Kristian Csepcsar

💥 Another block found using on-demand hashrate!

A miner found a 3.125 BTC block by renting hashrate through Braiins Hashpower and pointing it to Parasite Pool.

• Block: 938713 • Hashrate: 6 PH/s • Budget: $200 • Hashpower fees: 0

Congratulations👏

For my friend’s birthday I framed the original El Salvador newspapers from the important days since the announcement of bitcoin as legal tender.

Happy birthday, boss!

Use bitcoin and do cool shit.

Don’t print money, bake bitcoin cakes

Robin is a bitcoin podcast beast. This was fun!

✅Saylor as a bad actor ✅Heaters vs corporate hashrate ✅Bitaxes overtaking the world

Episode drops next week. Thanks for the invite man🤘

300 people came for a signed copy of my Mining Guide, blessed. My main message was that most shouldn’t mine, but everyone should understand it. Next book party at NABS 🤙

6 years ago I quit KPMG.

Today I launched my book in Hong Kong.

250 copies gone in 2 days.

Big thanks to… me 😁

For having the guts to walk away from a stable, well-paid career that looked good on paper but felt like slow death in the long run.

I jumped into bitcoin without knowing much.

Just curiosity, and a feeling it mattered.

So let me be the proof: if I can figure it out and build a career in it, so can you.

My book will help you do the same.

The whole industry, made simple.

🟠 Free ebook → Braiins website 🟠 Physical book → Amazon & Braiins Store in September 🟠 Audiobook → YouTube & Spotify in October

I’d be honored to hear your feedback.

Looking back, it’s funny how this all started…

Four years ago I had a small idea. What if Braiins launched a bitcoin publishing house?

Not for profit, just to give back.

Since then: ✅ 10+ titles in Czech ✅ Now our 9th English title ✅ Free ebooks ✅ Physical books on Amazon

We’re building the bitcoin library I wish I had when I started.

I love it.

And now, village boy launching a bitcoin book in Hong Kong.

Life is wild.

Thanks to everyone who supported me along the way.

I almost gave up more than once.

But here we are.

Blessed 🧡

And I’m not slowing down.

Let’s do a mining documentary, podcast, and more.

Onwards!

LuckyMiner strikes again 😅 After community push for open-source… they dropped another closed Bitaxe derivative.

It stacks like GPUs via PCIe, powered by a cheap ASIC PSU. Neat. So I asked about FOSS, again. Got offered Chinese wine and a cigarette instead..

This is Adam.

Adam is a bitcoin and hydrocarbon maximalist. Adam mines quieter than your dishwasher.

Be like Adam.

Prague is based🔥

Anything can be Bitcoin Propaganda! Even a half a megawatt wind tunnel 🫡

My friend built a house… heated by a bitcoin miner.

6 kW hydro Antminer heats the whole 140 m² (1500 ft²) home plus hot water for the bathroom.

He called this a “Bitcoin Shower Project” but I think it’s a Hashpunk Citadel 🔥

Cheers to Friday with Bitcoin Beer 🍻

Visited the LuckyMiner factory in China 🇨🇳

They don’t mess around.

And they also don’t care about open source.

Highlights and full Q&A 👇

🟠 PROFESSIONAL FACTORY

LuckyMiner R&D and assembly is co-located in a big electronics factory.

This factory has a full SMT line and professional-grade assembly shared with other major clients.

SMT = Surface Mount Technology, an automated process where machines place components directly onto a printed circuit board (PCB).

In short, this is how real electronics are made at scale.

And this SMT line is brand new and worth millions of dollars.

It’s a line for the big boys.

And many big mining brands we all know manufacture here.

LuckyMiner has their offices, R&D, assembly and testing upstairs.

Just a floor above the SMT line in the photo.

Daily production capacity ∼600 LuckyMiners.

But for larger orders they can access the huge assembly line downstairs.

This is as high tech as it gets.

Do you want to see more photos? 📸

🟠 Then I sat down with the CMO and CTO.

This Q&A could be titled:

FROM BITAXE CLONES TO PROPRIETARY DESIGNS

or also known as

WE CARE ABOUT MONEY, NOT FOSS

Here we go:

Q: Why is the firmware closed source despite using Bitaxe?

A: Our focus is speed and delivery. Open source creates upgrade confusion and more support issues for non-technical users. They prefer a locked-down, “stupid-proof” experience to avoid bad reviews, returns, and additional customer service workload.

