The Mining Pod | Blockspace Media

BITCOIN SEASON 2: Inside Bitcoin’s Darknet Markets

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We’re exploring darknet markets, from their history with the Silk Road to how they function today. Bitcoin vs. Monero usage, exit scams, and why these markets look like they're stuck in 2004 despite handling billions in transactions.

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You're listening to Bitcoin Season 2. Subscribe to the newsletter, trusted by over 7,000 Bitcoiners: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com

Colin and Charlie dive into the seedy underbelly of cryptocurrency—darknet markets. From the early days of the Farmers Market to the infamous Silk Road and beyond, they explore how these marketplaces function, why they initially struggled without Bitcoin, and the recent shift from Monero back to Bitcoin following exchange delistings. With $2 billion in annual volume yet surprisingly flat growth, they examine the robust review systems, exit scams, and why these sites stubbornly maintain their 2004-era aesthetics.

Disclaimer: This episode discusses drugs and illegal activities for informational purposes only.

Follow our guests: @cbspears @asilayhodling @btcszn2

Notes:

- Darknet markets processed ~$2-3.5B annually

- Farmers Market (2006) had only 3,000 users

- Silk Road processed $182M from 100,000 users

- Market volume remained flat despite crypto growth

- Monero losing popularity after exchange delistings

- Kraken darknet market: ~$800M volume in 2024

Check out our Bitcoin scaling conference! Visit opnext.dev to learn more.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

01:50 Chainalysis Darknet Market Report

05:15 Farmer's Market

14:27 After Silk Road

16:11 Arch

16:42 Rise of Monero

23:38 Quality control

29:24 Exit scams

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👉 Brought to you by Arch Network! Arch brings the speed of Solana & the best of crypto UX to Bitcoin. Tap into the rich app ecosystem on Arch & try out the testnet while you’re still early! Visit arch.network to learn more.

-

👋Bitcoin Season 2 is produced Blockspace Media, Bitcoin’s first B2B publication in Bitcoin. Follow us on Twitter and check out our newsletter for the best information in Bitcoin mining, Ordinals and tech!

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Welcome to The Mining Pod's news roundup! Colin Harper and Matt Kimmel are joined by special guest Ethan Vera, the COO of Luxor, to discuss one of the most electric weeks for bitcoin mining news this year. They break down Hut8's new Trump-affiliated subsidiary American Bitcoin, Galaxy Digital's 15-year, $4.5 billion hosting agreement with CoreWeave, and how the Trump administration's blanket tariffs are bad news for miners and could lead to a 20-30% rise in ASIC miner prices. Plus, they cover Cango’s proposal to sell its auto-finance business to a Bitmain-linked entity for $352 million, and for this week’s cry corner, why Jack Dorsey thinks Lightning just isn’t cutting it.

# Notes:

- Hash price at pre-election lows of $40/PH/s/day

- Hut 8’sTrump-backed American Bitcoin

- Galaxy-CoreWeave deal worth $4.5B over 15 years

- New tariffs that will impact miners: 36% Thailand, 32% Indonesia, 24% Malaysia

-Cango proposes to sell its autofi business for $352 million

- Jack Dorsey: "We can do better than Lightning"

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

01:50 Difficulty Report

04:58 Trumps enter BTC mining

11:14 Galaxy CoreWeave deal

16:14 Tariffs are taxes

25:14 Cango Exits Auto Business

30:40 Cry Corner-LN a failure?

👉 CleanSpark (CLSK), America’s Bitcoin Miner!

Cleanspark develops infrastructure for Bitcoin, an essential tool for financial independence and inclusion. Learn more by visiting https://www.cleanspark.com/!

👉 Digital Shovel, All Things Crypto Mining!

Are you a Crypto miner looking to expand your operations leading into this next Bull Market? Digital Shovel is a leading manufacturer of modular mining pods, as well as PDUs & Switchgears. Industry leading prices starting at $69,000/MW for a complete datacenter, including Smart PDUs and switchgear. For more information, visit www.DigitalShovel.com

👉 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!

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Welcome back to The Mining Pod! Today, Sam Callahan joins us to discuss his viral research on institutional Bitcoin ETF holders. Sam manually analyzed 1,573 public filings to uncover who's buying Bitcoin ETFs – and how much they are buying. Callahan explains how each fund’s approach differs, how sovereign wealth funds are quietly accumulating, and why these inflows prove that bitcoin has crossed the rubicon into new financial territory. Plus, why pension funds, endowments, and financial advisors are the critical gateway for mainstream bitcoin adoption.

