From Hyperinflation to Hash Rate—Lessons from Mining CEOs
Attendees were treated to an intimate conversation at the recent Nashville Energy & Mining Summit between CEOs Rapha Zagury and Mike Colyer.
Growing up in Brazil during the country's hyperinflation crisis of the 1980s and 90s, Rapha watched his father cry as the government confiscated their family's savings. Now, as founder of Elektron Energy, one of the world's largest Bitcoin mining operations, Zagury is applying those hard-learned lessons about sound money to secure a decentralized financial future.
"My mom would tell me, 'take this money to school for your lunch, don't bring anything back, spend everything because if you bring the money back, it's gonna be worthless by the end of the week,'" he recalled during a fireside chat with Mike Colyer, CEO of Foundry Digital the largest Bitcoin mining pool. "That really shapes you."
That childhood trauma primed Zagury to immediately understand Bitcoin's value proposition when he first encountered it years later. Unlike the Brazilian Real that lost value overnight, Bitcoin's fixed supply of 21 million coins cannot be inflated away by government decree or confiscated through economic manipulation.
The conversation between Zagury and Colyer revealed parallel journeys in building Bitcoin mining infrastructure, though from different vantage points. While Zagury operates one of the industry's largest mining operations, Colyer has spent years building the financial and technical infrastructure that enabled Bitcoin mining to flourish in North America after China's dominance of the sector.
"When we started, China dominated the Bitcoin mining scene," Colyer explained.
"They made the machines, they had most of the hash rate, they controlled the pools. Our goal was to bust up that monopoly."
Today, Elektron Energy operates close to 50 exahashes of mining capacity, positioning it among the largest Bitcoin mining operations globally, with ambitious plans for expansion. The company runs one of the industry's leanest operations, with just 33 employees managing this massive computational infrastructure. Backed by cryptocurrency giant Tether since day one, Elektron has remained laser-focused on Bitcoin mining while many competitors pivot to artificial intelligence data centers.
"The Bitcoin protocol doesn't care if I have the best marketing team and the best logo," Zagury said. "I'm gonna mine the exact same amount of Bitcoin at the end of the day."
This operational philosophy contrasts sharply with publicly traded mining companies that face quarterly earnings pressures. Colyer noted that Foundry's parent company, Digital Currency Group, gave him similar long-term latitude under founder Barry Silbert's leadership.
"Barry was very much like, I don't care what happens month to month, quarter to quarter, think in terms of decades," Colyer said. "How's this gonna play out over the next 10 years?"
Both leaders see the current market environment, with many miners pivoting to AI and machine prices depressed, as an ideal entry point for committed Bitcoin miners. Colyer recalled a similar moment in late 2019, during the depths of the bear market, when Silbert told him to buy every machine available.
"It reminds me of the end of 2019," Colyer said. "Everyone was depressed, there was nobody buying machines, and literally Barry was like, go buy all you can buy."
Zagury confirmed that Elektron is currently one of the only buyers purchasing mining equipment at volume, creating favorable conditions for expansion. He anticipates slower hash rate growth this year as capital flows toward AI infrastructure, which he believes represents a riskier bet than Bitcoin mining.
"Bitcoin is a significantly less risky business than AI HPC because not only it's less capital intensive," Zagury said. "AI HPC...are still in the nascent part of the technology ramp up. You are going to see step functions that are going to wreck a lot of people."
Elektron's strategy involves identifying remote mining sites that will never become AI data centers, acquiring them at discounts, and integrating Bitcoin mining with renewable energy projects. The company recently launched operations in Brazil, where government-subsidized solar and wind projects generate excess power with nowhere to go.
"They're buying batteries to store the energy," Zagury said. "We put containers there with older ASICs. You turn on whenever you want, and you monetize immediately."
The conversation also addressed Bitcoin mining's decentralization, a topic both leaders take seriously. Colyer emphasized Foundry's support for technologies like Stratum V2 that would allow individual miners to construct their own block templates, though he noted most miners don't currently prioritize this capability.
Zagury expressed surprise at this industry apathy.
"It's my hash rate. I want to build a block. I want to have control of the block. Maybe that's why a lot of them are shifting to AI, because they were never Bitcoiners to begin with."
