The Bitcoin Layer
Bitcoin's Mining Queen Amanda Fabiano
- Amanda Fabiano's early work at Fidelity's Center for Applied Technology, where she helped mine Bitcoin as early as 2013 and learned institutional approaches to risk management and mining strategy.
- The shift of Bitcoin mining from China to the U.S. following China's mining ban in 2021, with emphasis on geopolitical risk and electricity cost as primary location drivers.
- Capital structure and access to funding as the primary barrier to entry for smaller, private miners; approximately 30% of network hash rate is now held by public miners.
- The role of financial products and derivatives (such as hash rate hedging and options markets) as emerging tools to help miners manage treasury and operational costs.
- The politicization of Bitcoin mining over the past four years and efforts to educate policymakers, including participation in organizing a mining roundtable at Mar-a-Lago with Donald Trump.
- Lessons from 2021–2022 mining bankruptcies, particularly the dangers of over-leveraging debt without a power hedge or energy strategy in place.