Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh are mining bitcoin off flare gas from oil drilling.
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The Giga executives are also big believers in the power of bitcoin to create a new kind of financial freedom. A bitcoin mining rig runs a program on a computer to try to solve a puzzle before anyone else does. Solving that puzzle is what completes a block, a process that both creates new bitcoin and updates the digital ledger keeping track of all bitcoin transactions.
One method is to vent it, which releases methane directly into the air – a poor choice for the environment, as its greenhouse effects are shown to be much stronger than carbon dioxide. A more environmentally friendly option is to flare it, which means actually lighting the gas on fire. "In 2018, I got laughed out of the room when I talked about mining bitcoin on flared gas," said Ortolf."The concept of bringing hydrocarbons to market without a counterparty was laughable."
It was a natural reaction for Whitehead, who comes from a long line of"wildcats," a term used to describe those who engage in high-risk exploratory drilling. Once the college classmates had the physical equipment they needed, they leveraged a connection who had some flare gas. "We were able to come in and say, 'Hey, you're flaring, and you shouldn't be. You're doing stuff that's illegal, and you have opportunity here, because you have a shut-in well. We can take all this gas,'" recounted Whitehead.
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