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The Pomp Podcast

JP Baric, Founder & CEO of Mining Store: The Renewable Super Powers Behind Crypto Mining

11/6/2019 · 38 min · transcript via mlx

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JP Baric, founder and CEO of Mining Store, discusses his journey from running a robotics camp at 14 to building large-scale Bitcoin mining facilities by age 17–18.

Mining Store is pivoting from direct hardware sales to building modular, turnkey mining facilities powered by renewable and stranded energy sources, with immersion cooling and custom firmware for optimal efficiency.

The mining industry has historically relied entirely on equity capital with no credit market; introducing bonds and securitized products backed by Bitcoin collateral could unlock institutional investment and fundamentally transform the sector.

Natural gas, solar, wind, and nuclear power are emerging as key energy sources for mining operations; the sector currently requires electricity at roughly $40/MWh or cheaper to remain profitable.

Bitcoin mining acts as a "battery" for excess energy that would otherwise be wasted, including flare gas and stranded power; this creates demand for renewable and otherwise-unusable energy resources globally.

FPGAs are expected to displace GPUs in crypto mining within two years due to superior performance (~10x hash rate increases) and broader applicability to enterprise use cases; ASICs will likely remain Bitcoin-specific but grow in scale and efficiency.

Market & price signals

Ethereum mining generated 500+ coins per day in 2016–2017 at $2–3 per coin (earning ~$1,500/day); prices spiked to $24–30, crashed, then rallied to $100+ before reaching $1,400+ during the 2017 bull run.

Bitcoin miner hardware pricing reflects hash rate value: S9s dropped from $9,000 at peak to $170; S17s currently trade around $2,500 in bulk, with likely overclock potential reaching 100 terahashes (versus current retail specs of 60–70).

Profitability degrades approximately 1–2% monthly under current conditions; halving events create an additional 50% profitability shock; sustainable operations require $40/MWh power or lower, with expectation this will decline further.

Bitcoin mining rewards totaled $5 billion in 2018; Proof-of-Work coins, particularly Bitcoin, drive far greater mining value than Proof-of-Stake alternatives or GPU-mined altcoins.

Actionable insights

Institutional and high-net-worth investors should monitor the emergence of securitized mining bonds backed by Bitcoin collateral and capable of generating 7–9% yields; this credit infrastructure is expected to unlock $billions in pension fund and hedge fund deployment within 24 months.

Operators with access to stranded or excess electricity—whether from natural gas flaring, solar curtailment, wind farms, or industrial heat—should evaluate Bitcoin mining as a monetization strategy; companies like Mining Store can provide turnkey modular facilities to capture previously wasted energy economics.

Episode sponsorships

Paid placements mentioned in this episode. BTC Pods is not sponsored by or affiliated with these advertisers. Links are included so you can find offers mentioned on the show.

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