POD256 | Bitcoin Mining, Freedom Tech, and Awesome Tangents

In this episode, the crew unpacks the debate around BIP 110, why it has become such a lightning rod in Bitcoin, and what it could actually mean in practice. We talked through the core disagreement over what counts as “spam” on the Bitcoin network, the difference between miner-activated and user-activated soft forks, and why some are skeptical that BIP 110 will achieve its stated goal. We also expl...

In this episode, we sat down with Skot and Ryan to unpack Ryan’s trip to BTC++ Nairobi, where he represented the 256 Foundation and shared our open-source mining mission with builders from across Africa. Ryan talked about the incredible energy of the local Bitcoin community, the real-world use of Lightning and mobile payments across borders, and why Africa offers such a powerful glimpse into Bitco...

In this episode, we catch up with Skot and Tyler on their travels to the Oslo Freedom Forum and BTC Prague, and dig into the fast-moving world of open-source Bitcoin mining. We recap last week’s conversation with AgentP about GridPool and the push to rethink decentralized pools, then explore why mining still feels like a “dark corner” of Bitcoin education and how the 256 Foundation is aiming to ch...

In this episode, we sit down with Agent P to unpack his open-source project GridPool, a radically simple approach to decentralizing Bitcoin mining payouts. We trace his journey from early concerns about mining centralization during the China ban to reverse‑engineering Ocean’s Datum client to build a compatible, open server—enabling client-side block template construction without relying on a centr...

In this episode, we debrief Telehash #4 and dig into the open-source future of Bitcoin mining. We share behind-the-scenes metrics from HydraPool’s six-and-a-half–hour live stress test, including 30.8 zettahashes processed, an average of 1.32 EH/s, a peak of 2.495 EH/s, 2,231 workers, 59 unique users, and an impressively low ~1% server CPU under >2,000 connections. We explain why rejection rates...

In this week’s catch-up, Skot, Tyler, & econoalchemist sit down with each other after a whirlwind couple of weeks and get the full down low from the Vegas conference—panels, debates, demos, and a surprise $100,000 grant win. They dive into the spirited on-stage debate over open source mining, why chip closed-ness doesn’t invalidate open source hardware, and how community-driven, transparent to...

In this episode, we go deep on a wild weekend of open hardware hacking across the 256 Foundation community. Skot walks us through getting Mujina running on an S19j Pro with Wi‑Fi via a hidden USB port, plus a USB hub and a repurposed open source touchscreen to display live hashrate, temps, and fan data—laying the groundwork for a tidy, Wi‑Fi‑connected, touchscreen miner retrofit. We also riff on A...

On Tax Day, we kick off POD256 #112 with a wide-ranging, host-perspective dive into home mining, open-source mining firmware, decentralized pools, and where the ASIC market is headed. We revisit the early laptop-to-industrial arc of Bitcoin mining, why home mining resurfaced around 2020, and how guides like Mining for the Streets and Home Mining for Non-KYC Bitcoin galvanized a wave of at-home tin...

In this episode, we kick things off with the joys and perils of being “nerd‑sniped” by new open-source hardware ideas—from sketching a $20 USB Bitcoin miner concept we jokingly dubbed Bitaxe Latte, to unveiling a tiny AC Infinity fan adapter board that lets miners control powerful, quiet duct fans via standard 4‑pin headers. We dive into firmware nuances, like PWM frequency tweaks and RPM reportin...

In this lively April 1 episode of POD256, we cut through the April Fools noise to share real updates from the open-source Bitcoin mining front. We preview the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, celebrate renewed grants for the 256 Foundation’s four core projects (Mujina firmware, Libre Board, Ember One hashboard, and Hydra Pool), and discuss our all-Bitcoin treasury experiment paying developer...

In this episode, Tyler and eco hold down the fort while Skot is away and dive deep into the frontier of Bitcoin-powered heating and open-source mining. They walk through a new Home Assistant + Venstar-based dashboard built for a customer that tracks miner-delivered BTUs vs. natural gas, stage changes, outdoor temps, sats earned, and economics—proving a single 5kW miner can carry a 3,000+ sq ft hom...

In this live episode from Denver, we rally behind the Samourai Wallet developers, Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill, who are serving federal prison sentences for building noncustodial privacy software. We preview our evening event and planned livestream with Lauren Rodriguez—who then drops in mid-show to share first-hand updates on the case, including SDNY’s aggressive jurisdiction tactics, the ju...

