122. Can bitcoin fix renewables? With Dan Roberts

In this episode, CEO of bitcoin mining company Iris Energy Dan Roberts joins us to discuss whether bitcoin can (and should) help fix renewable energy. Dan explains the problems that intermittent wind and solar energy create for power grids, and how his company works to solve them through bitcoin mining. He and Saifedean discuss whether grids would be better off only using reliable energy sources, how bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment forces miners to become more efficient, and why Iris Energy has chosen to mine bitcoin only. Dan also shares his views on why bitcoin’s game theoretic nature means it is set up to survive and why 51% attacks don’t represent a credible threat to the network’s security.


Resources

• Iris Energy website.
• Iris Energy on Twitter
• Iris Energy on LinkedIn
• Article on recent blackouts with Texas and link to intermittent energy.
• Related episode on the future of bitcoin mining and hydropower with Ben Gagnon.
• Climate-related episodes with Tom Nelson, Alex Epstein and Patrick Moore.
• Article by Jimmy Song explaining why the threat of a 51% attack on bitcoin is overblown.
• Saifedean’s first book, The Bitcoin Standard.
• Saifedean’s second book, The Fiat Standard.

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