HashrateUp - A Bitcoin Mining Podcast

Elmeri Suomi runs a heating company that happens to mine Bitcoin. His product, the SunBit Bitcoin Boiler, drops one or two hydro-cooled ASICs into a water tank, heats a house to 60°C, and lets the mining revenue pay the power bill — in the best case leaving the homeowner in profit on their heating. He started in water-to-air heat pump sales, began mining as a hobby in 2020, and founded SunBit in 2023 once the two worlds clicked.

In this episode we get into the economics that make consumer-scale mining work at 7–12¢/kWh power: not fat mining margins, but offsetting an oil bill that can run 3,500 litres a year at €1.80/litre. Elmeri walks through the ROI (two years best case, five years worst), why he explains everything in cents per kWh instead of hashprice, and how spot-price optimisation and solar over-production feed into the tank.

We also cover why he abandoned immersion after too much grey hair — dissolved cooling paste, dead S21s and oil everywhere — and landed on hydro; why the boxes are Antminers, not Whatsminers (60°C is all you need once you're past Legionella at 52–55°C); the 3×25A wiring that lets it fit a normal Finnish home; the first installs in Kotka and Nokia plus the first international job in the Netherlands; and the pre-seed raise now funding a 100 kW industrial version.

Guest: Elmeri Suomi, CEO & Founder of SunBit Oy

SunBit: https://sunbit.fi/en
SunBit on X: https://x.com/SunbitOy
SunBit on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sunbit-oy/

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: a heating company that mines Bitcoin
4:30 Where the savings really come from — offsetting the oil bill
11:00 Explaining hashprice vs cents per kWh, pool and Lightning
17:30 Skepticism, "is this legal?" and the remote-managed mini-PC
23:00 Why hydro beat immersion — the grey-hair story
29:00 First installs, the total market and the pre-seed raise

Sponsored by:

Luxor. Mining pool, firmware, hardware trading and hashrate tools
https://luxor.tech/

Altair Technology. ASIC hardware, replacement parts and mining infrastructure
Code: HASHRATEUP
https://altairtech.io/aff/125/

HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup
Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/

#BitcoinMining #HeatReuse #BitcoinBoiler #SunBit #Finland #HydroCooling #HomeMining #ASIC #Bitcoin #HashrateUp

Hash price is holding at elevated levels, but Bitcoin mining is entering a very different kind of market. Public miners are shedding hashrate, AI infrastructure keeps absorbing power, and for the first time in years the network may be facing a genuine period of declining hashrate.
In this news roundup: Zcash mining economics are exploding as Z15 Pros generate multiples of current Bitcoin mining revenue, Tether walks away from a $120M mining investment in Uruguay after a power dispute, Bitdeer approaches 9% of Bitcoin block rewards, and AWS + Nvidia plan another 2 million GPUs as AI infrastructure keeps expanding.
We also look at Sweden's VAT crackdown on crypto miners, Bitdeer's $100M Texas land acquisition for AI/HPC expansion, Canaan pausing mining operations in Ethiopia, and Demand's new Stratum V2 transaction acceleration model that could change how mining pools compete for hashrate.
The bigger question: if AI keeps winning the competition for power in developed markets, where does Bitcoin mining go next — and what happens when pools have to fight over a shrinking hashrate pie?
🛠 Sponsored by:
Altair Technology — ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure
Code: HASHRATEUP
https://altairtech.io/aff/125/
Luxor — Mining software, firmware & hashrate tools
https://luxor.tech/
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro — Hash price & difficulty outlook
1:22 Zcash mining surge — Z15 Pro economics
4:43 Tether's $120M Uruguay mining bet collapses
7:04 Sponsor: Altair Technology
7:30 Bitdeer nears 9% of Bitcoin block rewards
8:00 AWS + Nvidia plan another 2 million GPUs
8:48 Bitcoin miners outperform the AI trade
9:32 Sweden's VAT crackdown on crypto miners
11:52 Bitdeer buys 200 acres in Texas for AI/HPC expansion
12:42 $31.6T projected data center spending through 2050
14:05 Sponsor: Luxor
14:40 Public miners shed 56 EH/s as AI retrofits accelerate
15:12 Canaan pauses Bitcoin mining operations in Ethiopia
16:04 Demand brings transaction acceleration to Stratum V2
17:14 Bitcoin's first declining-hashrate environment
17:58 Final thoughts & mining market opportunities
📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup
📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/
#BitcoinMining #HashPrice #Zcash #ArtificialIntelligence #BitcoinHashrate #Bitdeer #Tether #DataCenter #StratumV2 #MiningPool #BitcoinNews #HashrateUp