In this episode, we go deep on open-source Bitcoin mining firmware and tooling with Tyler, Skot, and eco. Skot shares his hack of running Mujina on stock Bitmain Antminer S19 control boards—no SD card, just Ethernet/USB flashing via LuxOS—unlocking full control of fans, single-board operation, and APW12 PSU management (with a cautionary tale about overheating and tripping a breaker). We discuss wr...

In this episode, we debrief the second annual Heatpunk Summit from the legendary Hashtub in Denver. We recap how builders from HVAC, hydronics, and home mining came together to advance hashrate heating—complete with live hardware demos, workshops, and a brutally constructive critique of our boiler setup from a pro hydronics engineer. We dig into galvanic corrosion gotchas, smarter system design, a...

In episode 105, we finally get the stream dialed and dive straight into hands‑on Bitcoin mining and open-source hardware updates. We share the latest on Ember One: a sneaky IO voltage domain bug uncovered by Mujina dev Ryan led to a desk‑side hardware fix that’s now pushing ~2 TH/s (target is 3.6 TH/s across 12 chips with proper cooling). We unpack chip and hashboard design lore—from stacked volta...

In this live episode of POD256 (Ep. 104), eco is joined by Scott and Tyler—freshly minted 256 Foundation board members—for a fast-paced tour through open-source Bitcoin mining, DIY heat reuse, and the growing role of AI in hardware and firmware. We showcase D++’s new livestream overlay and the public monitoring dashboard at dash.256f.org/monitor.html, experiment with zap-based chat, and talk throu...

In this episode, eco & Tyler Stevens, CEO and founder of Exergy Heat, to dig into why open-source hardware and firmware are critical for the future of Bitcoin mining, especially for heat reuse in homes and businesses. We had a surprise visit from Skot and Joe Nakamoto dialing in from El Salvador, providing us with updates from the Plan B conference. We talk candidly about the constraints of cl...

In episode 102, we are joined by Ryan, lead developer of the Mujina firmware, for a debrief on Telehash #3 live demo and the momentum around the 256 Foundation’s fully open Bitcoin mining stack. We walk through the sous vide miner demo that cooked ribeyes while mining on three Ember One hashboards with custom water blocks, controlled by our Libre board prototype running Mujina and pointed at Hydra...

In this episode, the 256 Foundation crew and developer d++ go deep on HydraPool, our open‑source Bitcoin mining pool stack, and the new HashDash and upcoming TeleDash dashboards powering the Telehash fundraiser stream. We unpack how HydraPool fits into the broader plan to open‑source the entire mining stack (hashboard, control board, firmware, and pool), its Rust-based design inspired by CKPool an...

In our 100th episode, we celebrate three years of POD256 and almost two years of building the open-source Bitcoin mining stack. We share behind‑the‑scenes stories from our first Telehash block find and chart what’s coming for 2026. We walk through how the 256 Foundation allocated over $400k in grants across Ember One (open hashboard design), Libre Board (open control board), Mujina (open miner fir...

In today’s POD256, we opened with a timely update on the Change.org petition to pardon Samourai Wallet developers Bill and Keonne. We dug into confusing verification flows, the low conversion rate from views to valid signatures, why pseudonyms and disposable emails are allowed, and why donations on Change.org don’t reach the families; direct support should go to GiveSendGo . We also covered the gr...

In this episode, eco & Tyler welcome back Skot who was at the African Bitcoin Conference, this year hosted in Mauritius, where he spoke on open-source Bitcoin mining. We swap travel tales (including Scott’s chaotic Paris layover) and impressions of Mauritius, the conference venue, and side events focused on Bitcoin education. We dig into mining headlines: Bitdeer’s missed ASIC roadmap and inve...

In this episode of POD256, Tyler and eco catch up on winter in Colorado, project trucks, and then dive deep into the latest in Bitcoin mining and freedom tech. We recap last week’s conversation with Keonne Rodriguez of Samourai Wallet, the urgent push for signatures on the pardon petition, and practical ways to support; while clarifying privacy-friendly ways to sign. We also discuss GrapheneOS ste...

In this urgent and heartfelt conversation, we sit down with Keonne Rodriguez, cofounder of Samourai Wallet, to unpack his prosecution and five-year federal sentence for building noncustodial Bitcoin privacy software. From the government’s shifting theory of “unlicensed money transmission” to conspiracy charges built on out-of-context tweets and slides, Keonne details how a noncustodial wallet was...

In this episode, we go deep on the shifting landscape of Bitcoin mining hardware, open-source firmware, and why trustless stacks matter for miners big and small. Fresh off the local Bitcoin++ in Durham, we recap the vibe: a developer-heavy crowd, real collaboration between devs and miners, and our announcement of the Mujina developer preview—an open-source mining firmware now publicly accessible f...