# Notes:

- Median Bitcoin ETF allocation is just 0.13%

- 1,573 institutions with Bitcoin ETF exposure

- Abu Dhabi Wealth Fund has $473M Bitcoin position

- BlackRock recommends 1-2% Bitcoin allocation

- Only 19% of 13F filings had Bitcoin exposure

- Top fund positions range from 5-16% allocation

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

01:25 Data collection

06:14 Surprises

09:17 Other commodity holdings

11:30 Riding the ETF wave?

24:24 Interesting BTC holders

29:20 Other potential holders

43:15 Tracking going forward

46:22 Mining stock still considered leveraged BTC?

👉 CleanSpark (CLSK), America’s Bitcoin Miner!

Cleanspark develops infrastructure for Bitcoin, an essential tool for financial independence and inclusion. Learn more by visiting https://www.cleanspark.com/!

👉 Digital Shovel, All Things Crypto Mining!

Are you a Crypto miner looking to expand your operations leading into this next Bull Market? Digital Shovel is a leading manufacturer of modular mining pods, as well as PDUs & Switchgears. Industry leading prices starting at $69,000/MW for a complete datacenter, including Smart PDUs and switchgear. For more information, visit www.DigitalShovel.com

👉 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

We dive into GameStop's surprising announcement to raise $1.3 billion in convertible notes, potentially to buy Bitcoin. The hosts explore how this connects to the 2021 meme stock saga that gave GameStop its massive cash position, Ryan Cohen's relationship with Michael Saylor, and whether this Bitcoin strategy is a life raft for a retail gaming business in decline. With GameStop's revenue dropping from $8.5B to $3.8B over eight years, is this a smart pivot or just vibe investing?

Notes:

- GameStop announces $1.3B convertible note offering

- Revenue declined from $8.5B to $3.8B in 8 years

- Company has $4.76B cash on balance sheet

- Cash position largely from 2021 meme stock frenzy

- Zero debt after paying off all loans

- Saylor posted photo with Ryan Cohen: "Team Bitcoin"

Check out our Bitcoin scaling conference! Visit opnext.dev to learn more.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

00:28 GameStop enters the chat

02:05 GME be buying

07:58 Roaring Kitty Redux

10:43 Financials

13:25   Arch

13:56 Business evolution

20:14 Volatility trade

25:28 Not a crazy pivot

30:22 BTC makes an honest market or not...

-

👉 Brought to you by Arch Network! Arch brings the speed of Solana & the best of crypto UX to Bitcoin. Tap into the rich app ecosystem on Arch & try out the testnet while you’re still early! Visit arch.network to learn more.

-

👋Bitcoin Season 2 is produced Blockspace Media, Bitcoin’s first B2B publication in Bitcoin. Follow us on Twitter and check out our newsletter for the best information in Bitcoin mining, Ordinals and tech!

Enjoy the show? Check out our website and newsletter by clicking here.

Questions or want to sponsor? [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to The Mining Pod! This week, we dive into Bitcoin's difficulty adjustments with hash rate approaching 850 EH/s while miners face compressed hash prices at $48.63. We analyze CoreWeave's IPO reduction from $4B to $1.5B amid market skepticism. Plus, breaking news on Crusoe's mining operations exit to NYDIG, Riot's $185M offer for Rhodium's Rockdale assets, and the hilarious irony of anti-ordinals Ocean Mining processing Taproot Wizards transactions.

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Notes:

- Difficulty adjustment estimated at 5.6%

- Hash prices at $48.63 per hash per day

- Network hash rate approaching 850 EH/s

- Core Weave IPO reduced to $1.5B from $4B

- Riot offering $185M for Rhodium assets

- Crusoe selling all mining operations to NYDIG

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

02:16 Hashrate Forecast

04:56 What’s up with CoreWeave?

06:31 Kramer video

17:38 Crusoe Sells Assets to NYDIG

21:52 Riot and Rockdale

25:37 Cry Corner: CATS, Wizards vs Ocean

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You're listening to The Mining Pod. Subscribe to the newsletter, trusted by over 8,000 Bitcoiners: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com

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Welcome back to The Mining Pod! Today, Sanjay Gupta, CSO of Auradine, joins us to discuss the Teraflux A3880, a hydro-cooled, U2 server rack form factor Bitcoin miner. Clocking in at 600 TH/s and 14.5-16.5 J/TH efficiency, the A3880 applies a tried-and-tested server design from traditional datacenters to the world of bitcoin mining. Gupta explains why Auradine decided to design the model after input from its clients and the advantages of a server rack form factor over traditional shoebox miners, and how this design overlaps with AI and HPC computing infrastructure. Plus, he discusses some of the challenges and triumphs of ramping up Auradine’s ASIC manufacturing capacity to 1,000 units per week.

