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Here’s how we accidentally built Germany’s first green Bitcoin mining company.
THREAD.
THREAD.
I’ll be honest with you.
I ( @matrenitski) was just looking for some business arbitrage.
Specifically, things that were cheap and available in Russia and expensive in Europe.
What I found was electricity was VERY cheap in Russia and investments were abundant in Germany…
I ( @matrenitski) was just looking for some business arbitrage.
Specifically, things that were cheap and available in Russia and expensive in Europe.
What I found was electricity was VERY cheap in Russia and investments were abundant in Germany…
It was really just a thought experiment at first.
I was searching for a way to export energy from a cheap location to a place where it wasn’t so cheap.
BUT - without the hassle of physically exporting the energy!
I was searching for a way to export energy from a cheap location to a place where it wasn’t so cheap.
BUT - without the hassle of physically exporting the energy!
I even calculated how many Teslas you need to charge in Russia and bring to Germany to get any significant import flow 
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But then I remembered about my crypto mining experiments from back in 2014.
I still had a picture of my very first Dragonminer 1TH/s on my fridge...
But then I remembered about my crypto mining experiments from back in 2014.
I still had a picture of my very first Dragonminer 1TH/s on my fridge...
But then I remembered about my crypto mining experiments from back in 2014. I still had a picture of my very first Dragonminer 1TH/s on my fridge..." title="I even calculated how many Teslas you need to charge in Russia and bring to Germany to get any significant import flow https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧐" title="Gesicht mit Monokel" aria-label="Emoji: Gesicht mit Monokel">But then I remembered about my crypto mining experiments from back in 2014. I still had a picture of my very first Dragonminer 1TH/s on my fridge..." class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
And I started researching.
I found out there was no legal way to do cross-border crypto-mining hosting in Russia yet.
There were some farms in China, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Turkey and Italy…
But, crucially…
I found out there was no legal way to do cross-border crypto-mining hosting in Russia yet.
There were some farms in China, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Turkey and Italy…
But, crucially…
None of them had access to electricity as cheap as Siberia….
None of them were as COLD as Siberia...
None of them had maintenance costs as CHEAP as Siberia….
None of them were as COLD as Siberia...
None of them had maintenance costs as CHEAP as Siberia….
I shared the idea of using Bitcoin as a way to export cheap, clean energy with a friend, Pavel.
This was 2017.
The timing was right with the crypto space booming but lots of people getting rekt with mining scams.
We decided to give it a go.
This was 2017.
The timing was right with the crypto space booming but lots of people getting rekt with mining scams.
We decided to give it a go.
Our goal was to be different.
Transparent.
And GREEN.
We wanted to move the industry from the dark and shady and into the light…
Transparent.
And GREEN.
We wanted to move the industry from the dark and shady and into the light…
We built the legal framework, and looked for partners that were prepared to do it “white hat”.
It was unchartered territory...
For our first electricity hosting partner, I even had to write the contract myself on their behalf.
Now, 3 years later…
It was unchartered territory...
For our first electricity hosting partner, I even had to write the contract myself on their behalf.
Now, 3 years later…
It’s hard to say exactly what our influence has been…
But I like to think the whole industry has grown up somewhat.
(Even though a lot of players still operate in the shadows...)
But I like to think the whole industry has grown up somewhat.
(Even though a lot of players still operate in the shadows...)
