Week in BTX: Oct. 28, 2021
After some much needed time off the grid, Week in BTX is back to its regular programing. Take profit, go somewhere with your loved one on your bucket list, and unplug for awhile, you won’t regret it!
After some much needed time off the grid, Week in BTX is back to its regular programing. Take profit, go somewhere with your loved one on your bucket list, and unplug for awhile, you won’t regret it!
A much belated congratulations to Lee Bratcher and the Texas Blockchain Council for the very successful Texas Blockchain Summit. This was the biggest crypto event in Texas and staked our claim to being the Bitcoin Capital of the world. It was great meeting some of y’all in person!
General
Highlight video from the Texas Blockchain Summit
Lawless in Austin: SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce’s remarks from the Texas Blockchain Summit
Texas Tribune takes a look at Texas Republicans efforts to make the state the center of the cryptocurrency universe. This is big, as the Texas Tribune is read daily by the “Austin Insiders”
The Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund, which has $5.5 billion of assets, said it invested $25 million in Bitcoin and Ether through NYDIG
Public disclosures show that the GOAT Senator Cynthia Lummis bought between $50,001-100,000 of Bitcoin on August 16, 201 via River when Bitcoin was around $45,000
Public Policy/Politics/Regulatory
THE CRYPTO LOBBYING BOOM COMMENCES: Cryptocurrency firms and trade groups kicked their lobbying expenditures into overdrive during the third quarter, as the industry scrambled to fend off legislative threats and signals of regulatory headwinds from the Biden administration, spending about $2.2 million from July through September, more than doubling what they spent during the same period a year earlier, according to lobbying disclosures via Politico Influence
The Texas Ethics Commission, which regulates campaign finance in Texas, is proposing new rules on how candidates, office holders and PACs handle crypto donations
Industry leaders Coinbase, FTX and a16z dropped their respective policy proposals laying out suggested regulation of crypto and web 3.0
Mining
Nic Carter’s slides from the Texas Blockchain Summit covering the growth and scale of Bitcoin Mining in Texas
US Senator Ted Cruz understands bitcoin mining’s potential role in a greener energy system
Riot Blockchain is developing 200 MW of immersion-Cooled Bitcoin mining infrastructure at its Whinstone facility in Rockdale, Texas. Of the previously announced 400 MW expansion of Whinstone, 200 MW of the infrastructure is committed to utilizing immersion-cooling technology in Bitcoin mining. This development covers two of the buildings under construction and is expected to host approximately 46,000 S19 Antminers from Riot’s already-purchased miner fleet
Lancium, a technology company focused on the energy transition, announced the availability of a company-sponsored report “Impact of Large, Flexible Data Center Operations on the Future of ERCOT.” The report assesses the energy and environmental impact of deploying 5,000MW of flexible data center capacity in the ERCOT grid by 2030
Events
Houston Bitcoin Meetup October 28, 2021 (TODAY)
Austin BitDevs November 18, 2021
Bitcoin2022 Conference April 6-9, 2022 in Miami (10% off with code TEXAS10)
Consensus June 10-12, 2022 in Austin
BitBlockParty June 10, 2022 during Consensus in Austin
Coin Center Annual Dinner June 10, 2022 during Consensus in Austin
BitBlockBoom August 25-28, 2022, in Austin
Jobs
Unchained Capital is hiring for 15 positions all based in Austin.
Lancium LLC (Bitcoin Miner) is hiring a Director/Senior Analyst of Transmission & Interconnection in The Woodlands.
People on the Move
Send me your career move for a shoutout!
Bitcoin Citadel
The 6,000 acre Elkhart Ranch is for sale for only $36 million (590 Bitcoin). This minimalist Texas cattle ranch has been a success in proving that you don’t have to do things the way they have always been done. The ranches current operations have maximized without abusing the forage the land has produced with little operating costs. The ranches minimal structural improvements and well-designed infrastructure consist of only what’s necessary to run the ranch.
To Ponder While You Wander
"Put shortly, bitcoin mining is converging with the energy sector with amazing rapidity, yielding an explosion of innovation that will both decarbonize bitcoin in the medium term, and will dramatically benefit increasingly renewable grids. What’s more, it appears that only bitcoin – rather than other industrial load sources – can actually achieve some of these goals” - Nic Carter
“Fifty percent of the natural gas in this country that is flared, is being flared in the Permian right now in West Texas. I think that is an enormous opportunity for bitcoin, because that’s right now energy that is just being wasted. It’s being wasted because there is no transmission equipment to get that natural gas where it could be used the way natural gas would ordinarily be employed; it’s just being burned” - Senator Ted Cruz