Q: Will you open-source the firmware in the future?

A: They said “gradually,” but without any specific plan. They claimed LV05 firmware is already open and provided a GitHub link. For LV07 and LV08, they shared a third-party community-maintained link but said it’s not officially supported or maintained by them.

Q: Can users install AxeOS?

A: No, LV07 and LV08 hardware isn’t compatible.

Q: What’s the difference between LV07 and LV08?

A: LV07 has 2 chips and LV08 has 9. Both are proprietary hardware, no longer Bitaxe clones.

Q: Will you collaborate with OSMU?

A: We are open in principle, but language and cultural barriers make it hard. We’re not actively doing it.

Responses became vague or hesitant when pressed further.

Q: How does LV07/08 performance compare to Bitaxe?

A: They said it’s hard to compare because LV07 and LV08 are different designs. There's no universal benchmark. But they emphasized that their production quality is higher and pointed to their professional factory setup, which also produces hardware for mainstream mining brands.

Q: What sets you apart from typical Chinese hardware?

A: They emphasized better quality, professional assembly or injection-molded casings (unlike Bitaxe which is 3D printed). They said they care about building a good brand reputation in Asia to minimize support problems or negative reviews.

Q: What’s your quality control process?

A: Didn’t share specifics, just said it’s a priority. Their facilities back this up with a dedicated 300 units testing bench, professional factory resources, and in-house assembly.

Q: What caused the LV08 shipping pause?

A: They said the reliability wasn’t ideal and they decided to redesign the board before continuing full production.

Q: Why can’t firmware be updated via GUI?

A: Most users aren’t technical. Allowing GUI updates increases returns and bad reviews. They prefer a locked-down or “stupid-proof” experience.

Q: Will you support other algos like Kaspa?

A: No plans now but we’re watching trends. Recently we had some talks with ETC miner companies. But we will continue to release more consumer oriented products this year.

Q: Any plans for a budget Ember One-style miner?

A: We don’t know what that is.

Q: What’s an ideal miner form factor and specs?

A: Depends on market segment. There is no one model which would fit all mining use cases.

The goal here is not to defend them.

After all, they greeted me with a Braiins Mini Miner clone.

But it’s interesting to see their ops and try to understand their mentality.

However, we won’t get more than this.

I pressed, followed up when answers were vague, tried from different angles.

Nothing helped.

They know what I’m asking and they want to keep their face.

On the other hand the tour was fascinating and they seem like nice guys to talk over lunch.

🟠 TLDR:

Open source is a liability to them.

Making quick money is everything.

Sharing makes competitors move faster.

…

There is nothing else to add to this story.

Visited MicroBT HQ in Shenzhen 🇨🇳

First reaction to the list of community questions: “Is this industrial espionage?”

In China, everyone’s a competitor and the default is: SHARE NOTHING. But I got them talking a bit, Q&A soon.

Vegas was wild… but Braiins didn’t (and won’t) sponsor.

My highlights from the world’s biggest bitcoin conference 👇

🔶 VIBE IS CHANGING

The conference was massive but felt very different.

As Bob Burnett put it: the suits are here.

Mainstream, crypto influencers, even Hollywood actors.

The underground punk days are over.

It’s not bad, just different.

And it’s not going back.

🔶 NO BOOTH, NO REGRETS

First time in years we at Braiins didn’t sponsor.

Why?

Because more retail foot traffic doesn’t help me when most people are asking “so… what’s bitcoin mining?”

Same booth, same team but only way more retail walkups asking basic stuff.

Not worth the budget.

Not for a b2b mining software company like Braiins.

So we just bought tickets and mingled.

Best decision ever.

🔶 BOOTH HIGHLIGHT

I met a company called Ferveret.

Never heard of them before.

They’re doing modular 2-phase immersion so each miner is in its own sealed pod.

Smart solution to the usual full-container downtime problem.

I would’ve missed it if I was stuck in a booth explaining what mining is.

Interesting design!

🔶 SIDE MISSIONS > MAIN CONFERENCE

Most value happens outside the venue.

Dinners, drinks or off-road racing tournament with Cholla (photo of Gideon throwing my inflatable and Brad mid car jump).

The best business meeting ever.

Small side events and curated guest lists.

That equals actual business.

Will focus on that more moving forward.

Few hours at the conf is enough.

