuber MrBeast (yes, really). Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: * Galaxy Helios: 830MW approved * Clean Spark: 447 acres acquired * BitGo IPO: $1.96B valuation aim * BitMine: $200M to Beast Industries * Bitcoin Price: $97,000 recorded * Hash Price: Above $40/PH/Day Timestamps: 00:00 Start 02:17 Difficulty Report by Luxor 06:42 Galaxy 830 MW approval 10:30 CLSK land acquisition 15:37 BitGo IPO 19:00 ASST - SMLR deal approved 21:32 New BIP, who dis? 25:39 Cry corner: BMNR invests in MrBeast 👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner! CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us 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 thrice weekly, "The Blockspace Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday, our news show on Friday, and our Writer's Room talk show on Saturday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices