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Compass Mining to add 25,000 ASIC miners just weeks after staff cuts
The Bitcoin mining company plans to expand its fleet of mining devices comes on the back of staff lay-offs and executive salary cuts just weeks before.
Compass Mining retrenches 15% of staff, execs to take major pay-cuts
Compass Mining parts ways with 15% of its workforce while senior employees and executives take major pay-cuts in the wake of the cryptocurrency downturn.
Compass Mining loses facility after allegedly failing to pay power bill
The facility owner Dynamics Mining publicly took to Twitter to share the letter terminating its hosting agreement with Compass Mining, saying it had unpaid bills.
“The United States Is Already Mining” Bitcoin… “Maybe,” Says Compass Mining CEO
Does the Compass Mining CEO know something we don’t? Is The United States mining Bitcoin? Whit Gibbs was a guest in a recent episode of Anthony Pompliano’s “The Best Business Show” and spilled the beans… or did he? The host cleverly disguised his question by talking about other countries following El Salvador’s footsteps and starting mining Bitcoin. He also mentioned Venezuela and other not-friendly to the U.S. countries already doing it. Then, he asked point-blank, what would it take for their country to start mining?
Related Reading | Will Bitcoin Mining Backed Volcano Bonds Be Enough To Ward Off The IMF?
“The United States is already mining,” Gibbs answered. And then softened the blow with a “Maybe.” If true, this is huge. And the implications are even greater. “They might have like 10 or 20 watts running somewhere in the midwest to test it out. Maybe. It’s hypothetically speaking. But, it’s a matter of national security.” Was that hypothetical? Or was the Compass Mining CEO giving us inside information? That’s what we’ll try to figure out.
But first, here’s the video:
What Does The Compass Mining CEO Know?
Well, for starters, he knows Bitcoin is the hardest asset ever created. “When it comes to mining, when you’re talking about what Bitcoin is, whether it’s a store of value, it’s a medium of exchange. It’s the future financial instrument that many, many things are going to be built on top of. Nations would have to be absolutely out of their mind to not be getting some exposure to the underlying infrastructure which supports it.”
So, it’s safe to say that the Compass Mining CEO is bullish on Bitcoin. Why do we think he might know something the rest of the world doesn’t, though? Gibbs continues, “So, the US I think is on the front foot. We’ve had a lot of conversations with the government in DC, state governments, to help educate them, but they are very forward-thinking when it comes to supporting this.”
So, does the Compass Mining CEO know something we don’t? Is The United States mining Bitcoin already?
Gibbs completes the idea by saying that El Salvador is showing the way to countries that are not at the forefront and, historically, have been hurt by the current system. They now know that being early to Bitcoin can make a huge impact and “get them there.”
BTC price chart for 12/03/2021 on FTX | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Other Countries That Are Already Mining Bitcoin
Story Time With Pomp And Gibbs. The host senses that the guest knows something and tries to get it out of him. Pompliano shares a story with him: he knows that in 2012-2013 a Federal law enforcement agency was mining Bitcoin. The rationale was that they couldn’t get a budget approved to buy Bitcoin at exchanges to fund black/ undercover operations. So, they filled papers to get computers instead and started mining. The Bitcoin they got was untraceable, it had no history. And they used it to run operations.
Then, it was Gibbs’ turn. “So, this is how you get in trouble,” the Compass Mining CEO answered. Cleverly, he shifted the focus from the U.S. to other countries. According to Gibbs, a North African country that’s a hotspot for the United States is getting into Bitcoin Mining. This is happening at the presidential level.
Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining In The U.S.: 4 States Attract The Most Miners
Also, he lives in Latvia. A very close neighbor of Latvia, “that may have stopped a plane no too long ago, to remove a journalist,” is already mining Bitcoin with nuclear power. The Compass Mining CEO closes his stellar presentation with, “I don’t believe that they’re mining Bitcoin to skirt sanctions. I believe that they’re mining Bitcoin because they see it as the future, and they want to boost their economy, they want to grow.”