🔶 BITCOIN GOLF TOURNAMENT

Best side event of the week?

Samara-sponsored golf tournament by Bitcoin Sport Network.

They are doing it right:

Curated guest list + fun activities = the best networking.

Brains books and beers were there too 🍻

Looking forward to the next one.

BSN guys are the best event organizers.

🔶 WE ARE DONE SPONSORING

We’re cutting way back on booth sponsorships.

Conferences bring more retail, but that’s not our target.

Side events + direct meetings = better vibes and better ROI.

Bye bye conference sponsorships.

Hello more marketing budget!

🔶 CITY CHOICE MATTERS

Vegas was perfect.

15-min Uber ride for everything.

Quality hotels, activities, parties, shows.

Everything in one place.

Keep Vegas for next year, then give us a new city to explore (not Miami or I’m out).

Thank you Vegas, you delivered 🫡

Got questions for WhatsMiner?

I’m visiting their HQ in China next week and I’ll ask anything you drop below 👇

Never sell your bitcoin. Not even for Philly’s finest cheesesteak.

Comment NEVER SELL for a chance to win the book 🔥

Texas. I’m so back.

Texas oilfield bitcoin.

LIVE ON YOUTUBE 🔥

Link you know where 👇

Texas oilfield bitcoin.

LIVE NOW ON YOUTUBE 🔥

https://lnkd.in/eAJt6ax3

Two open-source bitcoin mining control boards now exist.

But why two? 🤔👇

We open sourced BCB100 in January.

Then 256 Foundation announced their own FOSS board project.

I was confused.

Why not build on top of ours?

They said their goals were different.

That it’s easier to start from scratch…

And now that we’ve seen more details,

IT MAKES SENSE.

Two boards. Two directions.

BCB100 (by Braiins) 🟠 Built for industrial-scale uptime 🟠 Plug-and-play with any S19 miner 🟠 Tested in harsh real-world environments 🟠 Easily adaptable for new industrial models (e.g. swap fan connectors for S21 series)

Libre Board (by 256 Foundation) 🔸 Built for home mining and DIY projects 🔸 Based on Raspberry Pi Compute Module (CM), modular and easy to expand 🔸 USB-C and WiFi support, great for small home setups 🔸 Ideal for tinkerers building heaters, automation, or custom rigs 🔸 Not built for high-density or industrial use

The design focus is what separates them.

Adapting Libre for industrial use is possible but not practical.

Adapting BCB100 for new industrial use cases is faster and requires fewer changes.

TWO BOARDS. TWO USE CASES.

BOTH OPEN 🔥

Choose what fits.

Let’s build!

I’m visiting the Lucky Miner factory in China this week.

Got any questions or messages for the guy behind this closed-source Bitaxe clone? I’ll report back 👇

I’m still fat.

Lost some weight by walking more, but it’s not enough. Target: 100 push-ups a day. Did 10 yesterday and everything hurts.

Making it public so I can’t slack. Update in a month!

Six years ago, I quit my fiat job.

Today I was flying a drone inside a mining container factory in China, shooting another behind-the-scenes video.

Thanks, bitcoin 🤘

Historic moment in bitcoin mining: Bitdeer enters the hardware game.

Here’s additional context based on comments from my previous post 👇 1️⃣ Machine reliability 2️⃣ Production 3️⃣ Tariffs 4️⃣ BTDR stock

The excitement for Sealminer A2 has been strong.

Some resellers claim they sold 15% of their stock in the first 24 hours.

That’s a great start.

But…

In mining, early hype means nothing if the machines don’t survive long-term or if production can’t scale.

1️⃣ MACHINE RELIABILITY

Let’s remember: no one outside Bitdeer has them running yet.

Bitcoin miners have been burned before. Many times.

So I highly recommend caution.

Buy some units. Let them run.

Wait to scale until the machines are battle-tested in harsh conditions for long enough.

We still know very little about these machines or their software.

And everything looks good on paper.

2️⃣ ON-TIME VOLUME PRODUCTION

Manufacturing excellence is the other side of the coin.

Bitdeer still has to prove it can ship on time and in bulk.

They’ve already had one round of delays and reallocated units.

They’re the only bitcoin hardware manufacturer I’ve seen refund preorders.

Not a great start.

Deliveries are now rolling, but a few weeks behind schedule.

