Bitfarms' Expansion Strategy w/ Ben Gagnon and Alex Brammer

Welcome back to the Mining Pod! For this week’s stock show, Colin interviews Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon and Senior Vice President of Global Mining Operations Alex Brammer. Bitfarms made a name for itself as one of the first publicly traded bitcoin miners to expand into South America, first with its operations in Argentina and then in Paraguay. Now, Bitfarms is planning to house 50% of its future hashrate in Pennsylvania with its acquisition of Stronghold Digital. They discuss how their new portfolio in Pennsylvania gives Bitfarms the option to enter the energy trading business, and Bitfarms’s strategy for potentially breaking into the AI/HPC business by 2026. 👉 Get tickets to OP_NEXT by visiting the website! And use discount code OCTOBER to get 25% off at check out! Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:20 Why Bitfarms entered into the South American market 07:10 Experience with regulation and approval process in Paraguay 10:00 Difficulties with expanding in Quebec 13:50 Why Bitfarms likes the PJM power region 18:00 Stronghold acquisition: power market play, expansion play, or both? 23:40 Bitfarms HPC aspirations 31:15 Will bitcoin miners need to pivot to AI/HPC to remain relevant?  34:40 How mining can fill in demand gaps for AI/HPC 43:20 How Bitfarms plans to fund mining expansion and potential AI/HPC operations Published twice weekly, "The Mining Pod" interviews the best builders and operators in the Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining landscape. Subscribe to get notifications when we publish interviews on Tuesday and a news show on Friday!  👉Enjoying the show? Check out our newsletter at miningpod.blockspace.media! 👉 Check out Bitcoin Season 2 and The Gwart Show! Follow our hosts on Twitter: @wsfoxley, @cbspears, @AsILayHodling, @MatthewKimmell - Thank you to our sponsor, CleanSpark, America’s Bitcoin miner! "The Mining Pod" is produced by Sunnyside Honey Inc. with Senior Producer Damien Somerset. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices