The Mining Pod | Blockspace Media

Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings, dives into MARA's ambitious transition towards AI and high-performance computing infrastructures. He highlights the strategic advantage of owning energy over traditional power purchase agreements and explains the nuances of edge inference architecture. Thiel shares insights on their international expansion through joint ventures in energy and discusses the importance of private clouds versus hyperscaler hosting. Additionally, he reveals the complexities of Bitcoin's pricing dynamics as the market matures and institutionalizes.

Colin and Matt dive into major hyperscaler deals, highlighting Cipher Mining's impressive $5.5B partnership with AWS and IREN's $9.7B agreement with Microsoft. They explore Q3 earnings for public miners and a notable lawsuit involving OpenAI. The discussion also touches on the implications of these deals for AI's future in the industry. Finally, they ponder whether China is pulling ahead in the AI race, backed by remarks from Nvidia’s CEO and geopolitical dynamics that favor China's tech growth.

Kevin Dede, Managing Director and Senior Technology Analyst at H.C. Wainwright, provides insights on bitcoin miners transitioning to AI and high-performance computing. He argues that AI presents a larger growth opportunity than traditional mining, discussing the implications of recent deals, like IREN’s partnership with Microsoft. Dede also analyzes the failed CoreWeave-Core Scientific merger, offering perspectives on financing models and the potential for future AI-miners. He concludes by identifying promising miners with AI exposure, emphasizing the strategic importance of joint ventures.

Ethan Vera, CEO of Luxor and expert in ASIC market dynamics, dives into key issues affecting the mining industry. He reveals how unexpected hashrate growth is driven by China and Russia while discussing competitive pressures in the ASIC market, particularly Canaan's resurgence. The podcast also details the failed $9 billion CoreWeave acquisition and CleanSpark's acquisition of a 285 MW Texas site for AI workloads. Finally, Vera addresses the controversial filter soft fork proposal and its implications for mining pools.

Welcome back to The Mining Pod! Today, we dive deep into MARA, the largest public Bitcoin miner by hash rate at 60.4 EH/s. Despite leading in hashrate, MARA has lagged behind peers like Riot and CleanSpark with just a 5.4% YoY return versus competitors seeing double or triple digit gains. We break down the ownership structure of MARA’s current bitcoin mining operations, the company’s 96% US concentration versus 50/50 US/international goals, vertical integration moves, and why the market values AI/HPC megawatts over Bitcoin mining capacity right now. Notes:  • MARA operates 60.4 EH/s across 18 sites • Only 5.4% YTD return vs peers at 62%+ gains • 96% US footprint, targeting 50/50 international split • ~50/50 split between owned and hosted capacity • 1.174GW total operational capacity • Q2 SG&A costs: $92-93 million Timestamps: 00:00 Start 02:56 MARA snapshot 07:20 Sovereign systems 15:32 Financials 18:20 IREN, RIOT flip MARA 19:50 CTO let go 22:48 MARA in a crab market 23:16 Exaion France Power Authority 26:30 Share dilution 30:03 Auradine rigs 👉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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to The Mining Pod! This week, we dive into TeraWulf’s $3.2B secured note for AI infrastructure—the largest ever for a public miner – and Bitfarms’ $588M convertible note at a time when total industry debt crosses $20B.Plus, why data center companies are salvaging jet turbines to power data centers, CleanSpark’s SVP of AI Data Centers hire, and for this week’s cry corner, pour one out for the Kadena blockchain… Notes:  • TeraWulf raised $3.2B secured note at 7.75% • Bitfarms raised $588M convertible note • Total Bitcoin miner debt exceeds $20 billion • Hash price currently at $47/PH/day • Next difficulty adjustment projected +4.7% Timestamps: 00:00 Start 02:01 Difficulty Report by Luxor 05:00 Terawulf debt 08:40 Bitfarms raises $588M 10:55 Jet engine generators? 15:55 Cleanspark hiring 18:50 Miner debt record 👉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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blue Macellari, Head of Digital Assets at T. Rowe Price, discusses how institutional adoption is reshaping Bitcoin's market structure, highlighting the effects of ETFs and the growing debasement trade narrative. Dale Nally, Alberta's Minister of Service, shares insights on Alberta's competitive edge for Bitcoin mining, including its vast natural gas supply and significant red tape reductions. The duo also discusses how Alberta's proactive energy policies and a concierge program aim to attract large miners and enhance investment.

Click Here To Join the BitAxe Giveaway! Welcome back to The Mining Pod! This week, Luxor CEO Nick Hansen joins us to talk multi-month hashprice lows (how low do we go?), MARA firing its CTO, Ionic Digital’s Microsoft-linked AI deal, Bitdeer’s gangbusters September and $2B AI plans, and BlackRock taking the lead on a $40B data center company acquisition. Plus, the US government seizes $14.1B (potentially $16.5B total) in bitcoin from an international scam operation. **Notes:** • Hash price dropped below $50/PH/day at $47 • Difficulty adjustment down 2.5% after months of increases • Bitcoin price fell from $125K to $108K post-tariff news • Marathon quietly cans CTO  • Bitdeer mined 452 BTC in Sept, up 20.5% month-over-month • Bitdeer projects $2B annual revenue from AI starting in 2026 • BlackRock leads $40B Aligned Data Centers acquisition • US seized $14.1B+ Bitcoin from crime syndicate • PJM needs 43GW battery storage by 2045 • Ionic Digital secured 240MW Microsoft lease, expandable to 1.2GW Timestamps: 00:00:00:00 Start 00:01:51:00 Difficulty Report by Luxor 00:11:28:10 MARA CTO fired 00:15:40:17 Ionic Digital gets into the AI action 00:18:16:13 PJM needs 43 GW of battery by 2045 00:23:22:16 Bitdeer’s big September 00:27:56:23 BlackRock & Nvidia deal 00:35:03:28 Cry Corner: Uncle Sam gets that bag 👉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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rory Murray, VP of Digital Asset Management at CleanSpark, shares insights from his extensive background in macro trading. He discusses the end of Bitcoin’s four-year cycle, driven by record ETF inflows and institutional adoption. Rory dives into the 'debasement trade,' exploring how inflation influences investments in Bitcoin and gold. He also considers the evolving interplay between macro trends and mining stocks, highlighting key concerns about the economy and market dynamics that keep him awake at night.

IREN continues its hot streak with a big raise, and crypto ETFs saw a record week last week. Click Here To Join the BitAxe Giveaway! Welcome back to The Mining Pod! Today, Ethan Vera from Luxor joins us live from NABs in Dallas to talk about IREN's $875 million convertible note following their AI cloud deal announcement, Luxor's launch of an ERCOT-certified retail electric provider enabling Bitcoin-native power payments, last week's record-breaking $5.95 billion in crypto ETF inflows, and a word on Bitcoin mining in China. Notes: • Hash rate exceeds 1000 exahashes per second • Hash price at $50.81 per petahash per day • IREN raised $875M via 0% convertible note • $5.95 billion in crypto inflows last week • China represents estimated 14.05% of Bitcoin hash rate • Iron secured $225M revenue over two years Timestamps: 00:00 Start 02:13 Difficulty Report by Luxor 04:23 IREN 09:43 Cleanspark Ad 10:12 Luxor Energy announcement 16:40 Bull market doing it's thing 20:22 China hashrate research 👉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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices