Sergii Gerasymovych on the Global DCA Panel

What are the new trends in Bitcoin mining?

Larger players in crypto mining have many advantages, the biggest being their access to capital for hardware and their strategic deals with access to cheaper energy.

Bitcoin mining is not just a practice in making money through the mining itself, however. New trends in the industry have empowered miners to invest in the energy market as part of a long-term strategy. EZ Blockchain, for instance, created its sub-brand EZ Energy and then partnered with a key distributor of Jenbacher generators to turn its mining operations into a solution for the oil industry.

Fracking alternatives in the form of Bitcoin mining are now the company’s focus.

Many institutions and governments are supporting these positive efforts. Even the state government of Kentucky incentivized Bitcoin mining as a solution for stranded gas.

What are potential roadblocks for miners?

For those just getting into Bitcoin mining, access to the hardware (at the right price) is one of the biggest hurdles in keeping up. In many cases, the needed investment is cost-prohibitive, and smaller miners are run off the road.

Crypto mining equipment prices are on the rise, and the investment for starting firms is steep.On the DCA panel, Sergii explains that we need an institutional level of hardware in the industry. He explains why we need more communication with suppliers, too. Leaving things as they are now, all the risk is unreasonably on the miner when investing in crypto mining equipment.

“Let’s be honest…”

At one point, Sergii lays it out for all to hear:

“Let’s be honest,” he says. “People getting into mining today usually have a bigger wallet.” He recalls the first GPUs that EZ Blockchain sold when the business began selling mining hardware.

“GPUs used to be allocated to people based on their customer profiles, not the size of their wallets. The suppliers wanted more customers then.”

Now, Sergii explains, this isn’t happening in the ASIC space with today’s sophisticated mining equipment.

As a result, the “smaller guys” among miners take on too much risk with the requisite debt to get into operation.

What does the environment have to do with Bitcoin?

Today, conversations around energy are focused on renewable energy.

However, renewable energy is generally connected to the grid for residential and commercial use. Bitcoin miners are not the target consumers, and in many cases are being blocked from consuming electricity from renewable energy sources altogether.

EZ Blockchain looked to wasted energy instead of renewable energy when trying to meet its own energy needs. In the process, they wanted to solve another industry’s problem.

Today, EZ Blockchain is officially in the energy business. Its fracking alternatives have given the oil and gas industry (OAG) an “out” from under government pressure and investor pushback, all demanding they do away with natural gas flaring.

Gas flaring was a “solution” back in the day for the stranded natural gas

that’s released as a byproduct of oil drilling. Without the infrastructure to transport that gas to plants where it can be processed into electricity, most OAG companies’ only viable option was to flare (or burn) it away at a loss.

Sergii did not go deep into EZ Blockchain’s cryptocurrency mining data center tech on the DCA panel, however, he did speak candidly about what the industry needs to face its own demons and bring greater benefit to the world in the process.

“We need to talk about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” said Sergii. “We should even be getting government grants to do this.”

Indeed, the use of wasted energy by Bitcoin miners is enormously innovative. It has every potential to change the landscape of the industry.

Other panel participants on the DCA call applauded Sergii for how vocal he was and said that everyone in the industry should be just as outspoken.

Listen to the full DCA panel recording for cryptocurrency miners on YouTube.