Gideon Powell: Pioneering Spirit Drives Bitcoin Mining Forward
Bitcoin miners may not get the credit they deserve for pushing the frontiers of innovation. You could call them modern day tomboys or explorers looking to the ends of the earth for untapped deposits. Gideon Powell is CEO of Cholla Inc. in Texas, which specializes in petrochemical exploration.
“If you look at it from a performance perspective, the computer cowboys are opening up new markets for data center power supplies. They’re also thinking about the future of industrial manufacturing.” Powell indicated that the technology is still in its infancy. Powell, who comes from a family of oil and gas explorers, said that mid-century energy exploration pioneers were semi-mythological to many people in the industry. Powell said they were like the gauchos in the South American pampas. However, the wildcat business has built the modern world.
Crypto, and Bitcoin in particular, could also be the basis of what’s next for humanity. It’s likely that the internet and new technologies like artificial intelligence and augmented realities will become even more integrated into everything over the next few decades. All of this costs energy.
Bitcoin mining is a technological process that can be used by energy producers, data miners and other operators. Powell said that bitcoin miners are leading the way in cooling computer chips and are now introducing liquid immersion machines. These advances can be used to give purpose-built bitcoin mining a slight advantage in what Powell calls the “ultimate market,” bitcoin mining. They could also find application throughout the data industry.
Powell discussed the three components required to build a data center, his bet on West Texas mining infrastructure, and how crypto mining innovations impact the rest of the silicon-based economy.
When we spoke earlier you mentioned the term “computer cowboys”. What does it mean exactly?
There are dozens of legends about the bitcoin mining industry that should be told. My dad has a collection of old Texas oil and gas history books and when I read them I think of the revolution we are in – bitcoin miners are like wildcats. These people achieved things no one had done before and they laid the foundation for modern society. Similar stories are spreading about bitcoin mining. I believe the future will be bright. Everyone is depressed. You just have to have the right perspective and look at people who are doing great things.
Do you think Bitcoin is the foundation for the next phase of human progress?
It is an important pillar. We still don’t have the right words to describe a digital, permissionless, decentralized network. It’s more than a commodity. It’s about more than just money. It’s not just about money. It’s the only thing that can reconcile these unique incentives. It is also a foundation that allows people from all over the world to collaborate without anyone’s permission. Bitcoin is a symbol of entrepreneurship, of frontier spirit.
What do you think of Bitcoin maximalism?
The term “Bitcoin maximalist” can mean different things to different people. This means someone is committed to bitcoin and isn’t aiming for any other currency. It’s good to have healthy competition in the market. Although Bitcoin is the strongest currency, there have been many innovations in other currencies. [at Cholla] I want to be part of it. But I don’t think anyone should be able to monopolize anything.
What role does bitcoin play in energy exploration? Entrepreneurs can also benefit from this. Do you see this becoming a separate endeavor in the future?
Cholla was historically an oil and natural gas exploration company focused on discovering and extracting hydrocarbons from the ground. The front end is very messy. About five years ago I started researching global electricity markets, which led to my interest in traditional electricity grids. In reality, we wanted to create CO2-neutral power generation. It can be a very small margin business.
We decided to invest in cryptocurrency mining instead of selling electricity. We built the first speculative bitcoin mining campus in west Texas and there were stories about it that lasted for days. In recent years, our company has grown into a diversified exploration company. We are no longer just an oil exploration company. We have several divisions including oil and gas exploration. Cholla Energy is a division we developed to find new locations for data centers and bitcoin mining campuses.
Is there a reason other than your family history that made you decide to settle in Texas?
Bitcoin miners can travel to places where traditional high-performance data centers are not available. It’s too risky. We’re all in West Texas. We have bought a large amount of land and are developing it in a targeted manner. The long-term goal is to bring to West Texas all the long-winded products like shore power and connectivity fiber that have been in development for years.
You read about our lack of power. Apparently we don’t have enough land or electricity. We have gigawatts and West Texas has some of the largest wind and solar power plants in the country. It will be the dominant data center for Bitcoin mining, as well as other emerging data center classes.
