24 Understanding Bitcoin's Energy Consumption w/ Mike Hobart

Bitcoin Bottom Line

On this episode of “Bitcoin Bottom Line,” host C.J. Wilson is joined by veteran and contributor to Bitcoin Magazine, Mike Hobart. Wilson and Hobart share similar backgrounds in exercise, physiology, and kinesiology. Hobart’s journey started in 2013 when he joined the military. He gives credit to the book, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl for opening himself up to finding purpose after being in a dark place. He studied exercise science while in school allowing him to now write articles on a wide variety of topics.

Hobart's curiosity in Bitcoin sparked during his deployment to the Middle East in spring of 2017. This was the first time he had a salary which led him to research investment theory. One of the most well known theories is, “You have to put your money where the market is going to go before the market goes there.” After watching bitcoin quadruple in four months he decided to invest. He studied the market for hours each day during his deployment.

Hobart has done in-depth research on bitcoin’s energy usage and believes that it is important to correct the misinformation that is being spread. He wrote an article on Microsoft’s energy consumption and discovered that each microsoft employee used roughly four thousand households worth of energy consumption per year. Wilson states, “I would say bitcoin is morally justified by producing a very high value in exchange for the energy use.”

Another popular topic in the bitcoin community is regenerative farming. Wilson asks Hobart’s opinion on why he thinks America needs regenerative farming and if there is anything that Bitcoiners have not considered before. Hobart was deployed with many farmers and was surprised to discover how many of them were trading bitcoin overseas. One thing that he was not aware of was what fertilizers are actually doing to the soil. Fertilizers are depleting nutrients in our soil and now our food has about 12.5% the nutrient density compared to the food our grandparents were eating. He believes that farmers need bitcoin for financial security. He goes on to say, “If the farmers do not have a financial vehicle with which to continue producing food, then we have no food.”

After working with many farmers, Wilson observed that, “farmers have very low time preference. If they are planting a tree, they have to wait 6 or 7 years for that tree to bear fruit. This is a real investment and time horizon that people do not understand... When farmers get into bitcoin, the are thinking ‘how can I hand this down to my kids.’” Farming is similar to trading with leverage.

Wilson wraps up the episode saying that the public perception is who started bitcoin and not who is in bitcoin now. Bitcoin is something different for everybody, with a wide range of options.

Listen to the full episode for more!