On The Brink with Castle Island
Paul Prager (TeraWulf) Building a Zero Carbon Bitcoin Miner (EP.315)
Released: May 2, 2022
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