You read it here first, Bitcoin is the future and many world leaders know it.
Featured Image by Christopher Skor on Unsplash – Charts by TradingView
The Navajo Nation Is Mining Bitcoin With Sustainable Energy. Here’s How
The Navajo Nation’s Bitcoin story might be the most wholesome of the last few months. The mine isn’t only providing employment within the reservation, it’s helping them transition from providing coal-powered energy to renewables. Another case study that proves Bitcoin incentivizes and funds green energy. Another story of Bitcoin helping the disenfranchised people of the world to find their footing.
Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course
How disenfranchised are the Navajo? “The Federal Government took away all the land rights away from the Navajo people,” says a disembodied voice in the Compass Mining mini-documentary. According to it, among the Nation:
- 48% are unemployed
- 40% live without running water
- 32% live off the grid
- 33% live below the poverty line
“But the Navajo are resilient people who’ve claimed the desert Southwest as home since time immemorial,” said director Will Foxley via Twitter. And now, they have Bitcoin on their side.
The First Bitcoin Mine In Navajo Territory
The audiovisual piece comes with this text as a companion, which tells the story of how the first Bitcoin mine came to be:
“In 2017, a small Canadian firm named West Block approached the Navajo about building a mine on Navajo land. At 8 megawatts (MW) in size after the initial round, the Navajo invested in an equity stake in the mine during the bear market of 2018. Three years later, Bitcoin mining has turned a corner to become one of the most profitable sectors of Bitcoin itself.”
Apparently, 58% of the mine’s energy already comes from the depicted solar farm. “The Bitcoin mine is incentivizing renewables to be built on Navajo country to replace coal,” says the mini-documentary’s narrator. Foxley claims that “the Bitcoin mine uses Navajo energy on Navajo land for Navajo employment.” However, the text states that “The Navajo chose to divest themselves at a profit.” The move was positive, though, because it ended up “placing the money back Navajo peoples hands with investments into the public utilities.”
Not only that, the mine uses renewable energy from the abundant Navajo sun. Nearby cities used to take Navajo energy (coal) off the reservation.
But the Bitcoin mine uses Navajo energy on Navajo land for Navajo employment. pic.twitter.com/NZUwigZ4vP
— Will Foxley 
(@wsfoxley) November 4, 2021
The Navajo Nation’s Transition To Clean Energy
In the past, the Navajo have had their runnings with dirty forms of energy. The text summarizes them this way.
“The Navajo story of the 20th century is fraught with energy abuse, including malpractice in coal and uranium extraction for people off the reservation. Today’s generation of Navajo continue to live with these negative externalities, such as heightened levels of radiation in well water.”
However, as the world is trying to phase out coal-powered energy, the Navajo innovate to keep up with the times. According to Walter Hasse, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority president, “I had excess electricity that I still had to pay for and deal with. Now, I want to build renewable energy to replace my lost coal resources that are throughout the nation. I need someone to consume that renewable energy resource.”
Who could consume that energy,? we wonder. What industry is mobile enough to move to the desert and start making money for everyone around right away? Well, the mini-documentary is all about exactly that exact phenomenon.
BTC price chart for 11/06/2021 on CEXIO | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Jobs For The Navajo People
Traditionally, the Navajo don’t want to leave the reservation. However, there are not many employment choices there. Until Bitcoin came along, that is. According to Foxley, the mine now hosts around 3,000 machines. According to the text, “The facility currently employs two full-time employees. With the expansion, that number will grow to eleven. That money then flows from the mine into local jobs creating even more buzz.” Not only that, the documentary’s narrator promises “more mines scheduled to come online in the coming months.”
Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining Vs. The World: BTC Leads Sustainable Energy
Considering a mining company commissioned both the audiovisual piece and the text, we could assume who’s behind those “more mines scheduled.” And we salute them.
Featured Image: Screenshot from the mini-documentary | Charts by TradingView