Notes:

- Terra Flux A3880: 600 TH/s at 14.5-16.5 J/TH

- U2 server rack form factor for density & cooling

- Current production capacity: thousands of units/week

- $250M in bookings, $500M+ in pipeline

- US-designed, diverse manufacturing locations

- Auto-tuning tech for load balancing with AI/HPC

00:00 Start

03:35 New ASIC miner model

05:37 Why hydro not immersion?

08:40 U2 vs shoebox form factor

12:32 Production capacity

15:43 Production of hydro vs other

18:20 Tariffs & on-shoring

23:16 De-risking tariff & sanctions

26:25 Pre-order numbers

28:16 Public vs private buyers

30:53 HPC influencing from factor?

35:45 Tandem workloads

36:42 Hydro cooling design

40:21 Testing process

43:12 Future plans

👉 CleanSpark (CLSK), America’s Bitcoin Miner!

Cleanspark develops infrastructure for Bitcoin, an essential tool for financial independence and inclusion. Learn more by visiting https://www.cleanspark.com/!

👉 Digital Shovel, All Things Crypto Mining!

Are you a Crypto miner looking to expand your operations leading into this next Bull Market? Digital Shovel is a leading manufacturer of modular mining pods, as well as PDUs & Switchgears. Industry leading prices starting at $69,000/MW for a complete datacenter, including Smart PDUs and switchgear. For more information, visit www.DigitalShovel.com

👉 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.

"The Mining Pod" is produced by Sunnyside Honey Inc. with Senior Producer Damien Somerset.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump makes a pivot from Bitcoin to stablecoins in his latest policy statements. Reality check: stablecoins now account for over 50% of all crypto settlement volume, with Tether becoming the 7th largest holder of US Treasuries globally. We break down how stablecoins are being used in emerging markets, why Tron dominates the stablecoin landscape despite centralization concerns, and what this means for Bitcoin's relationship with the traditional financial system.

Notes:

- Tether is 7th largest buyer of US treasuries globally

- Stablecoins now 50% of all crypto settlement volume

- Tether holds $113 billion in treasuries

- Tron handles ~40% of stablecoin transactions

- Tether earns ~$4 billion yearly on Treasury yields

- Trump now promoting stablecoins for dollar dominance

Check out our Bitcoin scaling conference! Visit opnext.dev to learn more.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

00:34 Trump video

03:09 Reaction

06:53 Tether buying treasuries

11:08 Other stablecoins

17:35 Arch Network

18:05 The Tether Eye of Sauron

20:10 Who's using stablecoins

22:18 Where are stablecoins traded?

26:31 Volume of all crypto transactions compared

32:33 A realistic view

-

👉 Brought to you by Arch Network! Arch brings the speed of Solana & the best of crypto UX to Bitcoin. Tap into the rich app ecosystem on Arch & try out the testnet while you’re still early! Visit arch.network to learn more.

-

👋Bitcoin Season 2 is produced Blockspace Media, Bitcoin’s first B2B publication in Bitcoin. Follow us on Twitter and check out our newsletter for the best information in Bitcoin mining, Ordinals and tech!

Enjoy the show? Check out our website and newsletter by clicking here.

Questions or want to sponsor? [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dek/excerpt: Slightly over 30 minutes, but we hit all the mining stories you care about this week!

Body:

You're listening to The Mining Pod. Subscribe to the newsletter, trusted by over 8,000 Bitcoiners: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com

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Welcome to another packed episode of The Mining Pod! Hosts discuss the current hash price bear market, with difficulty adjustments continuing to increase despite declining profitability. They explore CBP's ongoing seizure of Bitcoin miners at the border, possibly costing companies millions in holding penalties. Plus, discussions on the TVA and DOE's push for nuclear energy, Bit Farms finalizing its acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining, the SEC's clarification on proof-of-work mining activities, and OBM and Toya Energy's patent victory against Lancium. Finally, the team examines the sharp decline in mining community engagement.

Notes:

- Hash price at $47.50/PH/s/day

- 8 of 10 recent difficulty adjustments increased

- BitFarms now has 60% of megawatts in US

- Mining stocks down ~50% year to date

- Mining community engagement down ~80%

00:00 Start

02:27 Difficulty Report by Luxor

06:55 Update on US border troubles

11:02 SEC: No news is good news

11:04 Baseload energy & flexible loads

19:26 SEC: No news is good news

21:35 Stronghold, Bitfarms confirm merger

25:55 Foreman, Cholla Energy vs Lancium

31:29 Cry corner: Mining Mafia drama

👉 CleanSpark (CLSK), America’s Bitcoin Miner!

