Episode 4 of Bitcoin Mining News, released July 15, 2023, opened by noting that there is never a slow week in Bitcoin, and that this one had been busier than most. On that day, Bitcoin traded at $30,334. On October 12, 2026 it was $84,128.
The show read the numbers from timechaincalendar.com: an exchange rate of 30,373 dollars per Bitcoin, or 3,292 sats for one dollar. Blocks were averaging 10 minutes and 24 seconds, and the 14 day average hashrate was 385.8 exahash per second, just under 400. On chain fees were 18 sats per vbyte for high priority and 10 for low priority.
A Correction on the Halving
Before the news, the host did some housekeeping. In the previous episode he had read a Bloomberg passage saying crypto enthusiasts hoped the halving, an event the article claimed rewrites Bitcoin's underlying code, would extend the market rally. He replayed the segment and pointed out the mistake he had missed.
The halving, he explained, does not rewrite Bitcoin's code. It has been hard coded into the protocol from the beginning. He said he caught the error only after seeing a post from Pierre Rochard, who wrote that halvings do not rewrite Bitcoin's code, that mining rigs hash block headers rather than validate transactions, and that mainstream journalists need more Bitcoin education.
The host held himself to the same standard. When you are in the business of journalism, he said, your job is to report the news as accurately and truthfully as possible, and that means doing the research first. He said he should have paused before sharing the article, and promised to tell viewers whenever he gets something wrong.
Vanguard's About Face
The first story was one the host said he had seen reported by multiple sources he trusts. Vanguard now owned 560 million dollars worth of Bitcoin mining stocks. According to the filings the show read, the asset manager, which manages 7.2 trillion dollars, had added to its positions in Marathon Digital and Riot Blockchain. With Marathon trading at about 16 dollars a share, Vanguard's stake there stood at 280.5 million. It also raised its stake in Riot Blockchain, the Colorado based miner where Rochard works, lifting its holding nearly 18 percent to 17.9 million shares, up from 15.2 million.
The host asked viewers to keep the phrase slowly and then suddenly in mind. Just two years earlier, Vanguard had said on its website that the long term investment case for cryptocurrencies was weak. Now it was Marathon's largest shareholder. He compared it to someone who says they will never be more than friends and then, two years later, calls up begging to be part of your life.
Record Difficulty and Miners Sending Coins to Exchanges
Next, the show turned to a Cointelegraph report that Bitcoin mining difficulty had hit an all time high just as miner selling peaked. Miners had sent a record amount of Bitcoin to exchanges as difficulty reached a new high, raising the question of whether miners were close to capitulation.
The host stopped to define the word, admitting he did not know it for a long time: capitulation means surrendering or ceasing to resist. The report cited the hash ribbon indicator created by analyst Charles Edwards, which tracks the 30 and 60 day moving averages of the network's hashrate. When the 30 day average falls below the 60 day, it can signal miner capitulation, with unprofitable miners leaving the network. The two lines were close to crossing, and the higher difficulty could push weaker miners out.
In June and July, the 30 day cumulative transfer volume of Bitcoin from miner wallets to exchanges had spiked to a six year peak. Looking at that chart, the host said two questions came to mind. Where was the demand coming from, and why did it not seem to show up in the price? And how much Bitcoin was being sold by miners directly to large buyers without ever touching an exchange?
Europe Leads the Custody Race
The final story came from Forbes, which reported that European banks were beating US banks in the race to offer Bitcoin custody. According to the article, Deutsche Bank had applied for a digital asset license in Germany, Credit Agricole's CACEIS had secured crypto custody registration in France, BNP Paribas was entering custody through a partnership with Fireblocks, and DZ Bank had announced a cooperation with Metaco.
US banks, meanwhile, were dealing with regulatory hurdles. The article pointed to SEC guidance that treats customers' crypto assets as liabilities, and to an SEC proposal requiring investment advisers to keep client crypto with qualified custodians, which had drawn criticism from JPMorgan and the Small Business Administration among others. Growing interest from US households and younger generations, Forbes wrote, was fueling demand for these services.
Bitcoin's Grandma With an iPad Moment
The host's own take was that Bitcoin still needs its grandma with an iPad moment, the point where someone with no interest in technology finds it easy enough to use. Right now, he said, going from knowing nothing about Bitcoin to holding it in self custody is no small feat, and he understood why that hurdle is too high for many people.
So he welcomed banks getting involved. They are in it for profit, he acknowledged, but that is how the free market works, and if it helps people take custody of their Bitcoin, he was all for it. He closed by pointing viewers to Mining Disrupt 2023 in Miami. The conversation continues at Mining Disrupt 2027, March 22 to 24 in Irving, Texas.