They also canceled their original hydro unit and jumped straight to the “Pro” hydro version, which should ship in June.

So yes, some early operational hiccups.

Caution is in place.

(immersion: no information about those models yet)

3️⃣ TARIFFS

Chinese-made miners are OK right now.

They’re classified as computers, so duties are manageable.

But Vietnam has an edge.

Lower base tariffs and better US trade relations = fewer risks.

That’s why Vietnam matters.

Bitmain does the same by manufacturing some models in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Bitdeer adding Vietnam contributes to global decentralization of hardware production.

This is huge.

This part of the story is bigger than most think.

MOQs: most units are sold to large resellers, who then sell to retail. So contact your supplier (like us at Braiins Store) for more info.

4️⃣ BTDR STOCK

Yes, Bitdeer is its own biggest client.

They mine with their machines first.

Same as Bitmain, but Bitmain isn’t publicly traded.

Extra points for BTDR.

That also gives Bitdeer an edge over other US public miners who don’t make their own hardware and rely on Chinese manufacturers.

This introduces a whole new player into the public miners race.

I’ll be watching BTDR’s performance closely.

EXCITING TIMES 🔥

This is just the beginning.

I’m not surprised others are just as hyped as I am.

We’ll publish a teardown soon and share what we learn.

Follow me so you don’t miss it. 🦭🦭🦭

Bitmain ruled for a decade. The monopoly ends today.

Bitdeer's Sealminer A2 by is now shipping.

This company was born inside Bitmain, is backed by Tether, and trades on NASDAQ 🇺🇸.

Here’s the full story—and why it matters 👇

Bitmain has dominated bitcoin mining hardware since 2013 with Antminers.

Founded by Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan, they built an empire—always the number one, holding 80% of the market to this day.

No one comes close.

But then came internal politics.

Around 2019, the two founders started fighting for power.

Classic case of “two roosters in one room.”

By 2021, it ended with Jihan stepping down—taking some assets and business units with him.

That’s how Bitdeer was born.

A FORK OF BITMAIN.

At first, Bitdeer focused on self mining, hosting, and cloud mining.

Gigantic mining operations.

Then in 2023, they went public on NASDAQ as BTDR.

New capital for big plans.

In 2024, Bitdeer announced they’d start building miners—including their own ASIC chips.

So they acquired DesiweMiner (remember them?)

A Chinese bitcoin ASIC R&D team.

At the end of 2024, they promised their first flagship miner: the A2.

Supposed to ship in Q1 this year.

Slight delays, but…

TODAY IT BECAME REAL.

The Sealminer A2 is now shipping worldwide.

🔶 Hashrate: 220–240T 🔶 Power: 3630–3960W 🔶 Efficiency: 16.5 J/T

✅ Made in Vietnam—not China ✅ In stock—hundreds available now

Prices are great and tariffs are low—it qualifies as a “computer,” so it’s import-friendly.

Let us know if you want to try a few units, we now sell mini hardware too at Braiins.

But there’s more to the story…

TETHER INVESTED $150M.

And got ~25% of Bitdeer.

Remember that Tether made $13B profit in 2024.

So we will see their influence grow across the entire bitcoin space.

They’re the deepest pockets in the space—printing profits like no one else.

So yeah... mining power dynamics are shifting.

🟠 Bitdeer is here with cash and experience. 🟠 Tether is buying influence right and left. 🟠 BTDR is a real contender with a real product.

So WEN Braiins OS for 🦭?

We just ordered a few A2 units for testing.

We’ll take them apart, benchmark them, and see what’s under the hood.

Can we port Braiins OS to them?

Maybe.

We’ll report back soon.

Until then—watch this space.

Because...

Hardware is hard. But Bitdeer isn’t playing around.

And more competition is always a good thing ⚡

The Bitcoin ASIC Queen said YES💍

Happy to announce the genesis of the Bitcoin Mining Power Couple.

Of course I did it the most bitcoin way possible—and of course there’s a propaganda video coming

This story split the room.

Some say patents and licenses are fiat, and copying is how we move forward. Others say the guy’s a fraud—and no true Bitcoiner. No consensus 🤔

This illegal Bitaxe clone is quietly dominating Asia.

Today I had lunch with the guy behind it 👇

He’s a young bitcoin entrepreneur from Shenzhen, China.

Quiet, humble—but running a serious operation: large-scale self-mining, hosting, and full-scale manufacturing of mining hardware and spare parts.