Cleanspark develops infrastructure for Bitcoin, an essential tool for financial independence and inclusion. Learn more by visiting https://www.cleanspark.com/!

👉 Digital Shovel, All Things Crypto Mining!

Are you a Crypto miner looking to expand your operations leading into this next Bull Market? Digital Shovel is a leading manufacturer of modular mining pods, as well as PDUs & Switchgears. Industry leading prices starting at $69,000/MW for a complete datacenter, including Smart PDUs and switchgear. For more information, visit www.DigitalShovel.com

👉 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

You're listening to The Mining Pod. Subscribe to the newsletter, trusted by over 10,000 Bitcoiners: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com

Want to mine Bitcoin? Check out the Blockspace Media store today!

Welcome to The Mining Pod! Charlie Brady, VP of Investor Relations at BitFuFu joins us to dive into their Bitcoin mining operations. We explore their strategic expansion in Ethiopia with electricity costs under $0.04/kWh, their new 51MW Oklahoma facility targeting $0.03/kWh, and their cloud mining business that's grown to over 600,000 users. Charlie shares insights on their asset acquisition strategy, relationship with Bitmain, and plans to reach 1GW of secured power capacity by 2026.

Notes:

BitFuFu currently has 20.6 EH/s and 480MW hosting capacity

Ethiopia electricity costs below $0.04/kWh

Oklahoma site targets $0.03/kWh power costs

Cloud mining business grew to 602K+ users

Cloud mining = ~60% of company revenue

00:00 Start

02:09 Charlie's bio

02:31 Why work for BitFuFu?

04:00 Ethiopia

05:35 Ethiopia expansion

07:12 Ethiopia political stability

09:26 Oklahoma

11:58 Pathway to gigawatt?

12:59 AI & HPC

15:39 Bitmain influencing any AI decisions?

18:39 Cloud contract numbers

20:28 Who are the cloud customers?

26:18 Bear market for mining stocks

29:44 Hosting

👉 CleanSpark (CLSK), America’s Bitcoin Miner!

Cleanspark develops infrastructure for Bitcoin, an essential tool for financial independence and inclusion. Learn more by visiting https://www.cleanspark.com/!

👉 Digital Shovel, All Things Crypto Mining!

Are you a Crypto miner looking to expand your operations leading into this next Bull Market? Digital Shovel is a leading manufacturer of modular mining pods, as well as PDUs & Switchgears. Industry leading prices starting at $69,000/MW for a complete datacenter, including Smart PDUs and switchgear. For more information, visit www.DigitalShovel.com

👉 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

You're listening to The Mining Pod. Subscribe to the newsletter, trusted by over 8,000 Bitcoiners: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com

Want to mine Bitcoin? Check out the Blockspace Media store today!

Welcome to The Mining Pod! Matt Kimmell and Will cover the week's biggest stories in Bitcoin mining. We analyze the challenging hashprice environment for miners (hitting all-time lows at $42/hash), discuss the EPA's major deregulation announcement and its potential impact on energy markets, break down Canaan's $200M funding for US expansion, examine CoreWeave's massive $11.9B OpenAI deal ahead of its IPO, and dive into the drama between NYDIG and Mawson over allegedly stolen Bitcoin miners worth $30M.

Notes:

Hash price at all-time low of $42 per hash per @luxor

EPA launching 31 deregulatory actions for energy

Canaan secured $200M for US mining expansion

CoreWeave signed $11.9B OpenAI contract

Nydig claims Mawson stole $30M worth of miners

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

07:21 EPA to slash regulation

14:03 Canaan $200M in financing

20:41 CoreWeave & OpenAI sign deal

28:50 Cry corner: Stone Ridge & Mawson $30M Theft

👉 CleanSpark (CLSK), America’s Bitcoin Miner!

Cleanspark develops infrastructure for Bitcoin, an essential tool for financial independence and inclusion. Learn more by visiting https://www.cleanspark.com/!

👉 Digital Shovel, All Things Crypto Mining!

Are you a Crypto miner looking to expand your operations leading into this next Bull Market? Digital Shovel is a leading manufacturer of modular mining pods, as well as PDUs & Switchgears. Industry leading prices starting at $69,000/MW for a complete datacenter, including Smart PDUs and switchgear. For more information, visit www.DigitalShovel.com

👉 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.

👉 Nicehash, Hashrate, Bitcoin payments and mining!

NiceHash is the world leading hashrate marketplace providing a full suite of tools and software for miners to optimize their operations. Based in Switzerland, NiceHash is a fully regulated crypto mining platform.

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