What are the possibilities for Metaverse and AI?
A lot of people are talking about Bitcoin mining companies moving to AI. It’s actually a completely different business, although the basics may be the same. They require a lot more power, land and connectivity. You must be using orders of magnitude more power worldwide talking about the metaverse and all the computing power required.
West Texas will be able to handle a campus with more than gigawatts in five to ten years. We have worked on high voltage infrastructure and land banking to ensure customers can scale in the high performance computing space. We do not build our own data centers.
It is similar to bitcoin mining. You need better connectivity and then you need manpower. Five years ago, there were no bitcoin miners in west Texas. It has now established itself quite well as a major Bitcoin mining headquarters. This circular building will ultimately create an economy that will provide the labor force, electricians, technicians, and people needed to run future data centers. The wildcatters are bitcoin miners who build all the feedstock. We can now manage all infrastructure, including long lead items, to reduce future AI risks.
Bitcoin miners were also pioneers on a technical level. I never knew if this technology could be used in other industries.
Bitcoin miners really pioneered cutting-edge cooling technology and power management strategies. Everything we do in bitcoin mining – from high density computing to various types of air immersion, direct chip phasing, etc. – is done by bitcoin miners. The extent to which bitcoin mining has evolved helps create economies of scale and de-risk other technologies. Bitcoin miners love it. We enjoy solving the most complex problems faced by the market.
You mentioned connectivity several times. I don’t think that part of the story is told well enough. What is the exact situation? Do you mean the laying of fiber optics?
Land, power and connectivity are the main components of any data center. Data centers are usually concentrated in areas with fiber optics. [optic cables]. Google built a data center in Midlothian, Texas on the outskirts of Dallas Fort Worth. Then more data centers popped up all over the place because Google brought the resources and fiber optics with them. No fiber optics are required for bitcoin mining. All you need is a decent internet connection. With Starlink you can achieve this anywhere in the world.
However, some data centers are mission-critical facilities and must be 100% guaranteed. The data centers must be able to transfer data in milliseconds and without downtime. Parallel computing and batch processing are no longer time-critical thanks to AI rendering. A new breed of data center will emerge where latency will no longer be as critical.
This gives you more options and reduces your capital costs - we could move these new AI data centers to other locations. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in Dallas. Would you be willing to put up with 5% downtime every year? Would you accept 5% downtime per year? You can stop rendering without losing the process and restart it when the wind and sun start blowing.
Like miners.
Bitcoin miners are pioneers in demand response. It’s possible that the bitcoin miners know their opportunity cost, but the AI might not. Data centers are only getting more complex.
Let’s take a look at the regulatory environment. Some Texas legislatures have proposed curbing bitcoin mining. Do you want to take a risk?
There is always a risk. What bitcoin miners are really good at is explaining and ordering the value proposition of grids. [private-public] Network reliability promotion programs. It is their trump card to be able to save gigawatts in real time. This is a game changer. It’s a game changer. There will always be some people who have concerns.
Why do you think more consumption is better?
Everything is powered by energy. We use energy for everything we do. The price affects this. Many people want to reduce emissions. This is directly related to power consumption. That’s not always true. I am interested in how you can promote individual freedom and human prosperity. Looking back into the past, it becomes clear that civilizations could not thrive without reliable and affordable energy. We can’t just mandate lower energy consumption to reduce emissions.
More efficiency in the energy sector is also a positive thing. That means fewer resources. We shouldn’t be talking about reducing economic growth. We have unlimited resources. We will never run out of oil, gas or solar molecules. We need to be more innovative in space.
Are you following the merger process?
We are generation independent. Bitcoin mining is a great thing because it’s the first time ever that innovation has been democratized. It will take billions of dollars to invent fusion technology. In order to be able to afford bitcoin, you must have a large business or be independently wealthy. Bitcoin’s pursuit of profit allows anyone with a computer and an internet connection to do so.
In other words, where there used to be only a small group of energy entrepreneurs, there is now a global network encompassing anyone who can invent something to make it better and more affordable. The Bitcoin network rewards you instantly.
