AI Just Bailed Out Bitcoin Mining | Bob Burnett

AI just bailed out Bitcoin's public miners, and Bob Burnett says that is the healthiest thing to happen to mining in years. Liam sits down with the Ocean executive chairman on falling hash rate, who builds Bitcoin's blocks, and what the BIP-110 fork proved.

Guest: Bob Burnett, CEO of Barefoot Mining and executive chairman of Ocean. https://www.barefootmining.com/

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Bob Burnett was CTO of Gateway before starting Barefoot Mining in 2017, and now chairs the Ocean mining pool. He sorts miners into rabbits, horses and elephants, and argues the elephants' rush into AI hosting is trimming fat that never belonged: public miners have fallen from roughly 38% to 28% of hash rate, and he expects global hash rate to stay flat to down for up to two years. He explains why mining is a commodity business that sells block space, why off grid power beats an on grid contract, and why five pools building 80% of block templates is the risk Ocean and DATUM were built to fix. It closes on Core and Knots, what the BIP-110 fork revealed about consensus, and why Wall Street and nation states will have a voice.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Bob Burnett: Barefoot Mining, Ocean and The Bitcoin Boomers

03:52 - Rabbits, horses and elephants: the three classes of miner

07:07 - Why the public miners pivoted to AI, and why that is healthy

10:40 - Worst hashprice ever, and what AI pays for power

18:07 - Hash rate is falling: is Bitcoin's security at risk

23:24 - Used rigs at dimes on the dollar, and the next mining chips

31:00 - Wild vs captured: why the future of mining is off grid

38:09 - All of Bitcoin mining is a $10 billion business

40:32 - Miners or hashers: five pools build 80% of blocks

46:03 - FPPS vs TIDES: the hidden cost of steady payouts

51:24 - Stratum V2 vs DATUM, and hundreds of templates on Ocean

56:12 - Bitcoin Core, Knots and why process matters

1:03:21 - What the BIP-110 fork taught Bitcoin about consensus

1:10:15 - The tenth man, and Ocean parting ways with Luke Dashjr

1:14:48 - The Bitcoin Boomers, and why boomers aren't the problem

ABOUT THE SHOW

Final Settlement Interview Series: a one on one interview series hosted by Liam Nelson, Partner at Early Riders. One guest, and a deep conversation on the deals, the capital and the technology moving through bitcoin, so you can hear how the people actually doing the work think about where the future is going. Presented by Early Riders and Onramp Media.

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• Bob Burnett: https://x.com/boomer_btc

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Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.