Jamie, what do you think of this latest development in in that approach?
I think it is what we expected to see it is.
It's unfortunate. We had eight where a minor of an area
and certainly would have would have liked to see it continue as a group work
network. Mike, Mike, what do you think of the
S.E.C.? Is deal with crack and the idea that
staking as a service they see as a security?
Echo that sentiment and the proof of stake allows concentration of larger
funds just buying up simply the coin and having an influence on the networks,
grassroots work is truly democratized. You have a network of
miners globally contributing to networks and securing how the how of the platform
performs. I'd love to double down on that with
you, Jamie, because you would just kind of mention this idea where you had mined
theorem as well. You know, what's the path forward?
It was interesting to see a theory and prices really rebound.
Even with that looming threat of greater regulatory oversight or crackdown, if
you will. So what's the road ahead for assets
outside of Bitcoin? I think it's really it's really
difficult to say, and certainly clarity is something that the industry
desperately needs in order for it to chart
a more solid path forward. And you know, Michael, on that note as
well to, you know, what does it do now that the book, both of your companies
are put together in an industry that was so sorely bruised after last year, you
are seeing this kind of price increase this year?
What is that price increase in Bitcoin itself mean for the merger of both of
your companies? We have a ton of synergies.
We always held cuts the highest regard and with Jamie at the helm.
Being able to be so disciplined throughout the bull markets, whereas the
rest of the public peers were bought into the hysteria and bought very
expensive hardware. The companies that come out as true
winners are built in the bear markets. It's it's its it's maintaining that
balance sheet and knowing how to be agile and navigate the downturns.
What's your approach, Mike, to the energy usage debate?
I know Jamie has long been a champion of greener mining at Hot 8.
How do you approach this problem? Absolutely, it is shown within the sites
that we operate out in New York. We're right at Niagara Falls, where over
90 percent hydro in Texas, we have sites that are behind the meter directly on
the sites of the energy generation at the solar farms, out of wind farms.
We partner with the energy companies, renewable energy companies.
So, Jamie, in terms of your business, you've long benefited from the fact that
And we just heard from Michael Shalom saying he's worried that the kind of
regulation we're going to get post RTX is going to push businesses out.
How do you view that in light of this combination?
I think geographic diversity is is really important.
We've long been exclusively in Canada really looking for the right entry point
into the into the US and we believe we found the perfect partner in U.S.
pick to do that. Jamie, do you think that after this
merger there are more opportunities for consolidation?
You know, a lot of the issues of last year was the unwillingness of capital
markets to really open up to the crypto sector.
A lot of nervousness around the mining sector.
But you did see very interesting deals pop up.
You saw interesting rescue financings. What are the capital markets and merger
environments look like for you now as a bigger company?
Yeah, I think we were expecting to see consolidation in this space.
It was a little bit late to come, but we have seen some really interesting deals
in mining in the last few months. And I think we're going to continue to
see more eminent activity during the balance in 2023.
Well, what about for you? I mean, is there anything that you could
do to either raise more money or buy more assets as you've seen so many other
companies struggle? I think our focus right now is entirely
on getting this deal closed and bringing the companies together.
But certainly I've been I've been on a growth
trajectory and I don't see that as something that will change in a new hot
post closing of the.