Trust is usually a positive word in business. In Bitcoin mining hosting, David Branscum argued, it has become a risk. When a miner hands a host their machines and relies on the host's power contract, they are handing over control. That was the problem Branscum, Chief Commercial Officer at Rebel Mining, set out to address at Mining Disrupt.
Speaking at Mining Disrupt Miami, recorded July 25–27, 2023, Branscum made the case for what he called trustless mining: a hosting model that gives the miner the power agreement, the assets and the operating decisions, so there is less to take on faith. At the time of the conference, Bitcoin traded at $29,144. By October 12, 2026, it was $83,921. His talk ran ten minutes on the dot, and most of it was a description of how Rebel structures its deals.
The Broken Cycle of Trust in Hosting
Branscum began by describing the hosting market of that 2023 bear market: a lack of transparency, misleading and false situations, false expectations and mismanagement. Trust, he said, is a double-edged sword. Giving someone trust means handing over control, and it can cost time, money and stress while limiting your options. When that trust is broken, he said, miners get apologies and promises, and fixing it usually means giving up even more control, until the cycle repeats.
the real question what I want to talk to you about is trust
David Branscum · 2:01
He argued that the old ways of doing business in hosting have failed miners. In his view, the biggest disconnect between host and miner is how to manage power, because margins are difficult and the two sides always seem to be at odds over curtailment and demand response.
Rebel's Philosophy: Replace, Not Just Fix
Branscum tied the company's approach to Bitcoin itself. Bitcoin, he said, was proposed about 15 years ago as a trust-removing fix for a broken system, and Rebel believes broken systems sometimes need to be replaced, not just fixed. The company name, he noted, works as a noun and as a verb. Everyone, he said, deserves the freedom to decide how and when they operate.
someone proposed a fix for a broken system that removes Trust
David Branscum · 3:09
In practice, he described trustless as giving the client options rather than removing Rebel from the picture. Rebel can provide as little or as much as a client needs. Clients can use Rebel's operations team, bring in their own or hire another contractor, and Rebel will even train an in-house team for them.
Handing the Keys Back: Power Agreements and Assets
The core of the model is who holds the power agreement and who owns the infrastructure. Rebel lets the client hold the power agreement whether the site is leased or owned, and lets the client choose whether to own the infrastructure. If the client owns the equipment, Branscum said, there is no worry about liens or other party financing. If the client prefers not to own it, Rebel can use its own equipment as collateral to guarantee the client's ability to keep operating on the site.
When the client owns the PPA, Branscum said, there is no risk that the money will be mismanaged, because the client pays the power company directly. Under a long term lease structure, the power company pays Rebel. As long as the client pays the power company, he said, the power stays on, without having to trust a third party.
you're actually paying directly to the power company
David Branscum · 6:38
Control extends to day to day decisions. The client manages power, curtailment and demand response, which Branscum framed as the main source of friction between hosts and miners.
you decide when you mine and when you curtail based on your energy and your strategy
David Branscum · 5:40
The Math of Control: Cutting Power Costs by a Third
Branscum then gave the numbers. Owning the assets brings the tax benefits that come with them, he said; if Rebel buys the equipment, Rebel gets those benefits. Clients can also lock in a lower power price to stay viable through the halving, which he called crucial.
25 to 35 percent reduction in your overall power costs that's just year one
David Branscum · 6:15
He said that reduction can get better further down the road. For clients who want to own more, Rebel offers to sell the FEA on a site at a premium, which he said brings the client's lease cost down by about 60, leaving the client with the site and its power agreement to use as they wish.
Speed as a Feature: From Bare Ground to Power in Eight Weeks
Speed was the other selling point. Site development is difficult no matter how often you have done it, Branscum said, and Rebel's sister company is a dedicated construction management team with 25 years of experience. Every day of delay is lost revenue: at the Bitcoin price of the time, he said, a site could lose a couple hundred thousand dollars a month per megawatt. On the hosting side, he said Rebel's last eight megawatts of S19s, about 2,400 miners, were tested and deployed in 72 hours, and that sites are managed to 95 percent uptime, with clients free to accept less uptime to save money.
our last eight megawatt site went up from bare ground to power in eight weeks
David Branscum · 8:43
Branscum said Rebel had access to 100 megawatts of Texas sites with load studies completed and facility extension agreements in hand, which spell out the cost and timeline to get running, plus another 100 megawatts expected over the following nine months. The sites ranged from 8 to 24 megawatts, with a few larger ones, and some could expand quickly. He added that Rebel can fully bond a site so the client is covered.
A New Standard for Transparent Agreements
He closed with how Rebel sees itself as different: the client controls every aspect of the operation, as much risk as possible is removed for both parties, and agreements are open and transparent so everyone knows their responsibilities and there are no disagreements down the road. In his words, Rebel Mining was promoting mining that is trustless, transparent and scalable.
The talk was a company presentation, and the cost and speed figures are Rebel's own, as Branscum stated them in 2023. The conversation continues at Mining Disrupt 2027, March 22 to 24 in Irving, Texas.