“The China ban also demonstrates the resiliency of the bitcoin network and the bitcoin mining network. As long as there’s one computer running bitcoin, bitcoin won’t die, so we’ve effectively created this new lifeform that’s going to far outlast all of us, and probably humanity.”
— Nick Hansen

Location: Los Angeles
Date: Sunday 17th October
Company: Luxor Technologies
Role: CEO

Proof-of-work mining is at the heart of the bitcoin network consensus, ordering transactions into blocks and providing security. Without a healthy mining ecosystem, the Bitcoin network is vulnerable.

Earlier this year, China banned Bitcoin mining within the country. At that time, over 50% of the hashrate was said to be located in China. What followed was a huge drop in the hashrate as miners migrated out of the country. 

While, on the face of it, this could be seen as a negative, the outcome was a more decentralised hashrate and a smaller concentration of miners operating within an authoritarian country.

In addition, stressed economic conditions have led to increasing uncertainty in the supply chains surrounding the fabrication of new ASIC mining equipment.

So what is the state of the Bitcoin mining industry today?

In this interview, I talk to Nick Hansen, CEO of Luxor Technologies. We discuss the resilience of the bitcoin network, mining pools and the global economics of ASIC supply chains.

This episode’s sponsors:
Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly
BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services
Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin
Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security.
Exodus - The world's leading Desktop, Mobile and Hardware crypto wallets.
Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet
Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting

-----

WBD414 - Show Notes

-----

If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:

Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute

Make a tip:
Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S
QR Codes: Bitcoin
If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you

Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed

Leave a review on iTunes

Share the show and episodes with your friends and family

Subscribe to the newsletter on my website

Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube

If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.