#069 – Dan Morrison – Turning Stranded Waha Gas into Bitcoin
Justin Ballard (@JLB_Oso) and Jake Corley (@jacobcorley) sit down with oil-patch veteran-turned-Bitcoin-miner Dan Morrison to unpack Waha-gas economics, off-grid data centers, and why 2025 may finally be the oil-and-gas adoption year for Bitcoin mining.
Show Notes
00:00 Wildlife-podcast banter, Missouri recording location, and Dan’s long-overdue appearance
01:42 First meeting at the 2021 “secret” Houston Bitcoin meetup
03:10 Dan’s background: bankrupt E&P turnaround and “MBA-on-steroids” lessons
05:26 Buying distressed New Mexico assets & naming the venture “Amalgamated Sludge”
07:48 Paying $80/ TH for ASICs at the cycle peak and booting 1.3 MW of self-mining
10:55 Turning negative Waha gas into revenue: hosting deals, vintage ASIC strategy, 8-month ROIs
14:08 Why old oilfield operators resist Bitcoin—and what finally breaks the inertia
16:41 Basis differentials, dashed strip-price hopes, and why 2025 looks like the adoption inflection
19:15 Valuing green- vs brownfield sites for AI: speed-to-energize premiums & $/MW math
22:37 Gas-fired turbines, Elon’s Memphis play, and “BYOP” (bring your own power) legislation in Texas
25:02 “Moat mining”: pairing AI inference loads up front with flexible Bitcoin mining in back
27:40 Hydrocooling vs immersion and designing mines to survive the next two halvings
29:55 EPA rollbacks, CO₂ rules, and a regulatory pendulum swinging toward gas gen-sets
32:04 Ideal 2025 build: low-basis gas, Rocky Mountains or Permian, hydro-cooled S19-class fleet
34:30 Bridging cultures: tech speed vs. oil-patch hierarchy when herding data-center cats
36:12 Texas Mining Fight Club group texts, community collaboration, and swapping spare breakers
38:45 Future meetups, “super-secret” May 19 event, and final shout-outs
01:42 First meeting at the 2021 “secret” Houston Bitcoin meetup
03:10 Dan’s background: bankrupt E&P turnaround and “MBA-on-steroids” lessons
05:26 Buying distressed New Mexico assets & naming the venture “Amalgamated Sludge”
07:48 Paying $80/ TH for ASICs at the cycle peak and booting 1.3 MW of self-mining
10:55 Turning negative Waha gas into revenue: hosting deals, vintage ASIC strategy, 8-month ROIs
14:08 Why old oilfield operators resist Bitcoin—and what finally breaks the inertia
16:41 Basis differentials, dashed strip-price hopes, and why 2025 looks like the adoption inflection
19:15 Valuing green- vs brownfield sites for AI: speed-to-energize premiums & $/MW math
22:37 Gas-fired turbines, Elon’s Memphis play, and “BYOP” (bring your own power) legislation in Texas
25:02 “Moat mining”: pairing AI inference loads up front with flexible Bitcoin mining in back
27:40 Hydrocooling vs immersion and designing mines to survive the next two halvings
29:55 EPA rollbacks, CO₂ rules, and a regulatory pendulum swinging toward gas gen-sets
32:04 Ideal 2025 build: low-basis gas, Rocky Mountains or Permian, hydro-cooled S19-class fleet
34:30 Bridging cultures: tech speed vs. oil-patch hierarchy when herding data-center cats
36:12 Texas Mining Fight Club group texts, community collaboration, and swapping spare breakers
38:45 Future meetups, “super-secret” May 19 event, and final shout-outs
Creators and Guests
Host
Justin Ballard
Dad to two rockstars, General Counsel at Adakon Energy Solutions and Founding Partner at Firm 21m, THE Bitcoin only law firm. Tweets are not legal advice.
