Why Oil Companies Are Quietly Mining Bitcoin w/ Stephen Barbour
Show Notes
🔗 Steve Barbour:
X (Twitter): https://x.com/SGBarbourLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-barbour-3b6b3092/Upstream Data: https://upstreamdata.ca
Steve Barbour, founder of Upstream Data, has been building off-grid Bitcoin mining infrastructure for oil and gas companies since 2017. In this episode, Jesse sits down with Steve to explore why oil companies are now self-mining Bitcoin, how the secondary ASIC market is finding a home in the oilfield, and what portable infrastructure really means for the future of mining.
They dig into Steve's three-bear-market journey building Upstream Data, why he added VFDs and generator packages to straddle both the Bitcoin and oil field services markets, and what the AI pivot actually means for miners who stayed flexible. Steve also shares why he believes Bitcoin belongs at the edge — and why the big miners who built fixed grid facilities may have made a costly mistake.
Whether you're an operator, an energy professional, or a serious Bitcoiner, this episode is packed with ground-level insight from someone who has been doing oilfield Bitcoin mining longer than almost anyone.
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