Both leaders predict continued convergence between energy markets and financial markets, with Bitcoin miners serving as controllable loads that help utilities balance grids, with Colyer noting that Foundry can actually observe weather patterns in Texas simply by watching hash rate fluctuations as miners respond to grid conditions.
For Zagury, who watched his father lose everything to government monetary manipulation, securing Bitcoin's decentralized network represents more than business strategy: it's personal mission. The boy who learned to spend money immediately before it became worthless now helps secure a monetary system designed to hold value across generations.
"I grew up in hyperinflation," Zagury said. "When I saw Bitcoin for the first time, it kind of clicked to me. It really made sense."
Bitcoin Miners Urged to Take Direct Action on Energy Policy Education
Bitcoin mining industry leaders are calling on operators nationwide to proactively engage with policymakers as the sector positions itself as a critical infrastructure solution for America's energy grid and artificial intelligence buildout, according to discussions at Bitcoin Park's recent Nashville Energy & Mining Summit.
The push comes as the industry faces mounting questions about supply chain security, grid reliability, and national competitiveness, particularly as China's total AI computing capacity has grown 30% since 2020 while U.S. capacity increased just 5% over the same period. Industry advocates say direct education efforts by mining operators themselves, rather than waiting for regulation, could determine whether the sector becomes viewed as essential infrastructure or faces restrictive oversight.
"It's really a lot of it still all comes down to education and being upfront with policymakers," said Michael Sullivan, principal at White Oak Strategies and former senior advisor to Senator Bill Hagerty. "You don't have to orange pill every policymaker. You've just got to be able to assure them that you pose no threat."
Sullivan, whose work helped arrange the notable Mar-a-Lago roundtable where President Trump declared he wanted "all of the Bitcoin to be mined in America," emphasized that operators must address varying concerns across government levels. Local officials focus on noise and infrastructure impacts, while federal policymakers examine grid resilience, supply chain origins, and cybersecurity threats.
Will Paul, who heads payments and hardware policy for Block, noted the regulatory landscape has shifted dramatically from environmental concerns in 2021-2022 toward questions about what he called "verifiability"—policymakers now want detailed information about hardware supply chains, firmware security and operational procedures for grid management.
"The complexity now is that when you say we're critical to the grids and we're critical to the build out and we co-locate AI, policymakers and regulators are talking to us and saying, okay, what's in that box? It's time for the industry to get ahead of that before you're regulated."
During the panel, moderated by Zack Cohen of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, both Sullivan and Paul emphasized that successful policy engagement doesn't require sophisticated lobbying operations. Sullivan's practical advice: "Pick up the phone and make the call. It's just really that easy to get a hold of a Senate office."
Paul recommended mining operators bring tangible hardware to meetings, noting that showing policymakers physical mining chips consistently breaks through abstract blockchain confusion. He stressed focusing on concrete benefits, jobs created, community investments made, grid support provided, rather than cryptocurrency philosophy.
The speakers also highlighted a strategic advantage for Bitcoin mining: its unique ability to power down within minutes during grid emergencies, contrasting sharply with traditional data centers that run continuously. This load flexibility, they argued, positions mining as enabling rather than competing with AI infrastructure development.
"It's way easier to convert a Bitcoin mining facility into an AI data center, than it is to build an AI data center."
Sullivan noted how mining operations establish the power infrastructure AI requires.
For operators concerned about resource constraints, Paul and Sullivan recommended joining state and national trade associations like the Texas Blockchain Council to coordinate messaging and share logistical burden. They emphasized that even small operators can make meaningful impact by focusing on their immediate congressional representatives rather than only high-profile Bitcoin advocates.
Cohen framed the discussion around the intersection of Bitcoin mining with AI development and national security concerns, noting that roughly half of U.S. GDP growth last year came from AI-related activity, making the conversation increasingly urgent for policymakers weighing America's technological competitiveness.
The fundamental message from the panel: operators should approach policymakers with transparency about their operations, evidence of community benefit, and willingness to demonstrate how their hardware and software actually work before regulations force such disclosures under less favorable terms.
Bitcoin Mining—The 21st Century Path to Human Flourishing
Robert Warren, Head of Research and Education at Bitcoin Park, delivered an opening keynote at the recent Nashville Energy & Mining Summit, portraying Bitcoin mining as the fulfillment of industrial-era visions like Henry Ford's assembly lines, now realized through decentralized, flexible energy use that drives human flourishing.