Michael Schmidt, better known as Schnitzel, bought a hundred S19J Pros for $40 each. Machines that used to cost $15,000. He's bringing them back with open-source firmware he built in his garage, with help from an AI agent and about eight burned hashboards along the way.

Michael is one of the lead engineers at the 256 Foundation, and he's back on the show to talk about Magina. It's an open-source firmware that does things Braiins, Luxor, Vnish and stock firmware simply won't. You can ramp a miner from 3,000W down to 1,000W in three to five seconds, where other firmware takes half an hour. You can follow a live solar curve. And you can run hashboards from completely different machines together in one rig, which no proprietary firmware will let you do.

We talk about why nobody built any of this before, why the 256 Foundation wants open rigs but not open chips, and what happened when Michael handed an AI agent an S19 and a power meter and told it to figure things out. We also get into why your miner's power API is lying to you about wattage, what he learned from destructive testing across eight different hashboard variants, and where he thinks this all goes over the next two or three years.

👤 Guest: Michael Schmidt (Schnitzel), Lead Engineer at the 256 Foundation
256 Foundation: https://www.256foundation.org
Follow on X: https://x.com/schnitzel

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: Schnitzel, Teddy the Swiss mountain dog & proof of dog
3:04 The 256 Foundation: Libreboard, Ember One, Magina & Hydro Pool
4:13 Heat reuse goes commercial: the Swiss solar monetization project
5:00 The solar problem: chasing a production curve that never sits still
5:31 Why existing firmware takes 30 minutes to change wattage
6:35 Why nobody built sub-minute ramping before (and why it isn't malicious)
9:18 Proprietary hardware: the tire manufacturer who only sells whole cars
10:57 Open rigs, not open chips: what the 256 Foundation actually wants
13:52 What Magina is and how it differs from Braiins, Luxor & Vnish
15:06 Handing an AI agent an S19 and a Shelly power meter
17:03 Zero to 500 MHz: the board that died and the ramping fix
19:21 Destructive testing: 8 hashboard variants in a single S19J Pro
20:22 Physical vs digital: 2,900W on the API, 0W on the wall
22:10 Microphones, temp sensors and eight burned boards
24:13 Why the power API guesses, and why the PSU already knows
27:09 S19J + S19K on one control board: 130 TH/s from mismatched hardware
31:30 Building a Frankenstein miner from two dead machines
32:25 The $40 miner renaissance and bringing dead hardware back
34:04 Magina on a Canaan Nano, Proto chips and the wildfire moment
35:08 Get involved: dev calls, donations and hardware you're not using

🛠 Sponsored by:

Luxor. Mining pool, firmware, hardware trading & hashrate tools
https://luxor.tech/

Altair Technology. ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure
Code: HASHRATEUP
https://altairtech.io/aff/125/

📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup
📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/

#BitcoinMining #OpenSource #Magina #256Foundation #Heatpunk #HeatReuse #SolarMining #ASIC #S19 #Firmware #AI #BitcoinMiningFirmware #Bitcoin #HashrateUp

