gm: I propose we take control of our energy infrastructure and break the dependency on the grid and use bitcoin (or crypto) mining to get it done.

Leveraging bitcoin/crypto mining as an interruptible load, opens the door to a new energy design paradigm that allows us to become independent (or interdependent) of the grid.

About me: I am about one year into the crypto/web3 space (two years for BTC), and about 15 years in all things related to digital and energy infrastructure. You know, the dirty (physical) electric grid, power plants, clean tech, data centers, telecom towers/base stations, switches, fiber, etc.

I have spent most of my time/career thinking about the physical infrastructure, with a strong emphasis on energy infrastructure, behind all things digital (data centers, telecoms, fiber).

As I immerse myself into this fascinating space we call web3/crypto, I cannot help but point out a seemingly overlooked issue; energy ownership.

Decentralization: With web3, it’s all about ownership and decentralization. We now own our digital wallets, currency, NFT’s and ENS domains, but we don’t own the physical energy infrastructure that it all depends on.

Much like web2, our energy infrastructure is centralized, and due to the various incentive programs designed to decarbonize the grid, the solutions exist today in many markets, to take control of your own energy infrastructure, and become inter-dependent with the grid…meaning that owning our own energy infra pays over the life of the asset…like an NFT while you are on grid power, and provides resiliency when grid is down.

To me, this is an equally exciting and complimentary opportunity to web3, as it presents an elegant solution for the home of the digital/crypto age and a hedge to the likely volatile transition period we are entering.

This transition period of high volatility seems to be understood as we are all watching inflation, supply chain issues and referencing the Sovereign Individual as we are cheer on the ushering in of a new era. But it doesnt appear that we are preparing our physical lives to weather the storm. I realize we cannot solve for every possible issue, but we can prepare against the existing/known vulnerabilities such as the failing power grid, and digital connectivity.

We must seize control of our own decentralized energy infrastructure.

By doing so, we become resilient to power outages, mitigating our risk of power outages due to weather, floods, fires and attacks. This allows us to remain fully powered in both the physical and digital worlds we are building.

The solution I am advocating here is literally a decentralized, grid-independent, energy infrastructure, and we can use bitcoin or crypto mining to improve the economics.

Of course, if we are just solving for backup power, the simplest fix is to install a generator. But this only solves the immediate backup problem, and is subject to fuel supply and fuel pricing, both of which are vulnerable to disruption over the long term, and during major grid outage events.

The optimal solution takes a long-term view and mitigates for a variety of potential events, most importantly events that can affect power and digital connectivity. It is primarily about solving for grid independence while optimizing for sustainable economics, digital connectivity and ideally contributing to the resiliency of decentralized digital money (Bitcoin or others).

Here is the basic plan (will vary depending on what state you live in):

1. Install backup generator (ideally fueled by a natural gas line so you don’t have to refill).

2. Convert house to 100% electric (HVAC, stove, etc.), Install EV charger(s), optimize for energy efficiency.

   1. The goal here is to insulate yourself long term from fuel price fluctuations (which we are betting on rising), while also becoming as energy efficient as possible to keep your electricity consumption to a minimum.

3. Solar + battery system; determine optimal ROI on system using battery for grid services and then oversize solar/PV based on all available roof space.

   1. There are plenty of solar and battery installers who will do all this for you (Tesla, Sunrun, etc), but you will need to push for the oversizing of the solar as this will be outside of what is typical for them. This will be the key to oversizing your system for resiliency and utilizing bitcoin to take up the excess power production.

4. Mine crypto: based on oversized solar available watts, purchase ASIC (or GPU) mining unit to mine crypto at lowest possible power rate. Deploy software to optimize for mining returns.

   1. I will be taking lessons learned from Thomas Smith’s “

In data center terms, this is N+2 redundancy for the home. Although anyone can do most of the above, it is the mining portion that is new and relatively unproven to date. But if we can make this work, it could be deployed at scale to the benefit of all.

As for the results of this plan, you now own your energy infra, and will not be directly impacted by power outages even if they lasted for weeks/months.

The generator would only run in a worst-case scenario intermittently (or perhaps to charge the EV at times) and due to being 100% electric, you would have no direct exposure to natural gas or oil prices (aside from grid power).

And based on the incentive programs in many states, 99% of the time, while the grid/utility is operational, your system will be “bi-directional” meaning you will be able to participate in grid services and get paid for your system by the utility.

As for crypto mining, the business case and proof of concept is documented here, of which I will pilot a larger project and document/share the results.

Oversizing the solar and using the low-cost power to power a bitcoin (or GPU) miner not only appears to make good financial sense, but it also provides resiliency to the bitcoin miner network itself by being grid independent. The implications of this at scale are tremendous and should be explored thoroughly.

In conclusion, the progress in sustainable energy has been significant over the past 20 years and is finally at a price point where it makes financial sense to deploy sustainable energy infrastructure. And due to the grid programs available, in many states, we have the opportunity to seize control of our own energy infrastructure and break the dependency (and centralization) on the grid.

Considering the messy road ahead from a socio-economic, political and climate/environment perspetive, and compound that with the known vulnerabilities of the existing power infrastructure, it seems prudent to act now and take control of your energy infrastructure while you can.

I find this to be a very compelling concept and worth deploying a full-size pilot project, which I am happy to fund at my own risk as I think it’s a great fiat investment!

In fact, if you are already a homeowner, you likely have 18%+ equity appreciation in your property over the last 18 months, and interest rates are at the bottom. This is a great opportunity to finance the resiliency upgrade using cheap debt.

