Henry Robinson and Roshan Shah from Decimal Digital Currency are at the forefront of the race for a more sustainable cryptocurrency mining, infrastructure, and technology. They recently launched new Bitcoin mining operation at the expansive Wolf Hollow data center in Granbury, Texas. In this interview with TechBullion, the team will be giving us an overview of the Bitcoin mining operation and an insight into the future of money.
Please tell us more about you and your roles at Decimal Digital Currency?
Hi, I’m Roshan Shah, I lead Decimal and focus on joint ventures, expanding our site portfolio, building industry partnerships, fundraising, and corporate strategy.
Henry is our crypto expert, focusing on all aspects of risk management, capitalizing on emerging trends, and the accumulation of industry best practices within Decimal.
What is Decimal’s primary focus as a crypto mining, infrastructure, and technology company and how do you utilize renewable power in crypto mining operations?
Henry Robinson: Our primary focus – and this should be true for all miners – is margin protection. Our rigs are among the most efficient available, meaning they require less electricity to do the same work than most machines deployed today across the Bitcoin network, and we have a regionally diverse portfolio of mining sites at extremely competitive power rates.
We participate in grid programs at several of our sites – when there is a spike in demand, we automatically respond by shutting down, which bolsters the value of solar and wind energy generation that can only operate intermittently. One of our sites is also fully powered by hydroelectricity and has among the lowest power costs in the U.S.
Could you explain the significance of Decimal’s Wolf Hollow Bitcoin mining deployment in Granbury, Texas and what inspired this?
Roshan Shah: The Wolf Hollow site was under development before the mining arms race really took hold which allowed us to lock into a long-term agreement at a very competitive energy cost. We visited the facility during the later stages of the buildout, the infrastructure is top-notch.
Could you give us an overview of the Bitcoin mining market, explaining how cryptocurrency mining works and how Decimal is involved in this process and contributes to the future of money and digital currency?
Henry Robinson: Bitcoin mining is not really all that different from what Visa or American Express do, the mechanism is just decentralized. When an authorized party issues a transaction on Bitcoin, we miners make that Bitcoin move and we earn a fee for our effort. If a miner does something incorrectly, the rest of the network rejects it, so together we act as a vast cryptographic security provider to Bitcoin. The network itself also creates brand new Bitcoin as a subsidy for each block, approximately every 10 minutes, to create additional incentives for miners to provide security to the network.
Decimal is building infrastructure to support the Bitcoin network into the future, with a particular focus on making the most of each watt of energy we consume, and we are moving into synergistic business lines like carbon capture and heat waste recycling.
Tell us more about the technological advancements or innovations introduced in your mining operations recently, giving us a walkthrough of Decimal’s Bitcoin Mining Deployment at Wolf Hollow Data Center?
Roshan Shah: The Bitcoin mining stack has many links in the chain; We optimize firmware, mining hardware selection, heat management, the configuration of power infrastructure, energy arbitrage, treasury, liquidation strategy, and hedging – and at each link we fine tune. We have optimized our machines to automatically speed themselves up or slowdown in response to temperature and preserve their components, we buy and sell hardware to upgrade machines when we notice pricing discrepancies, we minimize transformation and other energy loss, we routinely respond to power grid requests to support civil infrastructure around our sites, and we operate a long/short strategy on top of our production, similar to an oil producer.
Can you outline some of your key offers, features or benefits of your Bitcoin mining operations for potential investors or customers, what benefits does a company gain by partnering with Decimal for their crypto infrastructure needs?
Henry Robinson: Our current offering is Bitcoin mining as a fully managed service. We source hardware and data center space for investors, and then operate every aspect of their mining fleet, and deliver strong monthly cash distributions to the respective investors. There are also substantial tax benefits through accelerated and bonus depreciation. We’re very pleased with how it is going.
Can you discuss some of the advantages of using digital currency over traditional forms of money, are there any risks or challenges associated with operating a global crypto infrastructure business, and how does Decimal address them?
Roshan Shah: Digital currencies have many advantages over fiat money. Bitcoin, in any amount, can be sent anywhere in the world and all it requires is the internet. Cross border payment is still a costly, slow process for tradfi and crypto has solved it. In day to day commerce, merchants suffer greatly under monopolistic credit card processing fees and crypto can reduce costs here by orders of magnitude once adopted. In the longer term, preserving wealth in Bitcoin means one is not subject to the political whims of their central bank.
The primary risk today is security. Decimal operates with layers upon layers of security best practices and we train to identify threats. Education on best security practices among the masses is a necessary step for widespread crypto adoption.
With the latest challenges facing the Bitcoin mining industry, how do you ensure a sustainable approach to crypto mining while minimizing environmental impact at Wolf Hollow data center?
Henry Robinson: We focus on stranded energy and renewable energy. A Bitcoin miner, with the ability to turn on and off at a moment’s notice, is the perfect partner for an energy grid as we provide a base demand allowing for greater efficiency for our power generators. We are currently pursuing several sites powered by renewable energy.
What is next on your roadmap, does Decimal offer any opportunities for individuals interested in getting involved with cryptocurrency mining as an investment or career option?
Roshan Shah: We’re always looking to grow the team with passionate people who understand how blockchain technology will transform the global economy. We are building for the long term, so a perspective of patience and persistence is key. Our next hires will likely be an operations manager, finance lead, and to expand our trading desk.
Where do we see the future of Bitcoin mining and the future of money, any more tips you would like to share with our readers?
Henry Robinson: Bitcoin is here to stay. I envision it (at least partially) replacing the US Treasury Bond as the base collateral layer for global debt, which the price would need to be much higher than it is today to service. There is a long path to get there, though, and there will be plenty of ups and downs along the way. Don’t bet the farm, take a long-term view, learn as much as you can, and don’t chase anything that seems too good to be true.
For more information, visit the website: https://www.decimalgroup.io/
