Electricity is the bill that never stops. When Bitmain took the stage at Mining Disrupt Miami in 2019, its pitch to miners was less about any single machine than about everything around it: how the machines are tuned, who repairs them, and how fast they come back online.
At the show, held July 23–25, 2019, Irene Gao, then VP of Mining at Bitmain, set out three ways to improve mining efficiency. Bitcoin was trading at $9,770 at the time; on October 11, 2026, it was $82,921. Her three areas were the equipment itself, the operation and maintenance of the mining farm, and access to information about the industry.
Beyond Hash Rate: The New Metrics of Mining Profitability
Gao began with Bitmain's position: the maker of Antminer equipment and the operator of two of the largest mining pools. Its most popular machine at the time was the Antminer S17, first released that March and pre-ordered around the world. The new generation of chips, she said, improved power efficiency to between thirty-nine and a half and forty-five joules per terahash, which gives miners more income.
[Bitmain] is the leading company of the industry of blockchain in production of mining equipment
Irene Gao · 0:22
She then turned to running the machines. Bitmain kept the switchable power modes it first introduced on the Antminer S15: the S17 offered standard and low-power modes, and the S17 Pro offered three, so miners could fit a machine to their own conditions and aim for the best profit. Electricity, she said, is the major recurring expense, which makes efficiency the key to profitable mining both now and in the long run. Bitmain also sold machines for other algorithms, such as Equihash, and a self-developed movable mining farm built for quicker deployment.
the electricity is the major recurring expenses for our industry such efficiency is the key to have a decent profitable mining
Irene Gao · 2:20
The Skills Gap: Why Repair Training Is a Strategic Asset
Her second area was operation and maintenance. A survey, she said, showed that the lack of professional maintenance staff was a big pain point for the industry, and that professional training in mining-machine repair was rare. Every broken machine with nobody on site to fix it is lost income. To move the industry toward sustainable development, Bitmain opened a training academy.
lack of very professional mattina stuff in your mining firm is a really big pain for our industry right now
Irene Gao · 3:33
In response, Bitmain had launched a specialized training academy. Gao described the instructors as experienced technology professionals who had mastered the quick repair of mining machines. The training program was not a one-size-fits-all lecture series; it was structured with different levels of practical and theoretical courses tailored to the varying levels of experience among attendees. This tiered approach allowed both novices and seasoned engineers to deepen their expertise. Upon completion of the courses, participants underwent a professional assessment. Those who passed were issued certificates corresponding to their level of proficiency. This certification process was designed to standardize the quality of technical labor across the industry, ensuring that miners could rely on a verified standard of skill when hiring or evaluating internal staff.
they are really expereinced technology guys and they are mastering a quick experience to repair the machines
Irene Gao · 4:14
Students who did well in the assessment were offered the right to purchase repair materials and a reduced training fee. The idea was to build a pool of people who could keep machines running, not only to sell the machines.
Building Infrastructure: Reducing Downtime Through Localized Repair
Training covered the skills; repair centers covered the logistics. For its South American and North American clients, Gao said, Bitmain had set up repair centers where miners could send machines back for repair instead of shipping them overseas. Keeping repair close to the miners was part of the efficiency case: less time offline and less spent on shipping.
for those who reach the good results we are able to offer you the opportunity to open up the material purchase right
Irene Gao · 5:02
The result, she said, was a shorter repair period and lower shipping costs. Every hour a machine sits in a box waiting for repair is an hour of lost hashrate, so a shorter repair cycle goes straight to a miner's income.
it's really reduced the repairing period and saving some shipping cost
Irene Gao · 5:40
From Hardware to Ecosystem: Bitmain's Broader Play
The third area was information. Gao described a platform for sharing the latest industry insights, investment opportunities, recent news and updates on new products and roadmaps. She pointed to the World Digital Mining Summit, to be held in Germany on October 8 that year.
She also described a smaller event in Santa Clara, California: an annual boutique meetup where participants could meet Bitmain's internal team and share strategies and opportunities, with a financial solution from a partner also on the agenda. Large summits and small meetups served the same purpose: keeping miners informed about products, roadmaps and the market.
Connecting the Dots: How Miners Can Leverage Bitmain's Resources
Gao closed by introducing Bitmain's South American and North American team members and urging miners to talk with them about the three areas. Hardware, maintenance and information were her answer to the question of efficiency in 2019.
When Gao spoke in July 2019, Bitcoin traded at $9,770; on October 11, 2026, it was $82,921. The S17 has long since been replaced, but her point about electricity being the recurring cost, and downtime being lost income, still describes how miners do the math. The conversation continues at Mining Disrupt 2027, March 22 to 24 in Irving, Texas.