Sam Wouters is a Research Analyst at River Financial. In this interview, we discuss Bitcoin’s hash rate: what it is, the factors affecting its growth, what this means for Bitcoin’s security budget, and what this means for Bitcoin’s energy needs. In short, there is a symbiotic relationship between expanding Bitcoin’s real-world utility and securing the blockchain.

TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Getting into Bitcoin; Venezuela 00:07:15 Hash capacity; what is hashing? 00:20:09 Hash forecasting; security budget analysis 00:32:07 Bitcoin security budget scenarios 00:47:04 Mining rigs; energy use 01:01:11 Bitcoin education; China & hash rate constraints 01:13:24 Future role of Bitcoin miners