Speaking to an audience of miners, technologists, investors, and energy innovators, Warren argued that energy equals human flourishing, supported by historical and empirical evidence linking power access to progress. He traced the Industrial Revolution from Britain's early innovations to Ford's Highland Park "Crystal Palace," a 130-acre campus that pioneered the moving assembly line, but was limited by location dependency, supply chain interruptions, and the need to sell finished products.
Bitcoin mining, Warren argues, overcomes these constraints. Operations are location-invariant with internet access, fully curtailable without loss, and produce hash rate, a commodity instantly monetized via pools like Braiins or Foundry, enabling continuous production that Ford envisioned but could not achieve.
The presentation spotlighted real-world applications where Bitcoin mining monetizes stranded or wasted energy. In rural Africa, Gridless revives dormant hydroelectric plants, paying owners from day one for full-capacity operation while reducing local electricity costs, directly boosting community access to power.
In the U.S., CleanSpark has deployed hundreds of megawatts, creating hundreds of jobs and enhancing grid stability across states. Other examples include the Cholla Innovation Lab in West Texas, which tests mining's grid-stabilizing role with operators and regulators; Exergy's waste-heat monetization; decentralized nodes from FutureBit in Brooklyn for education; and Midwest operators like Megawatt, which influenced local laws to repurpose infrastructure and now bid into day-ahead markets, stabilizing local energy prices.
"Bitcoin mining isn't just about hash rate," Warren emphasized. "It's about unlocking human flourishing through energy that was previously wasted or underutilized."
He urged the community to share personal stories rather than raw data when explaining Bitcoin's energy dynamics, citing author Michael Lewis: "The truth is like poetry. And most people...hate poetry." He thanked contributors, case study participants, and attendees for decentralizing what Ford centralized, crediting collective efforts over singular visionaries. Bitcoin Park, a collaborative space advancing grassroots freedom technologies, opened with this talk as a framework for ongoing discussions on energy's role in prosperity, particularly in underserved regions.
Oil and Gas All in on Remote Bitcoin Mining
Austin, Texas – January 20, 2026
360 Energy, a leading provider of mobile natural gas offtake solutions, is transforming excess and flared natural gas into reliable power for off-grid Bitcoin mining, delivering economic and environmental benefits to upstream oil and gas operators while contributing to decentralized Bitcoin hashrate.
Founded in 2021 by Chris Alfano and headquartered in Austin, Texas, 360 Energy co-locates EPA-certified natural gas generators and modular Bitcoin mining data centers directly at oil and gas well sites. The company captures stranded, uneconomic, or flared gas, often a liability for producers, and converts it into low-cost electricity (sub-2 cents per kWh) to power mining operations. This approach addresses three primary needs for oil and gas companies: maximizing gas value in oversupplied regions like the Permian Basin, reducing emissions through flare capture, and enabling continued oil production by avoiding regulatory shut-ins in areas with limited flaring allowances.
Unlike traditional models that struggled with uptime and incentives, 360 Energy's rental-based service eliminates upfront capital expenditure for operators. Producers pay a monthly fee for the equipment while retaining most revenue from mining rewards, ensuring reliable gas offtake and high operational uptime. The company emphasizes rigorous site diligence, including gas analysis, to deploy tailored infrastructure that handles varying gas compositions and production profiles.
"By listening to oil and gas operators and translating Bitcoin mining into terms they value, such as increased cash flow, lower emissions, and unlocked oil production, we've built a sustainable service model," said Chris Alfano, founder and CEO of 360 Energy. "Our focus remains on Bitcoin as the core application, providing one of the lowest-cost mining operations globally while distributing hashrate across diverse locations and subtly introducing more industry participants to Bitcoin's potential."
360 Energy operates across key U.S. basins and is exploring international expansion, leveraging partnerships like Halliburton for operational support in regions such as Argentina's Vaca Muerta Basin. The company reports strong demand for its Apex Gas Offtake solution as an alternative to flaring or shut-ins, with U.S. flared gas volumes alone offering potential for over 2 gigawatts of computing power.
As Bitcoin mining evolves amid growing energy demands, 360 Energy's model demonstrates how stranded energy resources can drive mutual benefits across traditional energy and freedom technology sectors.