Most people scrap their old ASICs, ship them overseas, or let them gather dust. Ben Smith (Bear Market Mining) offers a fourth option: profit-split hosting that keeps end-of-life machines online in the US. Ben joins me — you can hear the miners running in the background — to break down the model he built at his Walnut Ridge site: a 5.8¢/kWh all-in rate, a straight 50/50 split of net profit after power (60/40 on S21s), no deposits, no rack fees, and no long-term lock-in. We get into why he'd rather stack the Bitcoin than take your dollars, the 10,000-unit S19 redeployment that inspired the whole idea, why he doesn't think hashprice climbs back to $80, how he keeps six-year-old machines alive with a wall of spare parts and Braiins firmware, exactly how the pool split is calculated every 30 days, and his hard-won take on immersion cooling (spoiler: 180 machines still sit in his bath). Plus the hydro build, dry coolers running in 110°F heat, and the too-cold startup problem nobody warns you about.

👤 Guest: Ben Smith — Founder, Bear Market Mining (President, Arkansas Blockchain Council)
Bear Market Mining: https://bmmining.tech
Optimization Calculator: https://bmmining.tech/optimization.html
Schedule a Consultation: https://bmmining.tech/apply.html
Contact: ben@bmmining.tech

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro — end-of-life ASICs and the profit-split pitch
5:00 Walnut Ridge: from immersion to air to hydro
10:30 The profit-share model — 5.8¢ all-in and why Ben stacks BTC over dollars
16:30 Redeploying dead fleets: the 10,000-unit S19 second-life story
23:00 Profit-split incentives: downside protection vs giving up upside
29:30 Why Ben doesn't think hashprice hits $80 again (Rockdale, difficulty, the bull case)
36:00 The construction side: 200 MW built + becoming Arkansas' #2 power buyer
42:00 Running old units: free part swaps, Braiins firmware & underclocking
47:30 How the split actually works: Braiins pool, 30-day cycle, power paid first
52:00 Full deal terms: no deposits, no rack fee — just ship it
57:00 Hydro infrastructure, dry coolers & the too-cold startup problem
1:01:00 Immersion reality check: why 180 machines still sit in the bath

🛠 Sponsored by:
Luxor — Mining pool, firmware, hardware trading & hashrate tools
https://luxor.tech/

Altair Technology — ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure
Code: HASHRATEUP
https://altairtech.io/aff/125/

📊 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup
📩 Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/

#BitcoinMining #ProfitSplitHosting #BitcoinHosting #ASIC #S19 #HydroCooling #BearMarket #Braiins #MiningPool #Arkansas #EndOfLifeASIC #Bitcoin #HashrateUp

♻️ Get a free quote from 256 Recycling: https://256recycling.com/

Got old ASICs you can't sell, plug in, or ship? HashrateUp has partnered with 256 Recycling to turn dead mining hardware into upfront cash.

Thousands of S19J Pros and older units are stranded — no buyers, too expensive to export, and they often arrive broken. 256 Recycling collects your gear (hashboards, PSUs, PDUs, cables, fans), pays you upfront, and takes the whole headache off your hands.

WHAT YOU GET:
✅ Upfront cash for your scrap ASICs — small or large fleets
✅ Free pickup & full logistics handled (US & Canada, EU fleets covered too)
✅ Responsibly sorted and recycled in compliance with EPA standards
✅ Certification of responsible recycling provided for your records
✅ 400+ tons of e-waste already processed
✅ 50,000+ ASICs recycled in the last 6 months

HOW IT WORKS:
1️⃣ Request a free quote (mention HashrateUp for the best deal)
2️⃣ Team schedules pickup and collects units from your location
3️⃣ Devices are sorted and prepared at their nearest facility
4️⃣ Materials recycled to EPA standards + certification for your records

With hashprice where it is, the motivation to get the old out and the new in has never been higher. If you can't sell them, plug them in, or don't want to pay to ship them overseas — recycle them and get something back.

📲 HashrateUp Hardware Deals: https://t.me/hashrateup
✉️ Free 5-Day Bitcoin Mining Course: https://hashrateup.com/newsletter-sign-up/

#BitcoinMining #ASIC #Recycling #Ewaste #MiningHardware #HashrateUp