He’s been in the space since 2017.

Genuinely believes in bitcoin’s mission.

LuckyMiner started as a hobby in late 2023.

He said he wanted to help more people get into mining—not really to make a profit.

But in early 2024 the demand exploded.

Thousands sold.

BREAKING THE LICENSE.

Bitaxe is open source under CERN-OHL-S-2.0—which means any modifications must be published.

So why do it?

I asked him directly. He didn’t get angry or defensive. He said:

1️⃣ Retail customers in Asia don’t care about open source, and the Bitaxe brand isn’t suited for the local market

2️⃣ His team is juggling too many projects—releasing modifications is low priority. Their time is too valuable

Not great reasons—but they felt honest.

👉 Legit Bitaxes: They now manufacture open-source Bitaxes too—but only for B2B clients, fully license-compliant. LuckyMiners are sold direct to retail customers.

👉 Copying Braiins: They copied us too—and admitted it to my face. But that’s a story for next time. Follow me so you don’t miss it 😆

What’s next?

As sales kept growing, they added a Litecoin version earlier this year.

And they plan to keep expanding—with more form factors and higher production volumes.

But he says chip availability is the biggest bottleneck.

CHIPS ARE THE PROBLEM.

Everywhere.

Or rather—not having chips available for purchase is the story here for me.

Hope we find a solution.

Anyways…

I don’t support his decisions.

But I have to admit—he’s a really nice guy, bitcoiner at heart, and I appreciated his honest answer and perspective on the Asian market.

Now you know the story behind the most controversial mini-miner on the market.

Curious to hear your thoughts.

Wife: “your solo bitcoin mining is killing our electricity bill”

Me: “Say no more”

We’ve just open sourced the BCB100 on GitHub 🔥

The Braiins Control Board is now officially the Bitcoin Control Board.

Everything you need to build is now available: — OpenWrt-based firmware with full config — Hardware design files: BOM, schematics, Gerbers, CAD — Nix environment for reproducible builds — Mining binaries (bosminer, boser), same as in official Braiins OS releases

Repository: 🔗 Full README with docs, files, and build scripts is on our GitHub.

Licenses: 🔶 Software — GPLv3 🔶 Hardware — CERN-OHL-S 🔶 Mining components — binary-only

Test units: ✅ We’re sending a few BCB100 boards to Bitcoin Park in Nashville for builders to explore and experiment. ✅ A few units will also be available soon on the Braiins Store, shipping fast from our US and EU warehouses with no customs hassle.

Bitcoin mining infrastructure needs more transparency and resilience.

This is how we help accelerate that mission 🫡

Let’s build.

Six years ago I quit KPMG.

Today I drove a Mustang through beautiful Oklahoma to a horse ranch where they mine bitcoin with flare gas and made another bitcoin video. This is my job now.

Quit fiat. Join bitcoin. There is no second best.

You asked, we brewed more.

₿eer tour this month 👇

📍 Midland - Bitcoin Meetup | March 6 📍 Austin - Bitcoin Takeover | March 14 📍 Houston - Bitcoin Meetup | March 20 📍 Miami - Mining Disrupt | March 25

This is our non-Chinese bitcoin mining chip.

And it’s a way bigger deal than you think 👇

Six years ago, when I joined Braiins, we had a mining pool. The world’s first.

Then we launched custom firmware—now powering gigawatts of miners worldwide.

Last year we dropped Braiins Manager. A cloud platform giving miners full control over their farms.

BUT THE BIGGEST ISSUE REMAINED UNTOUCHED

Hardware centralization.

For years, Bitmain has controlled over 70% of the global market.

And we’ve been loud about the need for competition.

So instead of waiting, we built.

This week, Braiins Bitcoin Silicon arrived in our Prague office. Our first test ASIC chips.

🫡 2.5 years of hardcore R&D.

🚀 Big skin in the game (shoutout to Firefish for helping us collateralize—not sell—our bitcoin 🧡).

Exciting times, BUT…

The work is just beginning.

And it must be done.

Join our mission!

In town for a week, my video plan:

1️⃣ Compass Mining service center tour - repair shop for ASIC miners 2️⃣ The bitcoin co-working place The Space with the Mining Heat Reuse book author Tyler Stevens 3️⃣ Chick-fil-A review with a local bitcoin guest star 👀

Any other ideas?