I would love to collaborate with others on this effort. Please reach out via DM on twitter @wabubenicek

gm: I propose we take control of our energy infrastructure and break the dependency on the grid and use bitcoin (or crypto) mining to get it done.

Leveraging bitcoin/crypto mining as an interruptible load, opens the door to a new energy design paradigm that allows us to become independent (or interdependent) of the grid.

About me: I am about one year into the crypto/web3 space (two years for BTC), and about 15 years in all things related to digital and energy infrastructure. You know, the dirty (physical) electric grid, power plants, clean tech, data centers, telecom towers/base stations, switches, fiber, etc.

I have spent most of my time/career thinking about the physical infrastructure, with a strong emphasis on energy infrastructure, behind all things digital (data centers, telecoms, fiber).

As I immerse myself into this fascinating space we call web3/crypto, I cannot help but point out a seemingly overlooked issue; energy ownership.

Decentralization: With web3, it’s all about ownership and decentralization. We now own our digital wallets, currency, NFT’s and ENS domains, but we don’t own the physical energy infrastructure that it all depends on.

Much like web2, our energy infrastructure is centralized, and due to the various incentive programs designed to decarbonize the grid, the solutions exist today in many markets, to take control of your own energy infrastructure, and become inter-dependent with the grid…meaning that owning our own energy infra pays over the life of the asset…like an NFT while you are on grid power, and provides resiliency when grid is down.

To me, this is an equally exciting and complimentary opportunity to web3, as it presents an elegant solution for the home of the digital/crypto age and a hedge to the likely volatile transition period we are entering.

This transition period of high volatility seems to be understood as we are all watching inflation, supply chain issues and referencing the Sovereign Individual as we are cheer on the ushering in of a new era. But it doesnt appear that we are preparing our physical lives to weather the storm. I realize we cannot solve for every possible issue, but we can prepare against the existing/known vulnerabilities such as the failing power grid, and digital connectivity.

We must seize control of our own decentralized energy infrastructure.

By doing so, we become resilient to power outages, mitigating our risk of power outages due to weather, floods, fires and attacks. This allows us to remain fully powered in both the physical and digital worlds we are building.

The solution I am advocating here is literally a decentralized, grid-independent, energy infrastructure, and we can use bitcoin or crypto mining to improve the economics.

Of course, if we are just solving for backup power, the simplest fix is to install a generator. But this only solves the immediate backup problem, and is subject to fuel supply and fuel pricing, both of which are vulnerable to disruption over the long term, and during major grid outage events.

The optimal solution takes a long-term view and mitigates for a variety of potential events, most importantly events that can affect power and digital connectivity. It is primarily about solving for grid independence while optimizing for sustainable economics, digital connectivity and ideally contributing to the resiliency of decentralized digital money (Bitcoin or others).

Here is the basic plan (will vary depending on what state you live in):

1. Install backup generator (ideally fueled by a natural gas line so you don’t have to refill).

2. Convert house to 100% electric (HVAC, stove, etc.), Install EV charger(s), optimize for energy efficiency.

   1. The goal here is to insulate yourself long term from fuel price fluctuations (which we are betting on rising), while also becoming as energy efficient as possible to keep your electricity consumption to a minimum.

3. Solar + battery system; determine optimal ROI on system using battery for grid services and then oversize solar/PV based on all available roof space.

   1. There are plenty of solar and battery installers who will do all this for you (Tesla, Sunrun, etc), but you will need to push for the oversizing of the solar as this will be outside of what is typical for them. This will be the key to oversizing your system for resiliency and utilizing bitcoin to take up the excess power production.

4. Mine crypto: based on oversized solar available watts, purchase ASIC (or GPU) mining unit to mine crypto at lowest possible power rate. Deploy software to optimize for mining returns.

   1. I will be taking lessons learned from Thomas Smith’s “

In data center terms, this is N+2 redundancy for the home. Although anyone can do most of the above, it is the mining portion that is new and relatively unproven to date. But if we can make this work, it could be deployed at scale to the benefit of all.

As for the results of this plan, you now own your energy infra, and will not be directly impacted by power outages even if they lasted for weeks/months.

The generator would only run in a worst-case scenario intermittently (or perhaps to charge the EV at times) and due to being 100% electric, you would have no direct exposure to natural gas or oil prices (aside from grid power).

And based on the incentive programs in many states, 99% of the time, while the grid/utility is operational, your system will be “bi-directional” meaning you will be able to participate in grid services and get paid for your system by the utility.

As for crypto mining, the business case and proof of concept is documented here, of which I will pilot a larger project and document/share the results.

Oversizing the solar and using the low-cost power to power a bitcoin (or GPU) miner not only appears to make good financial sense, but it also provides resiliency to the bitcoin miner network itself by being grid independent. The implications of this at scale are tremendous and should be explored thoroughly.

In conclusion, the progress in sustainable energy has been significant over the past 20 years and is finally at a price point where it makes financial sense to deploy sustainable energy infrastructure. And due to the grid programs available, in many states, we have the opportunity to seize control of our own energy infrastructure and break the dependency (and centralization) on the grid.

Considering the messy road ahead from a socio-economic, political and climate/environment perspetive, and compound that with the known vulnerabilities of the existing power infrastructure, it seems prudent to act now and take control of your energy infrastructure while you can.

I find this to be a very compelling concept and worth deploying a full-size pilot project, which I am happy to fund at my own risk as I think it’s a great fiat investment!

In fact, if you are already a homeowner, you likely have 18%+ equity appreciation in your property over the last 18 months, and interest rates are at the bottom. This is a great opportunity to finance the resiliency upgrade using cheap debt.

I would love to collaborate with others on this effort. Please reach out via DM on twitter @wabubenicek