An Overview of Crypto Mining - [Web3 Breakdowns, EP. 06]

Today I am joined by Mike Colyer, the Chief Executive Officer of Foundry, one of the largest players in crypto mining, staking, and financing. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:01:55] - [First question] - What he was doing before Bitcoin and what attracted him to crypto and mining specifically[00:03:21] - Overview of how Bitcoin mining works and the complexity and computing power necessary to participate[00:05:58] - What role luck plays in mining and winning a block[00:08:41] - Why some people say that mining is a horrible business[00:10:42] - The turning point for DCG to get involved in the mining side of crypto[00:14:03] - Whether or not equipment financing is always the core focus to support miners[00:15:19] - How a mining pool works and whether or not pools can attack the network[00:20:19] - His belief as to why China decided to ban mining [00:21:46] - Why manufacturers still make Bitcoin’s network vulnerable [00:23:17] - How the team at Foundry reacted to China’s decision to ban mining [00:24:45] - Thoughts on his role as a distributor and deciding which countries to empower[00:27:24] - Whether or not Foundry plans on becoming a public company[00:28:28] - What miners do mechanically on a day-to-day basis [00:29:14] - The average return on invested capital when setting up a mining company[00:29:51] - Why they only mine a small amount of Ether compared to Bitcoin[00:24:17] - Can miners switch back and forth between assets they mine?[00:32:14] - How chains convince Foundry to deploy capital and stake on their blockchains[00:33:18] - Differences between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake blockchains[00:35:45] - How Ethereum attracts miners and when they’ll move to proof-of-stake[00:37:05] - The most challenging part of running a mining operation[00:37:42] - Will we see a world where we can use phones and consumer tech to mine?[00:38:45] - Can we expect to see energy companies stepping into the mining space? [00:41:43] - The countries he’s most excited about that are making strides in mining[00:42:32] - Thoughts on energy use, consumption and environmental impacts[00:45:28] - Educating politicians on the advantages and necessity of participating in mining[00:46:18] - What he’s most excited about seeing built in the short term and mid-term [00:48:05] - Learn more about mining; foundrydigital.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices