Most people scrap their old ASICs, ship them overseas, or let them gather dust. Ben Smith (Bear Market Mining) offers a fourth option: profit-split hosting that keeps end-of-life machines online in the US. Ben joins me — you can hear the miners running in the background — to break down the model he built at his Walnut Ridge site: a 5.8¢/kWh all-in rate, a straight 50/50 split of net profit after power (60/40 on S21s), no deposits, no rack fees, and no long-term lock-in. We get into why he'd rather stack the Bitcoin than take your dollars, the 10,000-unit S19 redeployment that inspired the whole idea, why he doesn't think hashprice climbs back to $80, how he keeps six-year-old machines alive with a wall of spare parts and Braiins firmware, exactly how the pool split is calculated every 30 days, and his hard-won take on immersion cooling (spoiler: 180 machines still sit in his bath). Plus the hydro build, dry coolers running in 110°F heat, and the too-cold startup problem nobody warns you about.
👤 Guest: Ben Smith — Founder, Bear Market Mining (President, Arkansas Blockchain Council)
Bear Market Mining: https://bmmining.tech
Optimization Calculator: https://bmmining.tech/optimization.html
Schedule a Consultation: https://bmmining.tech/apply.html
Contact: ben@bmmining.tech
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro — end-of-life ASICs and the profit-split pitch
5:00 Walnut Ridge: from immersion to air to hydro
10:30 The profit-share model — 5.8¢ all-in and why Ben stacks BTC over dollars
16:30 Redeploying dead fleets: the 10,000-unit S19 second-life story
23:00 Profit-split incentives: downside protection vs giving up upside
29:30 Why Ben doesn't think hashprice hits $80 again (Rockdale, difficulty, the bull case)
36:00 The construction side: 200 MW built + becoming Arkansas' #2 power buyer
42:00 Running old units: free part swaps, Braiins firmware & underclocking
47:30 How the split actually works: Braiins pool, 30-day cycle, power paid first
52:00 Full deal terms: no deposits, no rack fee — just ship it
57:00 Hydro infrastructure, dry coolers & the too-cold startup problem
1:01:00 Immersion reality check: why 180 machines still sit in the bath
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Altair Technology — ASIC hardware, replacement parts & mining infrastructure
Code: HASHRATEUP
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#BitcoinMining #ProfitSplitHosting #BitcoinHosting #ASIC #S19 #HydroCooling #BearMarket #Braiins #MiningPool #Arkansas #EndOfLifeASIC #Bitcoin #HashrateUp
